Advent take home pack for families
I have been working with Jillian Ross from Queensland Synod. In talking about resources, she shared her great idea for a family Advent pack that she offered in 2016. We have taken her amazing work and added some pretty bits to it so that it all matches. Our prayer is that you will be able to use some of these resources and ideas as you work with families for Christmas.
In the pack they often include a Christmas story book but also a great collection of other things.
In your Advent Take Home Pack you will find:
- A Conversation Mat – this mat is designed to be placed in the centre of the table at meal times – one side has table graces the other side has Faith talk questions and statements which will help begin some conversation around the dinner table. Prepare for one meal each day to be when all the members of your household will be there, maybe even take the phone off the hook to avoid interruptions or those pesky telemarketers, turn the television and radio off and just spend this time sharing great food and conversation with each other.
- An Advent Wreath Pack – this pack will have supplies and instructions to make your very own family Advent Wreath, you can add to it whatever other decorations you like using the creative juices of all members of your family.
- A gift to open each week of Advent – This gift contains an Advent Devotion for the week and activity sheets – this includes a suggested guide for a weekly devotional together using the Advent wreath that has been made at the beginning of the season. It has a focus bible reading printed and refers you to the other bible passages that you might hear when you gather at church on the Sundays during Advent.
- Family Service Fridge Magnet – Here is a list of suggestions for your family to consider as ways that you might serve others as a part of your preparation for Christmas, these are only suggestions, you might like to brainstorm together some other ways.
Why not have a sneak peak at her full Advent booklet with other great ideas of what you could include.
One idea they included, which I loved, was to ask the older members of the congregations to write a prayer for a family to be included in the pack. Here’s an idea for a template you could use.
We have updated her Advent family devotions guide, which includes a collection of readings, questions, prayers and activities you can do as a family.
I have included Jillian’s original Family Devotions so you can edit as you like!
Just to finish it all off we have created an editable bag label so that it all matches!
This is an amazing collection of resource ideas. They might not all be for you or your community, but hopefully they will inspire you to reach out to the families in your community. Don’t forget to include the Baptismal families!
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Karen Mitchell-Lambert is ordained in the ministry of Deacon and is the team leader of PULSE.
