Contains short, daily reflections on the amazing ways familiar animals prepare for winter. Each day’s reading is paired with an original woodcut illustration. This is a wonderful book to help you slow down and find joy in the truth and beauty revealed by the natural world. Learn more >

Caring for Creation with a Green Advent and Christmas
The creation care team invites you to come alongside us as we add to our preparations green practices that will allow us to live more gently, gratefully, and sustainably on the earth. What might you do differently this season? We recommend you take a few minutes to read through the list and make a plan. Setting our intentions can help motivate us to follow through with our actions. Commit to starting one new practice each week during the season of Advent, and go from there! We welcome additional ideas. View resource now >

What is the meaning of Advent in 2 minutes? This short video from Busted Halo shows how Advent and expectant waiting is different from secular ideas of getting ready for Christmas. Share via Zoom or in-person.

The Episcopal Church website has curated extensive resources for 2023. Here is some of what you find:

• A downloadable Advent video message, customizable for your congregation or for inviting people to your church this season
• The Way of Love Advent Curriculum
• Sign-up for AdventWord
• A video for making an eco-friendly Advent wreath

Go to page now >

This Celtic Advent calendar begins November 15 and extends through the Feast of the Epiphany (Calendar creator the Rev. Susan Forshey (contemplativecottage.com) says  that “in the 6th century, the Celtic Christians celebrated Advent during the 40 days before Christmas, as a mirror to the period of Lent before Easter.”) The calendar is intended to help you slow down and find joy in preparing for Christmas. View and download calendar >

In Light of the World: A Beginner’s Guide to Advent, author, professor, and biblical scholar Amy-Jill Levine explores the biblical texts surrounding the story of the birth of Jesus. She traces the Christmas narrative through the stories of Zechariah and Elizabeth, Mary, the journey to Bethlehem, and the visit from the Magi. These stories open conversations around connections of the Gospel stories to the Old Testament, the role of women in first-century Jewish culture, the importance of Mary’s visitation and the revolutionary implications of Mary’s Magnificat, the census and the stable, and the star of Bethlehem and the flight to Egypt.

Good for small group study and individual readers. As part of a larger four-week study for Advent, a DVD and a comprehensive leader guide are also available.

Each day of Advent a different animal shows children its own amazing way to meet the dark and cold. With each creature, children hear the refrain: The dark is not an end. It’s a door. It’s the way a new beginning comes. Here is the ancient truth of Advent enacted in the lives of 24 common woodland animals and culminating in the birth of the Human One who perfectly lived that truth. From Paraclete Press. Learn more >

Illustrated Ministry has created inspiring coloring pages for Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany. Offer them to families to take home, or provide them in church busy bags or during coffee hour. Not familiar with Illustrated Ministry? Sign up to receive a free download of sample resources here.