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Chalice and Advent Wreath on UU chancel.

A chalice and advent wreath share the altar at Starr King UU Church in Hawyard, CA.

Advent is a season of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the nativity of Jesus. The name derives from the Latin adventus, meaning "coming." Marked over the course of the four Sundays before Christmas, Advent is traditionally celebrated with an advent wreath: a ring of evergreen with three purple candles and one pink one (or four purple candles) that represent: Hope, Love, Joy (pink) and Peace.

(In Eastern Orthodox churches, which use the Julian calendar, Advent begins earlier and lasts 40 days rather than four weeks.)

Faith Without Borders

For everything there is a season—a time to die and a time to be born. With the arrival of winter’s low dark sky, communities around the world look to the miracle of light as a sign of rebirth and a source of hope. We celebrate the promise of new life and recommit ourselves to the protection of everyone’s right to his or her own radiant humanity.

Celebrating the winter holidays, thus, is an excellent opportunity for Unitarian Universalist congregations to express their commitment to our Sixth Principle: We covenant to affirm and promote the goal of world community with peace, liberty and justice for all. See Sixth Principle Resources for winter holidays.

Unitarian Universalist Perspectives

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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11

  • A glowing paper star lantern appears to hang in a window, with a winter scene outside.
    Advent is about the new story being written in our lives.
    Quote | By Jes Kast | September 10, 2020 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Advent, Christianity, God, Hope, Spirituality, Vulnerability, WorshipWeb, Worship
  • An assortment of brightly colored holiday sweaters, in profile, lined up as they hang together
    An adequate Christmas would have you calm and open, taking it in, accepting whatever is. Slow it all down like you might be, in some way, attuned to the pace of the Eternal. If you need, you can fake it at first.
    Reflection | By Jake Morrill | November 29, 2017 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Advent, Balance, Challenge, Choice, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Courage, Direct Experience, Family, God, Self-Care, Spiritual Practice, Spirituality, Thanksgiving, Winter Solstice / Yule
  • With blurred multicolored Christmas lights in the background, a small Jesus-in-the-manger from a nativity scene is in half-light.
    I was talking to someone recently about the story of her church-going life, and she told me about a time in her life that she stopped coming to church. Many people who have a story about their church-going life also have a story about taking a break from church—when they stopped going, sometimes...
    Reflection | By Robin Bartlett | November 26, 2017 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Advent, Christianity, Despair, God, Hope, Inclusion, Presence
  • A hazy, pink-tinged photo of christmas lights in purple, green, and white
    Your first Christmas, your last Christmas, this Christmas, and the redemption of the whole world are all happening right now, forever.
    Meditation | By Quinn G. Caldwell | December 14, 2016 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Advent, Awe, Christianity, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Connections, Direct Experience, Family, Generations, God, Redemption, Spirituality, Tradition, Wonder
  • An icon of the black Madonna from St. Mary's church (Marienkirche) in Danzig.
    This hymn text was written to accompany the tune St. Louis, commonly known as "O Little Town of Bethlehem" (#246 in Singing the Living Tradition). O Holy Darkness, loving Womb, who nurtures and creates, sustain us through the longest night with dreams of open gates....
    Music | By Jann Aldredge-Clanton | December 12, 2016 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Advent, Anti-Oppression, Awe, Christianity, Christmas Eve / Christmas, God, Mystery, Winter Solstice / Yule, Wisdom, Women
  • A classic red Christmas ornament -- a glass ball -- sits shattered on a white surface.
    December 7, 2016 “Use loneliness. Its ache creates urgency to reconnect with the world.” — Natalie Goldberg I know a little about "merry" meeting "mess" at the holidays — and by a little I mean How much time have you got? Four Christmases ago, a painful break-up sent me spinning into a long...
    Reflection | By Erika Hewitt | December 7, 2016 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: Advent, Brokenness, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Commitment, God, Healing, Hope, Pain, Sadness, Spiritual Practice
  • Stained glass detail from the Dominican church of St Vincent Ferrer in New York, showing Jesus in a manger surrounded by Mary and Joseph.
    “‘God did it’ isn’t an explanation,” said Joseph. He got no account for the baby’s chromosomes, No description of the mechanism that Transmuted the divine shadow into royal blood. “‘The devil made me do it’ would have sounded better to me,” said Joseph, Though it never did him...
    Poetry | By Jim Burklo | December 6, 2016 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Advent, Christianity, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Faith, Family, God, Love, Mystery, Parents, Trust
  • A night sky with a band of stars
    This is the key to the mystery, The Word became flesh.
    Poetry | By Rebecca Ann Parker | December 1, 2016 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Advent, Awe, Body, Christianity, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Connections, God, Immanence, Sacred, Unitarian Universalism, Wonder
  • Figures from a nativity creche, including an adult figure gazing at the infant Jesus
    God has a fondness for what is fragile. This means us. Advent tells us that God came to us—and comes to us still—with complete vulnerability. Christ is to be found among what is fragile—including us, ourselves, when pain and loss have left us feeling less than whole. In coming to us as a...
    Reflection | By Jan Richardson | November 28, 2016 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Advent, Brokenness, Christianity, Christmas Eve / Christmas, God, Immanence, Relationships, Vulnerability
  • A line of evergreen trees, branches coated with snow, in a snowy field.
    God of life and beauty: We pray for the quietness of snowflakes, knowing that love is quiet. We pray for the kindness of small acts, knowing gentleness is fragile....
    Prayer | By Lucinda S Duncan | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Advent, Compassion, God, Kindness, Living Our Faith, Service, Unitarian Universalism, Vulnerability, Winter, Winter Solstice / Yule
  • Christmas candles
    Emmanuel means "God is with us." Who is your Emmanuel? Who is your "God is with us," the one you were promised, the one you have been waiting for? For the ancient prophet Isaiah, he was a boy soon to be born who would guide the people of Judah back to peace and harmony with God....
    Meditation | By Sarah Movius Schurr | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: Advent, Beauty, Belief, Christianity, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Direct Experience, God, Listening, Searching, Tradition, Transcendence, Winter Solstice / Yule, Wonder