Advent and Hope in Children's Ministries

How do you celebrate Advent with your kids? Is it just a time for them to witness the candle lighting and liturgy before they go downstairs to their separate programs? Or is it a time to dig deep and explore what each week of this important season means to them?

We just lit the candle of hope on Sunday. Without hope, it would be hard to experience the other three candles to come – peace, joy and love. But hope is a tough thing to talk about and understand sometimes. And often it is most understood as self-centred – what I hope to get from Santa, where I hope to go during the holidays, or even, sadly, I hope my family gets along and my parents don’t fight this Christmas.

I don’t want to diminish the very real and human hopes and wishes of children. But our role is to help them to move beyond themselves. There are appropriate times for conversations about wishes, especially helping kids talk through tough stuff in their young lives that can seem overwhelming to them. But hope should be about helping us to think of others and have a wider perspective, as well as dealing with our own stuff and knowing that we are not alone.

It can be challenging to help kids especially to understand that the candles we light are to help us light our own inside of us. We have this light because of God’s promises and all God has done. But then, when we leave with God’s light, we need to share it, to shine it in places where things are dark. Just like Jesus came to be the light of the world, we are called to shine that light wherever we go and we don’t have to be afraid.

How do we do this in concrete terms for young learners? Advent is a fantastic time to talk about people who are in darkness in our community. Who do they know that is having a tough time? Who is not happy or struggling? Think about what ministries and services in your community need help especially at this time of year. Is there a shelter for people without homes to go to that needs practical things collected? Is there a place that distributes food and gifts to families and individuals in need, like the Salvation Army?

Find something that is easy to collect or donate towards for your families and that won’t break the bank when this is already a financially stressful time. Talk about how much it means to people when they are thought of and cared about. Talk about how much better we feel when someone does something that shows us we are loved. Kids know what it’s like to feel sad, left out or different from others. Remind them that their gifts and drawings, or whatever they uniquely contribute to the project, will make a difference. If possible, take a tour or show pictures so they can see where their gifts are going.

As each candle is lit throughout Advent, a large candle with the word for that week could be put on a blank wall or bulletin board. Invite the children to write or draw prayers each week for others and put them around the candle. Examples for this week would be “I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas” or “I hope everyone sleeps somewhere warm tonight” or “I hope there is enough food for everyone’s dinner”. Be sure to add ones yourself like “I hope I can help others” or “I hope Jesus’ light shines through me”.

Hope is not just something we live out once a year, but this week can remind us of what God came to show us, to bring us, in Emmanuel, God with us. We can live out that hope every day. And God places it in our lives - we just have to look and see it. Talk with your volunteer team and pray about where you see hope in your children's ministries. How is God moving? What is God doing? Offer grateful praise for the journey so far this year and the promises of God's presence and guidance throughout this season. And if it's been a tough slog so far, and all the Christmas stuff just seems overwhelming, take the time to remember who and Whose you are, breathe deeply, and hold onto hope.