Advent and Christmas 2018

Resources are available for Advent and Christmas, including the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, and material from ALTERnativity, the Bible Society, CAFOD, Christian Aid, Church of England, Church of Scotland, Church Urban Fund, Hope, the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference, Joint Public Issues Team (JPIT) and more. Plus you can still download A World in Waiting – Advent hope in an economic crisis.

* Updated 13 December 2018 *

Advent and Christmas 2018.

Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols

Download Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols (PDF)

 

 

 

ALTERnativity

This resource aims to encourage people to get back to the heart of the Christmas message. It has been created as a collaboration between the charity ALTERnativity, Action of Churches Together in Scotland (ACTS), the Church of Scotland World Mission Council and the Church of Scotland Guild.

 

 

 

Bible Society

Sign up to the Bible Society’s Advent challenge. Take on 24 acts of kindness to show those around you there’s more to Christmas, with a choice of three challenges each day.

 

 

 

CAFOD

CAFOD’s interactive calendar lets you reflect, pray and take global justice actions throughout Advent.

 

 

 

CAFOD also has a 2018 Advent calendar for young people designed for secondary schools with daily prayers and actions, and also an Advent calendar for children for use in Catholic primary schools..

 

 

 

Ensure no-one spends #ChristmasAlone

Premier is again encouraging churches to host a Christmas day event for their community so that no one should have to spend Christmas Alone if they don’t want to. It will be creating an interactive map of all the Christmas Day events happening across the UK and has produced a special Christmas Pack that includes key information and answers questions to help plan an event effortlessly.

 

 

 

Church of England

The Church of England’s online Advent calendar provides access to a new activity each day throughout Advent. You can also share each days’ activity with others on social media using #FollowTheStar. There is also a FollowTheStar app.

 

 

 

Church of Scotland

This year’s Church of Scotland online Advent calendar is devoted to ‘celebrating the greatest gift this Christmas’. Each day a new window will be available to open with a themed prayer, a video or a story.

 

 

 

Church Urban Fund

For the fourth year, the Church Urban Fund (CUF) has a sleep-out challenge for Advent. Find out more from the Sleepout Challenge website.

 

 

 

 

Christian Aid

Christian Aid has a range of Church resources to support its Christmas Appeal, focussing on peacemaking. We are invited to remember people around the world whose lives have been damaged by conflict.

 

 

 

Eco-Congregation Scotland

Eco-Congregation Scotland’s chaplain, Rev’d David Coleman, has produced a video Advent calendar, posted each day to Facebook. David says the ‘devotional project for this season of reflection has led me into some unexpected thoughts based on the Sunday readings’.

 

 

 

Hope

Hope has again produced a glossy give-away Christmas magazine that aims to be a conversation-starter and to help church members to invite guests to seasonal events this Christmas.

 

 

 

Joint Public Issues Team (JPIT)

The Joint Public Issues Team (JPIT) is inviting us to explore what it means to step into transformational encounter with the divine during Advent with its resource for 2018, Prepare Ye The Way. Each week, the resource will help us reflect on the transformational encounters experienced by those at Jesus’ birth, and to think about this in the context of some of the issues we currently face as a society.

 

 

 

Irish Catholics Bishops Conference

This year the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference has an online Advent calendar with features such as readings, ‘Saint of the Day’, audio thought of the day, the words of Pope Francis, random act of kindness, act of charity, prayers and music.

 

 

 

Mission Theology Advisory Group (MTAG)

‘Advent Journey with the Magi‘ provides a reflective spiritual journey into the mystery of the Incarnation which travels towards Jesus through the eyes of the Magi. It includes sections on Stars, Travels, Gifts, Meeting Herod and Meeting Jesus.

 

 

 

Previous years

Our Advent course from 2009 A World in Waiting – Advent hope in an economic crisis is still available to download.