Episcopal Church Foundation Vestry Papers - for leading congregations

Links to free Advent resources, including calendars and devotions; Advent wreaths and activities; St. Nicholas Day; and preparing for Christmas visitors at your church.

Advent Calendars 

2016 Advent Devotional Calendar - A beautiful, simple, and low tech calendar for Advent. Created and shared by Thomas Mousin and Merry Watters. Download, print, and share. 

#AdventWord: A Global Advent Calendar - Participate in the Anglican Communion's Global Advent calendar. Respond to a daily meditation with images and prayers that speak to your heart and be part of a global Advent calendar that brings people from around the world together. From the Anglican Communion and the Society of St. John the Evangelist. Downloadable resources for educators are also available.

Advent Calendar Templates - A CountUp to Christmas - Praying in Color offers free, downloadable Advent Calendar templates. While 2015 templates still showing 11.08.16, several of them could be used for any year.

Episcopal Relief & Development Advent Toolkit - provides tools and inspiration, including a calendar, to help plan and carry out an Advent program centered around Gifts for Life.

Episcopal Migration Ministries - EMM is offering weekly Advent Reflection videos, with a focus on the refugee resettlement work of the Episcopal Church.

Make Ready the Feast - Each day in Advent, the Episcopal Church will highlight one scripture citation and one recipe with additional background information on their social media channels and website.

Advent Wreaths, Traditions, and Activities

Advent Wreath Making and Prayers - Ideas and a guide for engaging the entire congregation in creating Advent wreaths along with printable prayers and reflections that individuals and families can take home and use during Advent candle lighting.

Advent Activities for Families and Kids - One of a variety of resource and activity lists available from Mustard Seed Associates, including, Celebrate with Simplicity This Christmas and Advent Candle Light Liturgy.

The Advent Wreath at Home - Ideas for making an Advent wreath at home and reflection questions for discussion.

King of Peace Advent Page - A parish resource page about the traditions of Advent, including Advent wreaths and Jesse Trees. 

List of Advent Resources - This comprehensive list from Anglicans Online includes many resources for Advent activities.

"Room at the Inn: Ideas for Celebrating Posadas - This short guide from Forward Movement, in English and Spanish, and webpage, provides a wealth of suggestions and resources for this Advent candlelight procession and celebrarion.

Preparing for Visitors

Advent Parish Checklist - Use this handy checklist for getting your church ready for visitors during Advent and Christmas. 

Amp Up Your Hospitality - We all know that you can’t judge a book by its cover, but first impressions DO matter and we use them.

Hospitality Matters: Seeing Our Buildings Anew - What people see – or don’t see – when entering your church can make a lasting impression.

Prepare the Way for Visitors - In Advent we prepare the way for the birth of Jesus, but are visitors going to be able to find their way to your congregation at Christmas?

St. Nicholas Day

Celebrating St. Nicholas - Activities, articles, recipes, and more from the St. Nicholas Center.

St. Nicholas Connecting the Past and the Present - Richelle Thompson shares what happened when St. Nicholas visited her congregation.

What is Advent? What does Christmas Mean?