At SFC the place we gather and the structure of our time together is not your typical Sunday morning church. However the ways we explore faith and the tools we use to grow as disciples come from the traditions of the church and the wisdom of the ages. We observe the church calendar, reflecting the seasons in our placemats and cloth napkins. For advent we change out our regular white votive candles for an advent candle set. We even decided this year to sing our prayer to the tune of O Come, O Come Emmanuel, which just happens to be one of my favorite hymns ever. Our theme over the next few weeks is the traditional theme of advent, last week we talked about hope and next Sunday we are focused on peace.
So much goodness has come through the years and the story of the church is one where ancient traditions and deep learnings are passed down in new ways to the coming generation. Our community is part of this long and rich legacy of adaptation and change. The church in the 1920’s was very different than the church of the 1950’s. Each era of church is just one expression of faith communities, made up of the cultural context, ancient tradition, and new practices.
Our goal is to bridge the gap between now and then, to bring forward the pieces of our faith tradition that nourish life today. Advent is one of those elements. We take great comfort in knowing that along with many others we light these candles and contemplate these themes as we train our eyes to see the in breaking of Christ in the world.
May your advent be rich with ancient tradition and fresh insights.
-Eilidh
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