Advent/Christmas worship services

Intergen Church Ministry and Worship Services 2017

 

 

Engage Together Advent 2020

This Advent resource is designed to assist and inspire churches with ways to adapt elements of a worship liturgy to be more intergenerational during Advent (Nov 29 – Dec 20, 2020). The resource is based on the lectionary readings but the ideas can be adapted to suit any Bible/theme focus.

There is also a fifth service included for Dec 27, 2020. This resource also includes 3 options for an Advent wreath litany (either using candles or water) and an Advent bunting activity to do for the church worship space and to also take home each Sunday of Advent. Intergenerational ideas with what to prepare, say and do are provided for each week’s call to worship, a song, prayers of confession, prayers of the people and a Bible reading.

This resource has been updated from the 2017 Advent resource that was written and produced in partnership across three Uniting Church Synods, including South Australia’s Intergenerational Team. Your feedback about this resource will be gratefully received. Please e-mail your comments to Melissa at Turn on Javascript!

Engage Together - intergenerational worship ideas for Advent 2017

This Advent resource is designed to assist and inspire churches with ways to adapt elements of a worship liturgy to be more intergenerational during Advent (Dec 3 – 24, 2017). The resource is based on the lectionary readings but the ideas can be adapted to suit any Bible/theme focus. There is also a fifth service included for Dec 31, 2017.

This resource also includes 3 options for an Advent wreath litany (either using candles or water) and an Advent bunting activity to do for the church worship space and to also take
home each Sunday of Advent.

Intergenerational ideas with what to prepare, say and do are provided for each week’s call to worship, a song, prayers of confession, prayers of the people and a Bible reading.

This resource has been written and produced in partnership across three Uniting Church Synods, including South Australia’s Intergenerational Team. Your feedback about this resource
will be gratefully received. Please e-mail your comments to Melissa at Turn on Javascript!

 

UnitingWorld’s Advent and Christmas resources 2016

The international aid agency of the Uniting Church,UnitingWorld, has produced resources designed to be used as a Call to Worship for each Sunday in Advent.  

“I have used the Uniting World resources and they were great,” says Laura Carson, Northern Intergen Project Worker.

  • Worship resources provides a Call to Worship, Advent wreath candle lighting liturgy, PowerPoint slides, short videos, stories and prayers.
  • Children’s play called “Follow the Light.”
  • Youth Group resources “Engagement Ideas” about becoming advocates for global change and “PNG Village Simulation Game” to experience life in a rural village
    and grapple with issues of poverty, development and our unique role as Christian global citizens.

Journeying Together this Christmas 2015

These notes have been prepared to help congregations plan worship that coordinates with the 2015 Uniting Church SA Christmas postcard campaign: ‘Journeying together this Christmas’.

The resource includes:

  • an article about Magi
  • general notes about all-age worship
  • suggested texts and songs relating to the theme
  • a completely scripted sample all-age worship service.

The sample Christmas worship sevice develops the postcard theme in several ways:

  • It is intentionally all-age, so that families can share the worship experience together.
  • It begins with a procession in which all worshippers journey together — following a star to the place of worship and to the One they worship.
  • In the service worshippers journey together with several people who experienced Jesus’ light and joy.
  • Like the postcards, the servicea has a star as a visual focus.

Celebrate and Reflect - 2014

Here is a resource for planning an all-age worship service for Christmas.. The resource coordinates with the Christmas 2014 postcard campaign of the Uniting Church in South Australia, but can be used apart from the campaign.

We all experience Christmas differently — some find cause for celebration, while others take time to reflect. No matter what they’re anticipating this Christmas, everyone is welcome at Christmas worship where people have an opportunity to celebrate and reflect. 

The CELEBRATE & REFLECT resource includes:

  • Some general notes about all-age worship including: what it is, why it’s important, how to plan it, how to incorporate different learning styles.
  • Some notes on Christmas worship, including: Bible texts, suggested songs and hymns, a suggested sermon, prayers and instructions for making a CELEBRATE 
  • & REFLECT Christmas bon bon.
  • A sample worship service

Download a PDF here:

Hope is Born - Christmas 2013

This resource packet is designed to help congregations plan worship that is interactive/intergenerational.

Hope is Born relates to this year’s UCSA Christmas postcard campaign.

Included in the packet are some general comments about all-age worship, notes on hope, symbols of hope, hope-themed songs, hope in Australia and hope-related agencies.
There is also a complete script of a sample worship service that looks at hope as a candle, a Saviour and a gift. 

 

Time for Christmas - an intergenerational Christmas worship resource

'There's no time like the present and no present like your time.' 

The Uniting Church's 2009 postcard promotion reminds us of two important aspects of Christmas: time and gifts. In today's world these can be contentious issues. We experience pressures about how we use our time and how we select (and pay for) gifts. 

The love can get lost. 

Here's a resource to help you plan a Christmas worship experience in which people can take some time out from the season's busy-ness and competitiveness and focus on Jesus, God's love in human flesh. 
Jesus, the greatest present of all time. 
There's no time like Christmas!

Download this resource for All-Age Worship produced by the Resource Centre for Children's and Family Ministry here:

Adorable — an intergenerational worship resource for Christmas.

Have you looked at the calendar for Christmas 2010? Christmas Eve is on Friday, Christmas Day on Saturday, and the following day is the Sunday after Christmas. Three days of worship in a row — or do you skip one of them? Or do you do something different for one of them?

Adorable is a simple worship service that can be adapted to an informal café setting on one of these occasions. The premise is that although all babies are adorable, only one baby was truly adore-able — worthy of being adored because he was God as well as a human being. The story of the birth of the adore-able Son of God is linked with the verses of the familiar carol 'O come, let us adore him'. The resource includes some general notes plus a complete worship order/script which you can use as is or adapt to your needs.

Four Gifts of Christmas - An intergenerational worship service for Advent or Christmas

CHRISTMAS and GIFTS seem to go together in everyone's mind. Here is planning resource for a service that celebrates four gifts of Christmas joy, hope, love and peace with people of all generations.

Three Christmas Trees - An intergenerational worship service for Advent or Christmas

If one Christmas tree is good, three Christmas trees must be even better. Here is a resource for planning an interactive worship celebration. It is built around three trees that point us to three aspects of the Good News of Christmas: Why the Christmas baby was born; Who the Christmas baby is and What the Christmas Baby does for us.

Merry Christmas, world.

May your world be full of peace this Christmas. Here is a selection of resources for all-age worship on the theme of peace. The document contains a reflection on 'what is peace'; a list of Bible verses about peace, a list of quotations about peace, a discussion of 'I heard the Bells on Christmas Day' (a song about Christmas peace), some peace symbols, a peace prayer, a script for telling the Christmas story, and a sample worship plan using some of these resources and more.

The theme was inspired by the Christmas 2011 prepared by UCSA's promotional postcard.