Advent Roll Call: 85+ Resources To Add Creativity & Inspiration to the Advent Season
Over the past eight years, we have created a large inventory of creative resources for Advent & Christmas. To save you time (and the hassle of searching your way through older resources in our shop), we thought we’d organize all we have to offer. Get your scrolling & clicking finger ready, because there’s a lot in here!
words for worship
LiturgY FOR THE SEASON
A new take on "hope, peace, love, and joy" liturgy, these words offer fresh language for Advent waiting in a world desperate for peace.
LITURGIES FOR SPECIAL SUNDAYS
Planning so many services back to back can be overwhelming, especially in the Sundays following Christmas. Here we’ve collected words for worship (many of them full liturgies that can be followed at home) for the Sunday after Christmas and Epiphany Sunday.
[This resource is one of many included in our Those Who Dream Advent Bundle for Year B]
DIGITAL DOWNLOAD FOR ONE-TIME LICENSE
During any lectionary year, the first Sunday after Christmas can create an exhausting week for clergy and church staff. Therefore, this liturgy is designed to offer rest for church leadership so they can be present with their families and loved ones throughout the Christmas season, while also providing meaningful worship for your community.
Centered around the story of Simeon and Anna blessing young Jesus in the temple, this interactive liturgy is designed for either an intimate in-person service, or a worship service via Zoom. We’ve also provided an At-Home Liturgy version of the service that is especially great for young families with children to walk through together, screen-free.
Liturgy written by Sarah Are.
[This resource is one of many included in our Those Who Dream Advent Bundle for Year B]
DIGITAL DOWNLOAD FOR ONE-TIME LICENSE
We created our Those Who Dream star words to build on the contemporary tradition of passing out intention words on Epiphany—a tradition growing in popularity amongst many Protestant churches. Inspired by the Magi following the star to Jesus, selecting a star word to meditate on throughout the new year can deepen your self-reflection and prayer practices.
To best serve your needs, we’ve provided multiple formats for printing and distributing the star words to your congregation, along with an accompanying liturgy for Epiphany Sunday. We’ve also provided ideas for how you might use the star words as a daily, child-friendly devotional throughout the season of Advent if you prefer to use them in that way.
We’ve included 150 star words—a number of which are non-English words. Words & liturgy written by Sarah Are.
Resources for a Longest Night (Blue Christmas) Service
Not everyone is uplifted by light and joy throughout the Christmas season. For many, the holiday season is a painful reminder of loved ones lost. Create sacred space for grief by hosting a Longest Night service (on December 21st, the longest night of the year for the Northern hemisphere) or a Blue Christmas Service. Our “Those Who Dream Longest Night liturgy” includes sheet music for an original song by The Many. We have also put together a music video for this theme song that can be used during worship. Our “Let There Be Longest Night Liturgy” includes the option of showing our “Let There Be Worship Film” during the service.
Poetic Advent Prayers
Personal and honest, these poetry prayers invite you into intimate conversations with God. Use them to open group sessions, adapt them for corporate worship, or distribute them to community members.
Christmas Liturgies
These resources engage children in worship and can be used for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, or any service throughout the Christmas season.
Advent Sermon Planning Guides
These guides offer you theme connections, questions for deeper study, and links to diverse authors and scholars for each of the RCL scripture texts in Advent. Our newest Sermon Guide includes biblical commentary by our guest contributor, Elder Vilmarie Cintrón-Olivieri.
devotional BOOKLETS
Looking for thoughtful, creative Advent devotions for yourself or your congregation? These resources offer print-ready files for you to print your own devotional booklet and distribute as many copies as you wish to your community. If you are unable to print and distribute copies due to COVID-19, email us at contact@sanctifiedart.org after you place your order and we’ll send you a version for use on tablets and computers.
Let There Be Color Devotional, Year B ($15-$80)
Children’s Resources
The Christmas season is a special time for children. These Advent calendars, daily devotionals, liturgies, and coloring foldables can be used to engage children and families at home and during worship all season long. You can also find free children’s lessons written for our Close to Home and Those Who Dream Advent themes on our blog.
