11 Highlights from the Advent Season at Advent
1. We launched a new daylong event with over 200 participants and 60 volunteers.
Our Advent Season Celebration & Las Posadas on Saturday, December 8 was a spectacular day connecting us as the Advent community and reaching out to the wider community.
2. We raised over $600 for our food ministries by offering affordable gifts and ornaments to the community.
At Santa’s Table, people could buy affordable gifts and ornaments with the proceeds supporting our food ministries. Guests at our Food Pantry the preceding week received a ticket for 1 free gifts. Thank you to everyone who donated gifts and ornaments!
3. Las Posadas connected the story of Mary and Joseph to the stories of immigrants in our congregation.
In a beautiful service following Mary and Joseph as they look for a place to stay on Christmas Eve, we shared the immigrant experiences of six Advent members. Read there stories here >
4. Our high school Communications interns made a beautiful photo booth that spread Advent season spirit across social media.
Our high school interns made and ran an awesome photo booth at our Advent Season Celebration, and many people from Advent and the community ended up sharing their photos online!
We received a new Christmas nativity handmade by the pastor of our sister church in Calderitas, El Salvador.
Our new nativity set was commissioned from Christian Chavarria, the mission pastor at Pueblo de Dios in Caldaritas, El Salvador. Each piece is hand crafted by Christian, who learned to paint while living in a refugee camp in Honduras. Christian also created our double-sided processional cross. He has created over 130,000 crosses, currently found in approximately 109 countries around the world, including a celebration cross created for the Joint Ecumenical Commemoration on October 31, 2016 in Lund and Malmo, Sweden.
6. We offered an extra Food Pantry, a community dinner in partnership with Trinity School, and our regular Community Lunch all in one week.
All part of our expanding food ministries here at Advent.
7. In worship, we learned about John the Baptist, placed our hopes in the manger, and wrote our vision of preparation for Christ on the “Holy Highway.”
8. Our caroling got the attention of the West Side Rag.
9. We made hygiene care packages for people in our community and around the world.
10. We launched our first ever hybrid in person and online Bible Study using Google Hangouts.
Our Advent season Bible Study, “Women on the Way to Christmas,” brought people together around the Bible in a new way.
