Advent
What is Advent?
Advent is four weeks long and marks the beginning of the Church year. The first Sunday of Advent is always four Sundays before Christmas, which means it could be as early as 27 November.
The word ‘advent’ literally means ‘coming’ and it is a time of reflection on the coming of Christ into the world at his birth. It is also a time of preparation when we think about the second coming of Christ and what we need to do to be ready for his return.
It is a season of expectation and preparation. Church decorations are simple and sparse, and purple is the traditional colour used. Advent falls at the darkest time of the year, and the natural symbols of darkness and light are powerfully at work throughout Advent and Christmas.
The Advent Wreath
The Advent wreath is usually a circle of greenery with five candles rising from it. There are four candles on the outside that are purple (sometimes one is pink) and the candle in the middle is white. The candles are lit in the same order each week so that by the fourth week, the candles have burnt down by different amounts. (The pink candle can be lit on the third Sunday, known as Gaudete or ‘Rose Sunday’.)
Activities at St Peter’s during Advent
Posada
30 November – 24 December
Will Mary and Joseph visit your home this Advent? ‘Posada’ is a Christmas activity, where small versions of Mary and Joseph travel around different households in the community and stay there for one night. If you would like to host our mini Mary and Joseph for a night during Advent, please sign up on the sheet at the back of church.
Advent Carol Service
30 November
There will be an Advent Carol Service in St. Peter’s at 6pm on Sun 30th Nov. Do come along as we begin this season of waiting.
Advent Compline & Reflections
There will be 4 special services of Compline, followed by refreshments and reflection, in the Church Cottages, from 7-8pm on Tuesday 2nd, 9th 16th and 23rd December.
St Nicholas Toy Service
This is a family friendly service where we think about the life of one of Jesus’ followers, a saint, called Nicholas, who was a bishop at Myra, in Turkey, and in whose memory we will make an offering of toys for children in need this Christmas.
There is an ancient tradition on the feast of St. Nicholas of dressing a child as a bishop as a sign that in God’s kingdom the powerful are humbled and the humble are raised up. A child from the congregation will be dressed as Bishop Nicholas and they will assist with the service.
Crib Decorating
Parish Carol Singing
Mon 22nd Dec, 6.30pm
Please come along at 6.30pm to the bottom of Vineries Close for mulled wine/hot chocolate and mince pies, after which we will start singing from 7pm, to be finished by 8.45pm. The collection will be for The Children’s Society. Do come and join in!
Christmas
Have a green Christmas!
- 21 Online Shops For Eco-Friendly Presents
- Our twelve tips for a greener Christmas – A Rocha UK
- Shop locally for Eco-friendly Christmas gifts e.g. at The Natural Grocery Store or Foodloose
- Choose Fairtrade gifts
- Source your Christmas outfit from a charity shop or dress agency
Epiphany
Epiphany season starts on 6th January (12 days after Christmas Day). It is a special date for the Church as we remember how a star led the Magi – also known as the Three kings or the Wise Men – to visit the baby Jesus after he had been born.
Special services at St Peter’s after 25th December
Epiphany Sunday – We Three Kings
Candlemas – Christingle
Falling exactly 40 days after Christmas Day, on 2 February, Candlemas marks the end of Epiphany. Candlemas also marks the Presentation of Christ in the Temple, when the baby Jesus was offered to his Father and revealed as the future Saviour of all people.
The festival is called Candlemas because traditionally this was the day that all the Church’s candles for the year were blessed – and at St Peter’s, it is when the Christingle service takes place.
Christingles are oranges wrapped in red tape, decorated with dried fruit or sweets, with a candle on the top. The first Christingles date back to to the Moravian church in Germany, where at a children’s service in Marienborn in 1747, Bishop Johannes de Watteville looked for a simple way to explain the happiness that had come to people through Jesus, and created a symbol — the Christingle — to do this.
Each element of a Christingle has a special meaning and helps to tell the Christian story:
- The orange represents the world
- The red ribbon (or tape) symbolises the love and blood of Christ
- The sweets and dried fruit represent all of God’s creations
- The lit candle represents Jesus’s light in the world, bringing hope to people living in darkness.
