contributed by Whitney Holley
The last Sunday before Advent we celebrated with a church wide Advent Festival to help get ready for the new church year! This year there was a focus on outreach and different stations were set up with different activities for kids and adults to participate in.
First up was the Advent Calendar station where everyone could put together their own calendar to mark Mary’s journey to Christmas Day. I love that this calendar can be used year after year and is a great tool to help young ones see time passing.
There was also a station set up for Mite Boxes where kids could color and then put together a box to collect offerings to be given at Christmas.
The station with the most activity was probably the Soup Kit station. A table with the recipe for a soup kit was laid out so you could walk down and fill up a bag with the perfect amount of ingredients to give to someone in need to make a delicious soup.
This was a great activity for every age and an immediate opportunity to help the hungry in our community.
The station for tying baby blankets was another popular one with lots of hands busy working to provide warmth and comfort to the newest arrivals at Medical City. We will still be collecting baby blankets at the church through Christmas Eve so be sure and drop off yours in the coming weeks!
And finally, a great way to connect to those in our church family that may not be able to physically worship with us during the Advent season. A table laid out with cards for everyone to sign was a joyful mix of little kid scribbles and heart felt sentiments as everyone stopped to write a word or two to our home bound church members.
All of these stations are wonderful examples of getting people of all ages involved in serving others and our hope is that they inspire you to look at new ways to celebrate together this season! This weekend, December 6th, provides a wonderful opportunity to serve as our youth are hosting Operation Nick Off. Email Colin Hills if you haven’t already signed up and want to see the many ways you can spread the love of God through acts of service!
And finally, a big thank you all the people that helped put this Advent Festival together! Cindy Hauser and Joe Marchant, Jenny and Emily Pickering, Wendy and Sophie Cone, Tanya Truitt, Jodi Dalton, and many more parishioners spent countless hours making this event a big success!