Advent Wreath-Making and Soup Supper — Sunday, 3 December

For Dinner:
-Please bring a soup or dessert to share!

For the wreath-making, please bring the following materials:

-A pre-made greenery wreath.
-4 candle bases that stick into the wreath, 4 candles
-Whatever you wish to decorate it with: Any color scheme you like—gold, silver, copper, red, burgundy, white, cream, purple, pink and ribbons, bows, garlands, ornaments, beads, buttons, sea shells, figurines, small toys, cookie cutters, candy canes, dried fruit, cinnamon sticks, nuts, pine cones
-Tools needed: hot glue gun, scissors, wire cutters, garden clippers.  An old sheet or tablecloth would also be handy to contain most of the mess and make our cleanup easier.

A Brief History of the Advent Wreath

The origin of the Advent Wreath as an Advent tradition dates back to the Lutheran church following the Reformation and symbolized the coming of Jesus Christ—the Light of the world. The form we use today in churches throughout the world developed more recently.

The Advent wreath, four candles on a wreath of evergreen, is shaped in a perfect circle to symbolize eternal life. In some churches, four purple candles, one for each week in Advent, are used with one larger white candle in the middle as the Christ candle. Other churches prefer three purple or blue candles with one candle being rose or pink, to represent joy.

During each Sunday of the Advent season, we light a candle to focus on what Jesus brings us: hope/expectation, peace, joy, and love. The fifth candle, the Christ candle, is lit on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day reminding us that Jesus is the Light of the world: Jesus is born. Jesus has come. Jesus is our salvation.

The wreath continually reminds us of whom we are called to be as followers of Jesus.