Most of us never thought we’d be talking about our second Advent in a pandemic, but here we are. Many ministry leaders are far-past burnt out by this point and dreaming up anything even remotely new is far from practical for others.
That’s why we’re excited to bring to you seven new-to-you Advent Ideas for 2021 based on the practices of other leaders in Advent 2020.
Click here for the video version of this post!
A note about these ideas:
First, we didn’t come up with any of them! Let’s give credit where credit is due.
Speaking of credit, while we will link up credit to each of these communities, we wanted to note that almost half of them are not progressive spiritual communities.. You know, the type of communities we try to help the most here at Digivangelism!
While we almost held off on sharing any non-progressive community examples, in the end we decided we’d rather spread the word about what has been possible for others and hope that progressive communities are able to adapt it properly for their theology.
May there be even more progressive examples to look back on next year. More importantly, may we not need them (you know, because Covid-19 and all its variants are well in the past by that point).
Advent Idea # 1 Create an Advent Spotify Playlist for Your Community
The free music app, Spotify, allows you to make and share music playlists by all sorts of popular artists. What better way to connect your people than to have them singing the same songs all throughout the Advent season?
The Bridge’s Young Adult group, based in Markham, Ontario did just this in Advent 2020.
Check out the introductory Instagram video where they describe this “special immersive experience” that they curated for their group.
If Spotify seems too niche for your particular community, consider doing the same thing with YouTube!
Advent Idea # 2 Create an Online Advent Calendar
In our research, we discovered multiple congregations that used the online Advent Calendar creator, MyAdvent.
On their site they say you can, “upload photos, voice messages and videos to create your personal & free online advent calendars to share with friends and loved ones!”
And we know how you ministry folks love a free option!
Consider creating one for your congregation or challenging members to create and share their own with one another.
Advent Idea # 3 Attend a Virtual Pilgrimage
Yes, WHAT!? It is true.
St. Martin’s-in-the-Field offered a virtual journey following in Jesus’ footsteps – all in app-form.
While registration for the 2020 groups is now closed, you can still download the app for the tour and make use of the guidebook they carefully crafted.
Why reinvent the wheel making your own virtual pilgrimage when you can engage opportunities like this with your community and chat about it afterward?
With Apple Reviews like “Good for the soul!” and “fabulous Advent journey!” it sure sounds worth engaging and sharing.
Consider making it your own by scheduling a Zoom call or creating a Marco Polo group for your community to share reflections as they take their virtual journey.
Advent Idea # 4 Download New Advent Music
Maybe what you need to shake things up this season is some new tunes.
If that sounds up your alley, Worldmaking Publishing has curated a selection of 13 community songs for Advent longing and joy.
With the download you also receive
— Piano scores
— Lead sheets
— Vocal harmony parts
— Chord charts
— Melody lines for slides/bulletin (jpg)
— High quality mp3 recordings
— Instrumental tracks
— ppt lyric slides, ready for your formatting
As they say on their site, that’s everything your musicians, worship designers and projection/bulletin people need for all 13 songs.
Please note that you must have a CCLI, OneLicense.net or Worldmaking.net license to use these songs.
Advent Idea # 5 Make an Advent Luminary
Ministry leader, Sarah V. posted this Advent Luminary in a Facebook group we are members of in 2020.
This is an easy craft which your people (young and old!) could be encouraged to make at home with minimal provided supplies.
Sarah posted it with explanations of both the wreath and the candle, which you could either send along with the instructions or create a personalized video for each week they are asked to light the candle.
It may not replace the typical in-person Advent wreath that many of us are used to seeing in our communities, but knowing others in your community have created their own luminaries will surely bring hope and light into dark spaces.
Advent Idea # 6 Share Modern Advent Postcards or Ornaments
Ministry leader, Jason F. shared their Among Us themed Advent postcards in another Facebook group that we are members of.
This is a great reminder that we can use modern or popular imagery in our Advent mailings, posts, and sermons.
Give some buy-in to your community by asking them to challenge you with what game/show/theme your focus should be for 2021. Once you’ve found your topic, consider asking more artistic members to come up with some material for sharing on various platforms.
Advent Idea # 7 Film a Daily Advent Video to Share
Grimsby Baptist Church, based in the UK, was extra ambitious in Advent 2020, making and posting a daily Advent video from one of their members.
While we did not watch all of these videos, a quick view of their YouTube playlist tells us that they stuck with this practice throughout the entire season.
As a ministry who also posted daily videos throughout Advent 2020 [see Digivangelism’s Vlogmas 2020 playlist here], we must say this is super impressive. Posting a daily video is one thing, to coordinate with all of the people they needed to to make this happen is something else entirely.
Looking at the amount of views that they received on many of these, it seems like it was well worth it for them. If this idea interests you, we would recommend you start planning for it and contacting those who you want to speak on camera, like, today.
Let’s get started.
These were some exceptional ideas for 2020, but it’s 2021 now. Our digital ministry skills have been refined quite a bit over twelve months.
What will you try that goes beyond what is listed here?
Give us a shout if you want to spread the word about it – as you know, we sure love lifting up progressive leaders of spiritual communities who are sharing hope, healing, and light online.