by Jeremy Bellsmith, Team Member, The Vine

Christian education is an everyday affair. The opportunity to learn continues after church school on Sunday, and families have more opportunities to demonstrate Christ’s gospel in their homes than most Christian educators will ever have. Seasons like Advent are the perfect times to equip and empower adults and caregivers to nurture Christian formation in the home.

For my own family, we drew on resources that our church was producing this past Advent and integrated them with some of the things we normally do in the season. For example, an Advent calendar helped our family focus on the purpose of Advent, preparing our hearts as we got our home ready for Christmas. On top of the usual chocolates, we gathered 25 activities, many of them listed below. We wrote these on slips of paper and placed them inside a series of small wooden boxes we bought from a local bookstore.

Others have taken these slips, looped them and made them into an Advent chain to be used in decorating. Reasonably priced family resources such as Advent calendars, chains and devotion booklets are available from Creative Communications for the Parish at www.creativecommunications.com. Churches can provide such resources for families to help them nurture faith in the home.

Here are some of the things we adopted for our Advent season.

Create an Advent wreath. We used artificial evergreen sprigs, or picks, arranging them around votive candles. The wreath became a place to gather and talk about the theme of that week. It’s great to use with an Advent devotional, too.

Decorate with meaning. Each time we placed decorations around the house, it was an opportunity to talk about what they meant. Here are some examples:

• Evergreens. Because they do not lose their colour in the winter, these branches can remind us of everlasting life.
• Wreath. A circle symbolizes eternity, so a circle of evergreen boughs reminds us of the new, abundant and eternal life Christ has brought.
• Candles. A lit candle reminds us of Jesus’ words in John 8:12, “I am the light of the world,” and of Simeon’s declaration in Luke 2:32 that Jesus was “a light to reveal God to the nations” (New Living Translation).
• Stars, whether on the tree or in decorations, remind us of the star the Magi followed to worship the newborn king.
• Gifts remind us of the gift Jesus is to us, and of the gifts the Magi brought to the Christ child.
• Angels remind us of the angels who announced Christ’s birth to the shepherds.
• And more… There are lots of places to find ways of explaining holiday customs, including
  • In Straw and Story: Christmas Resources for Home and Church (Joyce Miller, The Brethren Press, 1977)
  • Legends and Traditions of Christmas: Revised (Trudy West Revoir, Judson Press, 1998)

Tell the Christmas Story. We tell it over and over again, taking a moment to set up the nativity scene each time. Try reading it directly from a translation like the Good News Bible. For children, you may want to read from an appropriate book such as The Family Story Bible (Ralph Milton, Northstone Press, 1996) or 365 Bible Stories (Mary Batchelor, Lion Children’s Books, 1995). Contact your national church’s resource centre for a good recommendation. We found that as we used the same version each time, our kids began to fill in the spaces. They were learning to tell us the Christmas story as they acted it out with the nativity scene figures.

Go shopping at home. We went on a hunt throughout our cupboards to find food items we could collect for the food bank. It was especially meaningful when we made it a family event, inviting our kids to help choose food and travel with us to drop it off.

Tell the story of St. Nicholas. If you don’t have a copy, borrow one from your local library.

Watch your favourite version of A Christmas Carol, complete with popcorn or snacks. A Charlie Brown Christmas is another great option for both children and grown-ups. Invite someone who is often alone to share the experience with you. Afterwards, go on a hunt for toys, furniture, canned goods or other things that can be given to others in need.

Take time to do some Christmas Baking with family or friends. Set aside some of it for people who are often alone or for friends you haven’t seen in a while.

Prepare a takeout party for someone you haven’t seen in a while. Place hot chocolate, cookies, napkins, cups, a book, and a game or video into a basket. Take the party to the person’s home and spend the evening enjoying it together.

Give a child some money to help the less fortunate. Letting little ones place a few coins in the kettle and explaining to them where the money goes will help them learn about where the joy of Christmas comes from.

Do a Christmas book exchange with another person or family and make an event of it. We shared dessert with our friends, and then each family took turns reading the book they received to the children, giving the rest of us a chance to listen as our gift was enjoyed.

Learn a blessing. Over the holidays last year, my daughter learned the Aaronic blessing (Numbers 6:24–26) as a part of our bedtime routine. Many blessings can be found in scripture or devotional books, and memorized as a holiday project. Contact your national church’s resource centre for suggestions.

Invite a friend who is often alone to go shopping, to participate in a Christmas craft or baking project, or to just take in the sights and sounds of the season.

Make a creative gift, such as a redeemable chore coupon, hug coupons, or homemade tickets for an outing. Get creative with wrapping as well. Make gift tags from last year’s Christmas cards. Have children draw Christmas pictures on plain white paper and use it for wrapping gifts.

Do something unexpected for your neighbours. Shovel their walk; take them a plate of Christmas baking; walk their dog; or offer to help clean their house for Christmas guests.

These are just some ways my family and I tried to expand or re-conceive some of our usual activities into embodiments of the love and joy we celebrate at Christmas. By doing so, we are continuing the learning that happens on Sundays. As Christian educators focus on equipping people for even a few of these activities each year, we empower the people we serve to continue nurturing Christian faith in the home.

Jeremy Bellsmith has spent 15 years in congregational work with a focus on worship and family ministry. He now serves in The Vine, The Presbyterian Church in Canada’s national resource centre. He and his family live in Oshawa, Ontario.

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