Many Protestant congregations adopted an Advent Candle Lighting ritual several decades ago. I don’t recall having one in our church when I was a child, but I do remember it feeling like a special part of the December services when I would return from university for the holidays in the late 70s. Perhaps they became popular as we entered a more liturgical moment in the life of the church, during the conversations with the Anglican Church of Canada which took place in the late 1960s. I amuse myself by believing those talks ground to a halt with the publication of the red Hymnbook in 1971. United Church members rolled their eyes at the pomposity of the Anglican tunes and Anglicans scoffed at the pedestrian singalong-songs the United Church presented with. And ne’er the twain shall meet, as the saying goes. I like to think that we in the UCC up-browed our music after that and the Anglicans made theirs a bit more accessible, but I’m sure neither thing happened in any coordinated way.
One of my favourite tunes in that collection is the powerful The King’s Majesty, written by Graham George, our next door neighbour in my growing up years, and published in the Hymnbook to accompany the words of Ride On! Ride On! In Majesty. It is so beautifully powerful. When Michael George performed a concert at West Hill to raise funds for our refugee sponsorship, I wrote new words to the tune and we struggled through it the next morning in the service. It’s a challenge to sing, I must say, so I don’t think I’ve shared the words yet.
The United Church did get more liturgical, however, in what is sometimes referred to as the liturgical renewal movement. Like most renewals, it took place because we believed we weren’t having enough impact. Beginning in 1964, church attendance began to drop off in Canada and that trend has never reversed. Perhaps emphasizing the liturgy – or creating one in a denomination that was pretty informal up until then – was a way to remind ourselves that we were distinct and different from the culture around us. Rather than look just like them, we felt we needed to do something a little different, something that felt special, meaningful, sacred, even. So lighting the Advent Wreath crept into the relatively non-liturgical spaces like the United Church and became a favourite element both there and in many other Protestant denominations around the world.
This is a resource written many years ago. Please feel free to adapt it in any manner that makes it work in your situation.
Advent Candle Lighting Readings
© 2008 gretta vosper
Hope
As this season of “sparkle and bright”
unfolds before us,
the glimmering promises of hope
lie like boxed jewels awaiting an adoring light.
May we hold fast to hope’s patient possibilities.
May we lift them high
that they might catch the light of our dreams
and shine bright in our broken world.
And may we instil hope’s challenge
in the hearts of our children
that they, too, will live it into meaning –
pouring their lives, as we do ours,
into making it real –
for themselves, for each other, for the world.
Light candle, then:
May Hope light the world this Christmas.
Peace
As this season of “sparkle and bright”
unfolds around us,
the silent prayers of peace
lie like stars hidden in a clouded night,.
May we inspire the world with peace.
May we touch it to our lives
that in every place of stress, frustration, or fear,
we might feel the presence of peace
easing our hearts
and transforming our lives.
And may we share the its healing power
with our children,
that they might become the inspiration
through which peace makes its way
to a new yet-dreamt-of world.
Light candle, then:
May Peace light the world this Christmas.
Joy
As this season of “sparkle and bright”
unfolds around us
the transforming wonders of joy await discovery
like shimmering sugar crystals on a favourite treat.
May we create joy
in all our surroundings
as we share gifts, meals, and simple pleasures
with family and friends.
May the easy gift of a smile
bring the power of joy’s touch
to those we meet through these busy days.
And may we experience the joy of this season
as through with the eyes and hearts of children
that we might be transfixed
by the power of what could be.
Light candle, then:
May Joy light the world this Christmas.
Love
As this season of sparkle and bright
unfolds around us,
the welcome beauty of love is found,
woven into the simplicity and complexity of every moment.
May love flow from our hearts
with abundance
filling every moment
with the season’s gifts of hope and peace and joy.
May it be shared truly and deeply
that all who encounter it
be charged with its message
and become, themselves,
the agents of love.
And may our children,
who love without reckoning,
teach us the truth of this most precious gift:
we are nothing without each other.
Let us live, then, in the blessing of love.
Light candle, then:
May Love light the world this Christmas.
Celebration
As we find ourselves wrapped
in the season of wonder and light,
the astonishment that is life ignites our spirits,
and we feel,
if merely for a moment,
that we are as we were meant to be.
May we hold fast to this sliver of mystery,
this truth upon which we set the whole of who we are.
May we call ourselves back to it
time and again,
until we are filled with the wonder that is our life–
its hope, its peace, its joy, its love.
Infused, then, with all that we are,
may our energies be given
to the transformation of this world–
from despair into hope;
from darkness into light;
from fear into love.
May we be bold .
May we be daring.
May we be love.
Light candle, then:
Love lights the world this Christmas!
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