Advent

GSJ1967 · Dec 12, 2007

Quick question..is Advent celebrated by all Christian churches or just Lutheran?

synger · Dec 12, 2007

It's celebrated in Presbyterian churches. It's the beginning of the church year, and the liturgical colors and banners change. While Presbyterians are not AS liturgical as Lutherans, there is still a specific order to the worship service, and they follow the church year.

I believe other liturgical traditions also observe Advent, like Catholic, Orthodox, and Anglican/Episcopalian.

If you google "Baptist, advent" you get some hits that suggest that at least some of their churches celebrate Advent.

The home page of the United Methodist church shows links to "Advent Worship LItanies" and "Christmas and Advent Music and Lyrics"

A search from the Assemblies of God home page shows a few advent articles and suggestions, but they seem designed more to give you a new option rather than giving you tools for an already-established tradition.

For grins, I did a search from the UU home page... no hits of any real significance. No surprise there.

So, I'd say that yes, most traditional churches have some sort of Advent celebration... and that those who have gone away from the liturgical year probably don't do it regularly.

DaRev · Dec 12, 2007

The RCC and EO do observe Advent, but with different emphases. The Lutheran Church generally observes the season of Advent as a preparation for the coming of Christ, primarily His return on the Last Day. It is a season of hope and anticipation.
The RCC tend to focus more on repentance during the season, similar to Lent.
In the EO, the season is known as the Nativity Fast and runs 40 days (similar to Lent) from November 15 to Christmas Eve.

vle045 · Dec 14, 2007

DaRev said:
The RCC and EO do observe Advent, but with different emphases. The Lutheran Church generally observes the season of Advent as a preparation for the coming of Christ, primarily His return on the Last Day. It is a season of hope and anticipation.
The RCC tend to focus more on repentance during the season, similar to Lent.
In the EO, the season is known as the Nativity Fast and runs 40 days (similar to Lent) from November 15 to Christmas Eve.

I am in RCIA right now (learning about the Catholic Church for the sake of my hubby who is Catholic) and they actually teach that Advent is a preparation for the coming of Christ. I haven't heard anything about "Repentance".

DaRev · Dec 14, 2007

vle045 said:
I am in RCIA right now (learning about the Catholic Church for the sake of my hubby who is Catholic) and they actually teach that Advent is a preparation for the coming of Christ. I haven't heard anything about "Repentance".

In the RCC the season of Advent tends to take on a more solemn tone. Their liturgical colors are usually purple, which is the color that represents penitence. In the Lutheran Church the liturgical color for Advent is usually blue, which is a color of anticipation and hope.

GSJ1967 · Dec 14, 2007

How long is Advent? I thought I read something about it going until Jan. 6th...

How is Advent celebrated in your home?

filosofer · Dec 14, 2007

[FONT= "Book Antiqua"]
What's fascinating about this is that the traditional color for Advent has been purple, especially within the Lutheran Churches as well as RCC. The RCC was the first to move to blue about 30-40 years ago, which has slowly crept into the Lutheran circles.

So, historically for Lutherans, Advent focused on repentance and hope and joy, but purple was the color of Advent. (I was in my 30's before I ever saw liturgical paraments/styles that were blue)

[/font]

DaSeminarian · Dec 14, 2007

DaRev said:
In the RCC the season of Advent tends to take on a more solemn tone. Their liturgical colors are usually purple, which is the color that represents penitence. In the Lutheran Church the liturgical color for Advent is usually blue, which is a color of anticipation and hope.

Actually I have seen either blue or purple in the Lutheran church. I like the idea of blue better because the purple seems to be a carryover from the last weeks of the church year which is the last days and judgement.

GSJ said:
How long is Advent? I thought I read something about it going until Jan. 6th...

How is Advent celebrated in your home?

Advent goes until the Sunday right before Christmas. If Christmas day falls on a Sunday, the last Sunday of Advent would be Dec. 18. Christmas usually lasts 12 days (Dec 25-Jan 6) Epiphany is from Jan 6 through Ash Wednesday.

GSJ1967 · Dec 14, 2007

So Advent is celebrated more in conservative denominations rather than, say evangelical?

DaRev · Dec 14, 2007

filosofer said:
What's fascinating about this is that the traditional color for Advent has been purple, especially within the Lutheran Churches as well as RCC. The RCC was the first to move to blue about 30-40 years ago, which has slowly crept into the Lutheran circles.

