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During the season of Advent, we listen to familiar biblical promises and callings and anticipate the coming of Jesus into God's story and into our own stories here and now. In our weekly worship themes, We watch & wait in Hope. We live & proclaim Peace. We rejoice & trust in Joy. We receive & bless with Love. How will you mark this season of anticipation with your own practice of watching and waiting? Here are some ideas...

Prayer & Reflection

Sacred Advent is a daily email prayer break with Scripture and related reflections, with suggestions for further exploration. Sacred Advent is based on Sacred Space—the trusted online prayer site by the Irish Jesuits.

LEAD (Living Every day As Disciples) offers another daily email - Advent Intentions to reflect upon at the start of your day.

Everday Abbey offers God's Hospitality, simple questions for weekly reflection on Scripture and ways to respond on the theme of becoming vulnerable to being welcomed by others. 

Common Prayer, a liturgy for ordinary radicals is daily prayer you can follow year-round.

Goshen College faculty, staff, and students conutribute to daily Advent (and Lent) devotionals, based on the lectionary Scriptures, that you can receive by email or read on their website.

Jan Richardson invites people to a contemplative Advent of art, music, and reflection through Illuminated: An online journey into the heart of Christmas.

CommonWord at Mennonite Church Canada has many options of books to borrow for the Advent season, and some resources can also be found in the HMC prayer room.

Listen to the new Advent & Christmas songs we'll be learning and singing in HMC worship this season in anticipation of our new Voices Together hymnal.

Great for Kids (and adults)

Advent-At-Home is a booklet produced each year by Mennonite Church Canada, matching our worship themes, and designed with families with young children in mind.

The Jesus Storybook Bible has a free downloadable Advent guide that includes printable ornaments and activity ideas.

Christine Sine at her Godspace blog has lots more ideas for doing Advent with children, like Advent colouring pages, an ADVENTure prayer walk, and lots of calendars or wreaths.

Here are some ideas for Advent stories for children and Christmas story books for children.

Advent Calendars

Advent Calendars aren't only filled with chocolate, you can download one here (and adapt it) that encourages meaningful practices through the season, or colour your own here. Watch this video at Simplistic Happiness for a creative, versatile Advent calendar full of meaningful family activites. Or use some of these ideas for an Acts of Kindness Advent calendar.

#AdventWord is a global, online Advent calendar, offering meditations and images to connect to daily Advent themes, and to which you can add your own images using the hashtag #AdventWord and the word of the day.

A Reverse Advent Calendar is a daily practice of generosity. Instead of receiving chocolate, you give a gift of food each day to count down until Christmas, and then donate it all to a Food Bank, like the one at Welcome Inn. You could also practice this Advent of Gratitude, donating your gathered money to Welcome Inn or somewhere else.

Giving

There are many more ways to enter into the generosity of the season. For example, supporting the Christmas giving suggestions of organizations like MCC and MEDA. 

In Advent worship at HMC, the children will be collecting for our annual Advent Giving Project. This year we will support 541 Eatery & Exchange. Click here for details!