Advent 1




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 the Protestant reformation caused us to lose a lot of the symbolism and ritual in worship, the ecumenical movement brought it back to us. The service on Sunday was a feast for the senses, with a blend of traditional and modern music, excellent choir, candles and lots of purple.
It was a eucharistic mass, but since the official policy is for RC's only, I didn't partake. The priest's children's story did mention the Pope and the second coming at the end of the world, where few United Church ministers choose to venture. Still the atmosphere was warm and friendly, and I could see why so many young families were attracted to worship there. I really did feel like Advent had begun for me.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

April 27 2025

Image
 Last week one of my kids asked me about the different kinds of Methodist churches. I explained about the founder John Wesley and how that tradition was shaped in both the UK and the US. The British Methodists who came to Canada were in general the ones who formed an early Methodist church here and then joined in the United Church of Canada union in 1925. There are also Free Methodists and Wesleyans, both of whom are part of larger North American denominations, with more links to the United States. Churches, particularly Protestant ones, seem to be very susceptible to schisms and splits, and those who were inspired by the faith of John Wesley are no different! I attended a Wesleyan Church service on Sunday, and was struck by the large proportion of younger adults who were in attendance - not that it was a big congregation, but many of them would be younger than 40.  Besides the later hour and proximity to a university I think the style of music (contemporary praise) and preach...
Read more
Image
  Cluster Service What is a cluster service? In our area, 5 congregations have formed a cluster, working together to be the United Church in our corner of the city.  As former minister of one of those congregations, I always enjoyed the Cluster Service. It gave us the opportunity to meet and experience the strengths of other communities of faith. Every year, however, one comment always arose: "So nice for you to have a Sunday off..."! To be honest, these services are not easy. Yes, we might not be preaching, but chances are we are doing something. In a different worship space, with a different congregation that is not really a community. And praying that everyone will show up. "Why don't we do more together?" That's a good question, and I think there are a variety of factors. Ministers: I love my colleagues in ministry and I love working with them. However the reality is that most of us, unless we are diaconal ministers, are not trained to work together. Tru...
Read more