Introduction

what is advent?
Advent is the church season of four weeks preceding Christmas. It begins December 2 and continues until Christmas day. Advent creates space for us to reflect and prepare as we awaiting the coming of Jesus.
As a society, we’re not very good at waiting. We work hard to minimize our experience of waiting. Time before Christmas gets marked out by social commitments and obligations – work party, shopping, – we work backward from the deadline of Christmas and order our time accordingly.
Advent offers us an alternative perspective. Instead of working backwards from a deadline, the season of waiting invites us to look forward. In advent, preparing isn’t about getting packages to the post office, its about shifting a perspective, creating space for reflection and connection.

some tools for advent
· Worship, each of the four Sundays
· Wednesday night gatherings – a light supper, followed by reflection and discussion
· Special experiences like Posada, Caroling, Food Pantry Christmas Banquet
· Advent wreath materials, to mark the season by lighting the candles
· This advent journal – the same material included here is also on the advent blog each day.

textures of waiting
During the season of Advent we await the birth of Jesus and the return of Jesus. What are the textures of our waiting? How does the waiting impact our connection with our community? How does the waiting impact our connection with God? This Journal is about exploring your experience of waiting. It is designed to be interactive, to provoke action and reflection, a spark for conversation. We hope that it will create space in which you draw closer to God as we wait together for the arrival of Jesus.