New Advent resources available

PC(USA) ministries and partners prepare for a season of preparation

by Beth Waltemath | Presbyterian News Service

Advent is a season of anticipation and preparation. It is a time to reflect on the stories we tell about the arrival of hope and new life.

In this time of uncertainty as a denomination and a country, several Presbyterian ministries and partnerships have produced new devotionals for the Advent season to proclaim the constancy of God’s love and presence among us.

“What story are we participating in about the future? Is it a story colored by demise, decline and fear for the future? Or one infused with con-fide (faith) that, come what may, God is participating in shaping this story,” writes Dr. Corey Schlosser-Hall in the first reflection of a new Advent devotional produced by the Vital Congregations Initiative of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). In addition to the reflections of Schlosser-Hall, the VCI devotional features the Rev. Veronica Cannon, Ruling Elder valerie izumi, the Rev. Dr. Amantha Barbee, and the Rev. Samuel Son. Advent devotionals have been an annual offering of the Vital Congregations Initiative and continue to be relevant and nourishing to PC(USA) pastors.

Original artwork by Vilmarie Cintrón-Olivieri illuminates the resource cards of the “Advent At Home Candle Lighting” resource, available in Spanish and English produced by the Around the Table Initiative. These can be downloaded free either as a side-by-side layout or for print as back-to-back cards. They feature simple guidance on how to mark, remember, listen, reflect, pray and bless as a family or community gathered around a ritual or casual meal each week.

Boundless: An Anti-Colonial Advent Devotional includes digital and printable versions of daily prayers beginning December 1  through JusticeUnbound.org. It is published in concert with the Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy (ACSWP). It features reflections by Dr. Clara A.B. Joseph, Dr. José David Rodríguez and the Rev. Dr. Jermaine Ross-Allam among other writers.

In the 2024 Christmas Joy Offering leader guide, worship planners will find a variety of materials — including a suggested litany for a Christmas Eve Candlelighting Service — to help promote the Christmas Joy Offering and teach church members about the work supported by their gifts. Additional resources, including minutes for mission, are also found on this site.

The Call to Worship journal features Advent liturgy and worship resources published in the annual Lectionary Companion. The “Call to Worship: Liturgy, Music, Preaching, and the Arts Lectionary Companion for Year C, 2024–2025” includes weekly and seasonal suggestions for liturgy, music and art responding to Scripture readings from the Revised Common Lectionary in Year C, which begins Dec. 1. New subscribers may use the coupon code 5offCTW to receive a $5 discount on a print and online or online-only subscription.

New for Advent 2024 from Presbyterian Publishing Corporation is the Advent 2024 digital resource guide now available in the PC(USA) store. The guide allows you to compare Advent books and resources for devotion, group study, preaching, and worship. You also have direct access to excerpts and will learn about the newest Advent book for study and devotion, “Calling All Angels: An Advent Study of Fearlessness and Strength.” Read an excerpt of this new book, which includes a wealth of resources like weekly studies perfect for individuals or groups; questions for reflection and discussion; daily reflections; and worship resources including liturgies, prayers, and children’s moments. To further enhance your use of this book, digital resources, including images for displaying during worship services or group sessions, a Spotify playlist, and video chapter introductions from the author are available. You can download and access these resources for free.

The eighth annual edition of “Words for Waiting: Daily Devotions for Advent and Christmas,” a devotional from UKirk Collegiate Ministries, a partner of the PC(USA), is a free resource that includes daily Scripture readings, reflections, and prayers by students, campus ministers, and chaplains representing 32 different Presbyterian-supported student faith communities on 39 college campuses, alongside neighbors from other areas of the Church too. There are two ways to read via downloadable pdf or by subscribing to daily emails at ukirkadvent.org.

“Following the Star,” a devotional series for Advent and Christmas, returns to d365.org starting on December 1. This series features scripture, prayer, and meditative thoughts accompanied by gentle music. “Following the Star” is part of the year-round ecumenical devotional website and app, d365, which is partially sponsored through the Office of Presbyterian Youth and Triennium and regularly features PC(USA) writers.

For the 2024 Advent season, Presbyterians for Earth Care will provide a free daily devotional based on lectionary readings.  PEC will be partnering with RED Presbiteriana Para el Cuidado de la Creación as a collaboration with both English and Spanish Advent devotionals to share.

“Walking in the Light of God” is the theme of the Advent 2024 guide produced by CEDPCA, the Protestant Center for Pastoral Studies in Central America. It is now available online in English and in Spanish. Our siblings Christ in Guatemala share the struggle to lift up the cries of justice and welcome in the reign of peace as they move through Advent.

Advent not Arms is a resource produced by Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP), a partner of the PC(USA). As a campaign of CMEP, Advent not Arms invites partners to reflect throughout a season that extends through Orthodox Christmas on the call for a suspension of arms sales to Israel and for a push for a comprehensive permanent ceasefire and end to all violence. “As we prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus, the Prince of Peace, we invite you to journey with us in advocating of a holy season of peace,” says Advent not Arms’ marketing materials. “Throughout the next several weeks we will provide multifaceted resources and events including a virtual and in-person Advent vigils for peace, ways to reach out to your elected officials, and more as we continue to pursue peace for all in Israel/Palestine, Lebanon, and all in the region.”

The PC(USA) and its partners and the Presbyterian Publishing Corporation have produced many Advent resources in years past that continue to be relevant and nourishing to leaders today. For example, Annunciations: Disruptions and Invitation is the multimedia resource produced by the Story Ministry division of the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, featuring video clips of affected communities and weaving them in with the biblical witness of Advent’s stories. United in Hope, an Advent devotional produced by Global Language Resources, has showcased the multicultural richness that exists in the PC(USA). This devotional, which featured the writings of many leaders who serve in our communities of faith, celebrates our diversity and more, highlights our multicultural communities and the different gifts, traditions, and languages they are woven into the life of the PC(USA).