Elizabeth’s ecumenical explorations

  For Advent 3 I attended a Presbyterian church downtown - the usual bus adventures and arrival a few minutes late, but I was not the last one arriving. The environment was welcoming, with beautiful music emerging from the balcony. While the church building is quite formal, and the order of service very full, the feeling of worship was quite gentle and inclusive. This congregation is drawing from "sanctified art" for liturgy and Advent preparation. Sanctified Art is a learning and worship resource used by a variety of denominations.  I had already noticed the ministers' use of inclusive language (or perhaps had not reacted to any exclusive language...) so when the minister mentioned Sanctified Art in the sermon, it made sense to me. There was a lively puppet-enriched time for children, a good Advent sermon about consciously choosing the good in a time of fear and instability, lots of lay involvement, and outreach work ongoing.  All signs of a healthy congregation that I w...

  If last week I felt immersed in the colours and symbols of Advent, this Sunday was the other extreme.  I worshipped at a Unitarian Universalist congregation, where the only reference to the season was to the weather. The theme of the service was Winter Tears, so for me it was also very effective as an Advent theme. It reminded me of Blue Christmas/Longest Night services where we acknowledge that not everyone feels merry at this time of year, and it is good for faith communities to make space for the grief that comes with the celebration. There were a few warnings/explanations at the beginning of the service, so I think it was a particular focus for this week. I attended a few Unitarian services with a friend when I was a young adult (very intellectual, almost debatey) but found this service very different. Still a questioning, justice-seeking community, but in a more spiritual atmosphere. In part because of this particular theme, the music, and the minister's reflection, it ...

The season of Advent is a season of anticipation, preparation and hope. I worshipped with a lively and busy Roman Catholic congregation in my neighbourhood. It was what they call their "family mass" - and so it was! Lots of children, young families, not just attending but offering leadership through prayers and readings, serving the mass, taking up offering. I love the symbolism of Advent - the candle lighting that marks four Sundays and then Christmas Eve, the evergreens in the wreaths, the colourful draping of fabric to show the change in season. (We use blue, but they were using purple on Sunday - even the priests were all decked out.) In the modern United Church, we have learned a lot about the seasons through better ecumenical relationships with the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches. One of the churches I served early in ministry had never lit Advent candles before. "It seems very popish" an elder grumbled "lighting candles in church and all." If t...