Second Advent


We had a Service of the Word yesterday (no Holy Communion), and the whole congregation got a "sermon" suitable for children. I laid the altar to look similar to a focal shelf. (The underlay is in fact a chalice veil!)


And I told the first two sections of the Godly Play Advent lesson. I encouraged everyone to move closer to the front for this, and almost everyone did. Only one adult chose to sit on the floor, though. 




All our (Finnish Lutheran) lectionary readings had themes of Waiting &/or Getting Ready, so we wanted this lesson to lead into a meditative time of singing the Taiz� chant, "Wait for the Lord". For that reason, I swapped the order of the script a little, talking about the need to get ready for the Mystery of Christmas after I had presented the two plaques. 






It took three tries to "change the light" of the second candle. This child found it hard to WAIT long enough for the flame to die beneath the snuffer. 

(Many thanks to his mother, for taking most of these photographs!)

I've added some old Christmas cards to the art supplies we have on hand. (Several of them were donated to our cause by congregants last winter!) 





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