Tues., Nov. 23, 8 pm
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89536136785?pwd=OVlaa1JHaTI1OVZGQzgyNjBDWVkzdz09
ID: 895 3613 6785 Passcode: 522939
The Advent Conspiracy is a movement that started with a few pastors in 2006 who lamented that by the end of the Christmas season they were more exhausted than soulfully “filled up” by the season. In response, they came up with four tenets—Worship Fully, Spend Less, Give More, Love All—to guide themselves, their families, and congregations through the Advent season. They were conspiring to do things (especially Christmas gift-giving) more thoughtfully and intentionally.
Our culture and family traditions sometime lead us to buy more junk, spend more money, and ultimately trash more items than we would like, but it’s hard to swim against the tide that says we need to buy more and do more come Advent and Christmas. It can be especially hard when there are long-time family rituals involved (“every cousin is expected to buy a gift for every other cousin, because that’s how we’ve always done it”) and/or when there are children in the picture (we naturally want to give children gifts, but do they really need so many things under the Christmas tree??).
If you’ve ever had a desire to make changes for how you do Christmas gift-giving so that you can focus more on the reason for the season and less on the stuff of the season, then join us next Tues., Nov. 23, 8 to 9 pm on Zoom (see link above), for a discussion and brainstorming session for how we might conspire together to do Christmas differently this year.
Historically, some families have found it helpful to start discussions about making changes at Thanksgiving, before all the gift-buying begins, especially if you have the chance to gather as a family. Anyone is welcome, especially parents who want ideas and support around how to talk with children about Christmas expectations. Feel free to invite friends and family members from outside of First Church as well. New-ish member Ann Naffziger, a minister, parent, and Advent Conspirist herself will lead the conversation.