Home Worship Planning Seasons & Holidays Advent Wreath and Crèche Readings: Advent 2

Advent Wreath and Crèche Readings: Advent 2

There are two segments to our observance of Advent. The first is "building the crèche" — adding characters each Sunday to the crèche scene. The second is lighting the candles of the Advent Wreath. To do this, we have two households involved each Sunday: a Crèche Household and a Wreath Household.

The hope is that each person in the household will have something to do. A household of a single person means that person does the entire segment. Households with children should help each child do something. (There are several boxes available, so someone shorter can be seen.) Each of the "Wreath Household says" segments offers an opportunity for a different person to have a part. As many different readers as possible should be used. Children, youth, and adults will do better with practice out loud — at home and in the sanctuary. Participants may come between twenty to forty minutes before the service and walk through the part. The sound technicians help participants get used to the microphone. For the 10:00 a.m. service, we try to have the chancel clear of people by fifteen minutes prior to the beginning of the service. Participants should sit on an aisle so they can get to the chancel area quickly. Every person should speak clearly, slowly, and above a normal speaking volume.

Directions

Both households will be called up by one of the pastors, who will say: "Will those who will assist us in our observance of Advent, please come forward."

The Crèche Household should go directly to the crèche and stand behind it. The Wreath Household should go directly to the lectern (where the Scripture is read from at the 10:00 service).

Crèche Household: Take Joseph from behind the table and hold the figure in front of you so the congregation can see it (more than one person can hold the figure). Follow the directions of the pastor as she or he speaks about the character and then asks that it be placed in the scene. After the characters are in place, stand while the candles in the Advent Wreath are lit.


Wreath Household: Upon arriving at the lectern, make sure each person is where he or she is comfortable and can be seen. Wait for the crèche characters to be placed. When the pastor says: "Now we continue with the lighting of the candle on the wreath," you say the words in the script below:

Script

Wreath Household says: Today we light the second Advent candle.

Wreath Household says: Let us pray.
O God of our ancestors, you stand as a sign for the people;
O sovereign of all the earth:
Come and release from prison those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death. Amen.

Wreath Household says: The first candle reminded us of hope. The second Advent candle is the candle of peace — the peace we seek in our hearts as we await the coming of Christ and peace on earth as announced by the angels.

Wreath Household (even more slowly and distinctly) says: May the light of hope and peace burn brightly in our hearts all our days.

Now The Wreath Household moves from the lectern to the wreath and, using the lighter provided, lights a second blue candle. (The first candle should already be burning.) A member of the household will put the lighter out by pulling the wick down into the wand and placing the extinguished lighter into the middle of the wreath. (Nothing should be said during this time.)

Both Crèche and Wreath Households: The organ will begin playing. As the music begins, both households leave the chancel and return to their places in the sanctuary.


Copyright © 2005 Preston Price. Published by Discipleship Ministries.

Contact Us for Help

View staff by program area to ask for additional assistance.

Related


Subscribe

* indicates required

This is a bi-monthly email where you’ll receive the highest quality resources to support your disciple-making process. Everything from Helpful Articles, New Webinar Series and Podcasts, Discounted Teaching Series, and so much more!

Please confirm that you want to receive email from us.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. For information about our privacy practices, please read our Privacy Policy page.

We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By clicking below to subscribe, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing. Learn more about Mailchimp's privacy practices here.