Advent Thank You's

Thank you God for your redeeming Grace, your call to be Church, and for the community of faith we experience together at Advent.

Thank you, God, for the gift of gathering for worship (171 times a year!) as a faith community.

Thank you, God, for our lectors, who bring God’s Word to life in their unique and special voices, sharing the gifts of Scripture with the community.

Thank you, God, for our greeters, who practice living God’s love with everyone who walks into our doors on Sunday.

Thank you, God, for our assisting ministers, who lead the congregation in worship, proclaim the prayers of the people, and carry the cross.

Thank you, God, for our musicians and singers, who lead our church in lifting up joyful song and praise to You, who help us to feel Your call and experience Your love.

Thank you, God, for our chalice bearers, who share the gifts of Jesus with the community.

Thank you, God, for our altar guild, who show up early on Sunday to prepare the altar and Communion elements for worship, so all who gather later experience Your love.

Thank you, God, for our counters, who make sure each gift shared with the community in our Offering is accounted for.

Thank you, God, for our Flower Power team, who create beautiful flower arrangements to frame our altar.

Thank you, God, for our pastors, deacons, and vicars, who proclaim and interpret your life-giving Gospel to the world, for their sermons that inspire us, for their leadership that challenges us, for their pastoral care that comforts us, for shepherding our community in Gospel living with hope and love.

Thank you, God, for our Council, members of our community who accepted the call to lead our church, to bear the weight of challenging and important questions, and to guide us forward.

Thank you, God, for all our ministry leaders, who faithfully organize and empower our many ministries. Our ministries wouldn’t happen without them.

Thank you, God, for all our committee members, who dedicate their time to planning ministry, stewarding the resources of the church, and so much more.

Thank you, God, for our monthly Community Lunch. For the leaders who make it happen, the cooks who prepare the food, for the volunteers who serve, for the guests who gather, and for food we are able to share because of grants and gifts.

Thank you, God for our monthly Food Pantry, for the bounty we are able to share, for the faithful volunteers from Advent and community who make it possible, for the people and families we are able to provide a bag of groceries, for their generosity in sharing these gifts with family and neighbors and others.

Thank you, God, for our new Community Dinner, for partnership with the students of Trinity School, for the Advent leaders to strengthen this relationship, coordinate the meal, and pray with our guests.

Thank you, God, for the immigration counseling we have been able to offer members of our community and neighbors over the years, for each person we have been able to accompany and advocate for.

Thank you, God, for our afterschool program, which ran for 4 years. Thank you for the faithful volunteers and the families we were able to serve.

Thank you, God, for our English as a Second or Other Language Class, for our partnership with Catholic Charities, for the volunteers from Advent and the community who come every week, and for the people in our community of so many different languages and backgrounds who visit and have become regulars.

Thank you, God, for our Spanish Class, for members of our community who are learning to grow in their ability to connect with others regardless of language.

Thank you, God, for the advocacy we have been able to offer for others, for the letter writing, calling, marching, listening, and accompanying.

Thank you, God, for Sunday School, all the amazing leaders we’ve had, for the relationships that have grown between children and between parents, and with God, at Advent, and that are continuing to grow.

Thank you God for our discipleship groups and adult faith formation, for all the opportunities we’ve had to gather and talk and listen, and grow in faith together.

Thank you, God, for our prayer ministry, for all the people who have shared their prayers with the community, for all the ways we have been able to surround them with support and love.

Thank you, God, for our High School Communications Interns, for their creativity and fresh perspective and openness about faith and passion to positively impact their community.

Thank you, God, for our retreat, for the opportunity to gather for extended times as a community to deepen relationships and faith together.

Thank you, God, for our podcast, which brought together dozens of Advent members who’d never talked about faith together before to respond to Sunday’s sermons, and enabled us to share our sermons and these conversation with the world.

Thank you, God, for LaMP, for this community building and faith building college student ministry we get to support.

Thank you, God, for Diakonia, for the opportunity for members of our community to deepen their faith study, for the Advent leaders it has enriched and produced.

Thank you, God, for the Advent Chorale, for the beautiful music they create and the community they build, for their leadership in worship and in the church.

Thank you, God, for Music Mondays, for the musicians who come play in our space, the people from the community it draws in, for the leaders and the volunteers who make it happen

Thank you, God, for our new intergenerational choir, and for the gift of music bringing people of all ages together.

Thank you, God, for our relationship with the community of Pueblo de Dios church in Calderitas, El Salvador. For the opportunity to learn from each other, accompany each other, pray for each other, and support each other in faith and love.

Thank you, God, for our new relationship with KEMPS school in Tanzania. For the opportunity to learn from each other, accompany each other, pray for each other, and support each other in faith and love.

Thank you, God, for our 20s30s Group, LGTBQ Group, Adventurous Adventonian, 1st Sunday lunches, and all the groups and events that build community at Advent.

Thank you God, for our staff, for those who keep our church and ministries operating, for those who lead and accompany the congregation, for those who have found vocation in the ministry of our church.

Thank you, God, for the person reading this, and for everyone who is part of our community at Advent, for their presence, for their faith, for their questions, for all the ways they bless our community with their time, talents, gifts, and the unique way they reflect Your likeness and Your love.

Thank you for the relationships, prayers, faith-building, and intangibles, the lives we touch, the connections we grow, the presence of the Spirit among us, the love we share . . .

For all these gifts, and for the many gifts unseen but known by you, we give you thanks, God.

Thanks be to God! Amen.

written by Kevin Bowen, Communications Coordinator

Note: If I left a ministry or anything out, I’m very sorry! Please Let me know >