From the Church of England:

As we look forward to this year's Christmas reflections, each Sunday in Advent we invite you to join us as we mark the season and share the weekly theme. A fuller introduction to each week will be shared as a video from the Church of England’s social media channels. Watch this weeks video.

Advent reflections – Awaiting the dawn (The Patriarchs) 

Advent is a season of hope, for us and for the world.  With the Old Testament prophets and writers of the psalms we will, this week, explore a little of what that hope looks like.  Their words invite us to look to the horizon and see the dawning day, light kissing the land and warmth touching lives- the moment when (in the words of John the Baptist’s father, Zechariah), “In the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us”. 

Follow along with our daily Advent reflections in the Everyday Faith app. 

Calm and Bright Bedtime Stories 

Our new Calm and Bright Bedtime Stories recount the events of the first Christmas from the point of view of four different characters – the Angel Gabriel, Joseph, a Shepherd and Mary.

Based on this year’s ‘Calm and Bright’ Advent and Christmas resources for schools produced by Archbishops' Young Leaders Award, they offer a great way to introduce young children to the Christmas story. 

Find all four stories on the Church of England website.

You can mark Advent with us in several ways:

• Join us for our national online services each Sunday.
• Listen each week to Women of the Nativity, a collection of nine imagined stories told from the perspective of women, recreating the events of the Nativity.
• Visit our online Advent calendar to open a daily family activity each day. 
• Follow us on social media to see special content to mark the season.