Advent is here – it is the longest that Advent can be too, four full weeks, with Christmas on a Sunday this year.
Every time I go into church I’ll be enjoying this:
Decorating the Church
18 December 2010 By Leave a Comment
Now, just in case there is anyone reading this who comes to St Mary’s who hasn’t been around in previous years at Christmas – there’s a job to be done tomorrow that you might not know about and your help would be most appreciated.
As a liturgical church we are vigilant about keeping Advent, a time of preparation and waiting, a time which has its own distinctive (and sometimes slightly disturbing) mood. After Advent comes Christmas.
People sometimes find it strange to come to church in December and see no Christmas tree and no decorations but that’s because it ain’t Christmas yet. Whilst the world goes mad on lights and tinsel, we live in comparative plainness. No flowers. No glitz. Nothing to catch the eye.
All of this raises the question as to when we let go and decorate for the Feast. I’ve settled on a compromise which works for us. It is this – we don’t have anything Christmassy until we’ve managed to celebrate the Sung Eucharist on the fourth Sunday in Advent (which is tomorrow). Its a pragmatic compromise. If it was all up to me there would be no dressing the church in its finery until Christmas Eve and no Carol Service until Boxing Day. However, in this respect I am a pragmatist and am prepared to compromise for the greater good.
Thus, tomorrow morning is Advent in its austerity. Tomorrow evening is the Christmas Carol Service in all its glory.
Between the two, we need to make the difference, and that’s where you come in.
Once the words of the dismissal have been uttered tomorrow morning, all glitter breaks out. We’ve a job to do, dressing the church for the evening. Flowers, lights, Christmas trees, spit, polish and sparkle all need to be added to the church.
Its often one of the really nice community times of the year and often a chance to get to know folk whilst you are untangling the Christmas lights.
There’s a job for everyone as we get the church ready. If you are coming to sing “O come, O come Emmanuel” tomorrow morning, do plan on staying around for a bit after the service to help to get the church ready for Himself to arrive.
Morning Prayer, anyone?
1 December 2008 By 6 Comments
Remember the post I made about liturgical typography? It still gets plenty of readers. Even though it was a bit of a rant, it did spur me on to produce quite a lot of wee bookies for morning prayer, to make it easier for those coming for the Daily Office at 0930.
It is a quiet service. Psalms, readings, silence. Keeping some kind of rhythm in prayer is one of the gifts that the church offers people which is like a best kept secret. We make it too hard for people a lot of the time, I fear. Too many page turns and too many things to look up. No wonder people turn to the Buddhists!
I’ve learned a bit from the meditation practices of the East, but I still find that praying a rhythm of words is what I want to come back to as the backbone of a spiritual life.
Increasingly, I think, churches are going to be successful if they teach people basic spirituality. By that I mean giving people the tools to form a spiritual life that is doable.
In that spirit, I wonder whether anyone might like a copy of the daily office that we will be praying through Advent. Here is is in pdf form. You can print it out yourself or steal one from church if you must.
If you spot any mistakes, do let me know so that it can be corrected.
At St Mary’s, we try to keep the rhythm of the psalms by waiting for a wee pause for breath at the star in the middle of the verses.
That wee pause for breath is what Advent is all about, after all.
Love Blooms Bright
6 December 2007 By 4 Comments
I’m joining in with a group blog called Love Blooms Bright which Kimberly Bohan has helped set up for advent. Here is my first post:
Someone described this blog to me as being very welcome. They described it as a quiet blog for Advent.
It got me thinking. A quiet blog? Does that mean only postings that still the mind and calm the soul? Certainly, the broody moodiness of the preparation season does have an element of quiet waiting, but there is sound aplenty too. Or does it mean that we are taking a break from disputation and argument?
Last Sunday, Advent was ushered in for me with a choir processional, bringing light into the church in an evening liturgy. Far from being quiet, there was the sound of handbells ringing, voices raised, finger cymbals (which I found myself coveting like crazy) kerchinging and most potently the insistent ratatat drumming on a tabor. The beat beat beat of the drum was a reminder to me that God is coming, whether I like it or not. Advent is a wake up call, not a quiet sleepy dream.
As I hear again in my mind the sounds of that processional, I know that though we might wait, God will not. By this Sunday, no doubt we will be hearing the sound of a bad tempered baptist roaring through the Judean hills.
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