As I took down the Christmas tree from the United Church of Bernardston sanctuary on Epiphany 2016, I pondered how to decorate the next Christmas tree. We had used white twinkle lights, which I enjoyed seeing each Advent Sunday, but I had heard complaints that there were no decorations with the lights. Would I decorate the Christmas tree with stars? What would I like to see next to the twinkle lights each Advent Sunday? Would I decorate the tree with nativity scenes to be seen each Advent Sunday? During the pondering, I realized that this tree I would be decorating would be seen more often during Advent, not Christmastide. I’ll decorate an Advent tree, not a Christmas tree. Has that ever been done before? Who cares? I would create the first-ever (as far as I know) Advent tree.
I brainstormed about Advent tree decorations that night and thought about what the kids would enjoy. At that time, my position centered around the children. What did I enjoy as a kid? How did my family decorate the tree? How did we celebrate at Newton Street School?
That’s it! In all grades before Fifth (when Mr. Kent taught us how to make needlepoint Christmas tree ornaments), we had made the same decoration every other kid had made in elementary school: paper chains.
We’re going to make a paper chain, like I did in elementary school. I needed to find a way to get the congregation involved. The members will do this … um … when? During a church service would be strange. If I could spread this over the weeks of Advent, the activity would not take much time during the service, but we wouldn’t have a completed chain until Christmas Eve. Perfect.
Perfect, because Advent is a time of preparation. We prepare by decorating our homes, buying gifts and mailing out cards. We prepare our minds and souls for the biggest celebration in the church year. (I prefer Easter, but that’s me.) We prepare our minds and souls by contemplating a different theme each week: hope, love, joy and peace. If I prepare correctly, the chain won’t be complete until Christmas Eve. One question remained: How do I get the themes onto the chain? It had been quite a night of brainstorming.
The next morning I got into church at the normal 7:30 a.m., knowing I had the office to myself until 9. The Advent tree thinking continued and I quickly figured out what to do: have the congregation members jot their thoughts onto strips of paper, from which I would staple the chain. Each week, people would complete a sentence to do with the theme, and on Christmas Eve, the theme would go with the Christ candle, which would be lit for the first time since last Christmastide.
The sentences:
I hope for …
I show love by …
I find joy in …
I find peace …
I find Christ …
During my Message For All Ages, Sunday school students discussed with me how they would complete the sentence. The youngsters handed out the paper strips and fetched the completed strips for me. I retreated (with stapler in hand) to the back of the church to make the chain. The next morning, I connected that chain to what was already on the tree. After four Advent Sundays and two Christmas Eve services, the UCB Advent tree was ready (just in time) to be a Christmas tree.
Before I took this tree down, I wrote down all the completed sentences and shredded the strips, which would be used to start the sugaring fire the day of UCB Youth Group’s annual maple sugaring trip. The completed sentences were compiled into an Advent guide penned by … well … United Church of Bernadston churchgoers.
UCB is a federate congregation of the United Methodist Church and United Church of Christ. Its services can be seen on its Facebook page each Sunday morning at 10:30 a.m. You are invited to worship with us. For an electronic copy of the UCB Advent Tree Study Guide, email us at ucbernardston@gmail.com.