Lighting candles, making minced pies, cutting the tree and singing Christmas carols… each of us has our own traditions leading to Christmas: the festival with unimaginable gifts.
A season of hope
Advent is a time of expectation and hope. A call in the church calendar to put things in order. Thinking of the end times in the context of the present gives us grace to repent, to imagine, to rejoice – to reach out and embrace others, and especially those in need.
It is the beginning of the church’s new year and yet no other faith begins their new year in the sensational way Christianity does.
We begin by finally considering death and judgment, heaven and hell. Why? Because we retell the first coming of Christ in history and anticipate his second coming at the end of time.
“But who can endure the day of his coming?” asks the prophet Malachi, so beautifully translated as ‘Trade Messiah’.
A harsh justice
In a year of freak weather and Covid proliferation, meaningless deaths and mass migration, we have been reminded of our interrelated coherence and vulnerability. Climate change is rapid, intensifying and seemingly irreversible, and vaccine poverty and new varieties are putting everyone at risk.
Pope Francis, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and Archbishop Justin Welby declared in a joint statement ahead of COP26: “We are facing a tough justice: loss of biodiversity, environmental degradation and climate change are the inevitable consequences of our actions as we have greedily consumed more of the earth resources than the planet can handle. ”
St Albans Church reaches out with a virtual Advent calendar (available via our website st-albans.dk) to increase awareness and funding for agencies across Europe that actively support people whose lives and livelihoods have been ruined by climate change.
Inside the church
The church is the people – and every day another person from Denmark and the Diocese tells stories about life, hope, home and light.
The church is also the building – and this Christmas we invite you to come to church and see the stable. Experience the rich heritage of Anglican music and worship through Carol Services, Children’s Nativity (come dressed up as your favorite Christmas story character!) And more!
Look inside to see the baby born in misery, forced to flee like a refugee, then a small child, without anywhere to lay his head as an adult. And yet he is the king of creation. With roots in the earth, in reverence for heaven, we wonder, for the birth of Jesus is not a small miracle.
Think of St Alban’s on any day of the year, and immediately the mind sees sprouted towers high up in the Copenhagen skyline, as it has graced for the past 135 years, inspiring worship of past and present generations.
Think of St Albans at Christmas time and you will be attracted to the stable and the wonderful story of Emmanuel, God-with-us, Prince of Peace.
Germinate not stable
This year we say: “The sprout is not stable!” As we try to spy on singing angels and strange stars, we notice that the very spire that has been erected to point people toward God has become porous and in need of repair. Quickly.
It’s going to cost $ 4 million, and this season I’m inviting you to donate to St Albans Church. Pay it forward, whether it’s to honor the memory of a loved one, a special occasion you marked here – a wedding, a baptism, or a funeral – or perhaps for no other reason than the goodness of your heart.
As we uphold beloved Christmas traditions and offer a welcome to hundreds during this holiday season, we will be mindful of climate change and disaster, along with our duty to share the good news of Jesus Christ, whose birth shook the foundations of the world.
We want to tell it now and to future generations. Get inspired. Be stable. Be blessed.
Merry Christmas everyone!
Source: The Nordic Page