What is #AdventWord?
#AdventWord is a global, online Advent calendar. Each day from the first Sunday of Advent through Christmas Day, #AdventWord offers meditations and images to inspire and connect individuals and a worldwide community of believers to the themes of Advent. You are invited to participate by posting your own images using the hashtag #AdventWord and the word of the day, for example, #journey. Individuals, congregations, organizations, and institutions can all participate.
You can stay up-to-date by signing up to receive #AdventWord emails here, visiting AdventWord.org, and following the project on Facebook and Instagram.
The Words
The words for #AdventWord 2018 are inspired by the Lectionary readings for Advent Year C and selected through a process prayerful meditation on the Word. For the first time this year, one word, #Ancestor, was selected through the larger community via an online voting. The words are intended to follow the arc of the season, preparing us to #Celebrate the birth of Christ. This year’s meditations are offered in eight languages and American Sign Language.
6 Good Reasons to Use AdventWord
- Someone else has come up with the idea! You can just share and respond with your own images.
- It is a no-cost or low-cost invitation to your congregation or community to reflect on the themes of Advent in their everyday lives.
- It forms a truly global community of prayer, in which personal, congregational, and global reflections all happen simultaneously in real time
- It connects us to the larger Church, exposing us to a multiplicity of cultures through images, which transcend language
- It invites people to share their faith online and use their digital devices as part of their spiritual practice
- AdventWord leverages technology with a “plug and play” platform—you don’t have to create the infrastructure yourself!
Engage Your Organization, Congregation, or Cause
#AdventWord provides an avenue for your faith community, diocese or organization to deepen their connection to one another and to share their witness to the coming of Christ in the digital world. Here are some of our favorite ways organizations have observed #AdventWord and invited their communities to participate
The Episcopal Church
The Episcopal Church reflected on each AdventWord by highlighting the work of various Church ministries. Here, they use an image produced by the Diocese of Southern Ohio and direct followers to the work of Episcopal Migration Ministries.
Diocese
Many dioceses participate in #AdventWord. They create images in advance and then share them each day of Advent and invite their diocesan community to respond with their own pictures.
Many congregations take the same approach. They post images each day on their websites or social media and ask parishioners to respond.
Cause
Causes like World Renew use AdventWord as an opportunity to share their work, connecting it to the theme of Advent and then sharing information with their audience about the important work they do around the world.
Congregation
Not all of our church members are tech-savvy. We love how this congregation created a vintage poster where people could post their images together.
There are abundant ways to participate in #AdventWord as individuals, groups, and organizations. May your participation deepen your Advent journey this year.
Sign up to receive daily meditations and images via email at Adventword.org.
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