Follow the Star: Join the Song
This year’s Christmas theme from the national church is ‘Follow the star: join the song’ and highlights how singing can help draw us closer to God and each other through the journey from Advent to Epiphany.
"The shepherds were astonished to find the night sky filled with angels singing God’s praise. And before long they were singing, too ... Centuries later, singing is still central to how many of us celebrate Christmas. We invite you this Christmas to follow the star, journey to the manger, join the song and come into the presence of Jesus Christ." Archbishops Justin Welby and Stephen Cottrell
Find more details and resources on the Church of England’s website
Download a word version of the Join the Song poster template.
Praying for Growth with the Advent wreath
In Advent, as we prepare to celebrate the birth of King Jesus, we reflect on his message that “The kingdom of God has come near” (Mark 1:15), and ask ourselves how we may be better at “preparing the way of the Lord.” (Mark 1:3). This makes Advent a particularly appropriate time for us to pray for our diocesan vision and priorities, that we might indeed grow as Kingdom People.
The prayers below follow the traditional themes of Advent: the Patriarchs and Matriarchs, the Prophets, John the Baptist and the Blessed Virgin Mary. The tune the song is set to is Personent Hodie, found, for example, as 484 in Hymns Ancient and Modern New Standard, 10 in the New English Hymnal, and 406 in Complete Anglican Hymns Old and New.
Download the Advent wreath prayers as a pdf tri-fold flyer
Down the Advent wreath prayers as a word document (easier to copy and paste)
Visit our news story about the Advent wreath prayers.