So, historically for Lutherans, Advent focused on repentance and hope and joy, but purple was the color of Advent. (I was in my 30's before I ever saw liturgical paraments/styles that were blue)

It must vary by location. I was RC for the first 30 years of my life and I never saw blue used during Advent until I joined the Lutheran Church. I do know that the use of blue in the Lutheran Church is a relatively recent practice.

DaRev · Dec 14, 2007

GSJ1967 said:
How long is Advent? I thought I read something about it going until Jan. 6th...

How is Advent celebrated in your home?

Advent is the first season of the Church year and begins on the Sunday closest to the Feast of St. Andrew which is November 30th. It technically runs through December 23. There are four Sunday's in Advent.

DaSeminarian · Dec 14, 2007

GSJ1967 said:
So Advent is celebrated more in conservative denominations rather than, say evangelical?

The Evangelical community does not observe the Church calendar as closely as the more Orthodox denominations. They will observe Christmas and Easter, but for the most part do not emphasize Advent or Lent.

filosofer · Dec 14, 2007

Originally Posted by GSJ1967

So Advent is celebrated more in conservative denominations rather than, say evangelical?

[FONT="Book Antiqua"]
[/FONT][FONT="Book Antiqua"] The distinction is between liturgical and evangelical, not conservative and liveral.[/FONT][FONT="Book Antiqua"]

[/FONT]

vle045 · Dec 14, 2007

filosofer said:
[FONT= "Book Antiqua"]
What's fascinating about this is that the traditional color for Advent has been purple, especially within the Lutheran Churches as well as RCC. The RCC was the first to move to blue about 30-40 years ago, which has slowly crept into the Lutheran circles.

So, historically for Lutherans, Advent focused on repentance and hope and joy, but purple was the color of Advent. (I was in my 30's before I ever saw liturgical paraments/styles that were blue)

[/font]

I have no other experience with Advent until this year... so it is all new to me... But the RCC here uses purple for the first three weeks then pink for the 4th week.

I have never heard of any meaning being attached to the colors.... but I really haven't heard much about it at all... just learned of the term Advent this year.

DaRev · Dec 14, 2007

They use pink for the 4th week? Usually pink is for Gaudette Sunday which is the third week.

GSJ1967 · Dec 14, 2007

maybe I can find this info on the lcms website..but when do you light them? daily? weekly? all at once?

DaRev · Dec 14, 2007

If you are referring to the Advent candles, one is lit each week. One on the first Sunday, two on the second, three on the third (which includes the pink one if used) and all four on the fourth week.

LutheranChick · Dec 14, 2007

DaRev said:
It must vary by location. I was RC for the first 30 years of my life and I never saw blue used during Advent until I joined the Lutheran Church. I do know that the use of blue in the Lutheran Church is a relatively recent practice.

We still use purple at our church. I haven't been to any Advent services in any other ELS churches, so I don't know if anyone uses blue or not. I am sure it is up to the individual church, but we are so VERY traditional I would assume that more use purple. Because of course the word "change" is not in our vocabulary!

Mary of Bethany · Dec 14, 2007

DaRev said:
The RCC and EO do observe Advent, but with different emphases. The Lutheran Church generally observes the season of Advent as a preparation for the coming of Christ, primarily His return on the Last Day. It is a season of hope and anticipation.
The RCC tend to focus more on repentance during the season, similar to Lent.
In the EO, the season is known as the Nativity Fast and runs 40 days (similar to Lent) from November 15 to Christmas Eve.

This is true. The Nativity Fast is very much like the Lenten Fast, in that it has a focus on repentance and preparation for the Incarnation of Christ. It is a little "lighter" in tone, though. For instance, there are quite a few days that fish is allowed, which is not true in Lent. But it's not a time for parties and celebrations, either, which rather makes it hard in this society. For us, Christmas season begins on December 25th and lasts until Theophany (January 6th); whereas it seems like for most people (not talking about Lutherans or others who observe Advent) Christmas is over on the 25th!

I started observing a little bit for Advent even when I was a Baptist. I thought it was a great idea. And then when I became an Anglican, I was able to observe it more fully, like y'all do.

FYI, the Anglican emphasis is also on Christ's Incarnation and His Second Coming.

Mary

synger · Dec 14, 2007

At home, we have an advent calendar, and a wreath. We didn't get it out this year, but when we've used the wreath in the past we've lit the candle(s) for the week after dinner and done family devotions. Since we don't usually sit down for dinner as a family but a couple times a week, that was when we did it.

The advent calendar is similar, in that Gem gets to put the new animal/person for the day into the nativity scene, and we read a story from the Bible. I try to coincide it with the stories she's learning in Sunday school, so for instance last week it was about Elizabeth and John the Baptizer.

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