[This resource is one of many included in our From Generation to Generation… Advent Bundle]
DIGITAL DOWNLOAD FOR ONE-TIME LICENSE
This intergenerational art curriculum contains seven small art projects, one for each of the weekly scriptures and sub-themes in our From Generation to Generation… Advent series. Each project’s curriculum includes: materials, preparation, instructions, and connection to the theme, as well as ideas for how you might integrate these projects into the life of your church.
Use the curriculum in weekly one-hour sessions during Advent–Epiphany, host a family-friendly Advent craft night, or adapt the projects for Advent take-home kits.
[This resource is one of many included in our From Generation to Generation… Advent Bundle]
DIGITAL DOWNLOAD FOR ONE-TIME LICENSE
We created our From Generation to Generation… star words to build on the contemporary tradition of passing out intention words on Epiphany—a tradition growing in popularity amongst many Protestant churches. Inspired by the Magi following the star to Jesus, selecting a star word to meditate on throughout the new year can deepen your self-reflection and prayer practices.
To best serve your needs, we’ve provided multiple formats for printing and distributing the star words to your congregation, along with an accompanying liturgy for Epiphany Sunday. We’ve also provided ideas for how you might use the star words as a daily, child-friendly devotional throughout the season of Advent if you prefer to use them in that way.
We’ve included 160 star words—150 from our 2020 Advent Bundle, plus 10 new words to complement the From Generation to Generation… theme—a number of which are non-English words. Words & liturgy written by Rev. Sarah Speed.
sanctuary art
We hope to empower you to create art with others in community. Advent is a perfect season to try something new and add even more beauty to your sacred space while telling the story of Christ’s birth in a visually compelling way. Each of these resources include designs for you to project, trace, and bring to life as paper lace cut out banners. We also provide written instructions and a video tutorial to guide you through the process—any willing group can do it! Pictured below are mock-ups of the banner designs. If you’re unable to create large banners due to COVID-19, check out this blog post for other creative ways to bring these designs to life.
[This resource is one of many included in our From Generation to Generation… Advent Bundle]
DIGITAL DOWNLOAD FOR ONE-TIME LICENSE
This Advent, project & trace these designs to create painted or paper lace banners for your sanctuary. These designs by Hannah Garrity feature imagery from the Christmas story, as well as the From Generation to Generation… theme. We hope these designs (and our instructional materials) can simply be a starting point for you to create art and beauty that is uniquely your own.
films for worship & reflection
These short films blend visual imagery with either music, spoken word poetry, or scripture to offer meditative moments for reflection. Use these in worship or in a class or programming event.
[This resource is one of many included in our Those Who Dream Advent Bundle for Year B]
DIGITAL DOWNLOAD FOR ONE-TIME LICENSE
This video features our Advent theme song, "Those Who Dream" written and recorded by The Many. The visuals are designed to create a dreamscape of images emerging in and out of view, paralleling the music and lyrics. You are welcome to embed this video within your live-streamed or online worship throughout the Advent season. If you’d like to share just the video publicly on social media or your website, please use our preview version to avoid non-patrons from downloading the un-watermarked version of the video.
Original Visual Art
Each year, we offer new original visual art inspired by the lectionary scriptures. Below are our Advent visual collections. We include written reflections on our visuals (and the scripture that inspired them) and a visio divina bible study curriculum so that you can use our visuals in Sunday School or other group study contexts. You can also browse and license all of our images individually through our Image Licensing Library.
[This resource is one of many included in our From Generation to Generation… Advent Bundle]
DIGITAL DOWNLOAD FOR ONE-TIME LICENSE
This is a collection of 13 visuals inspired by the scripture texts for Advent–Epiphany featured in the From Generation to Generation… series. These art pieces, created in a variety of mediums—paper lace, acrylic painting, collage, hand-cut block prints, and digital media—are visual meditations on these texts. With each visual, we include written statements from the artists. We also provide a visio divina bible study guide for you to use these images in a group session incorporating the ancient Benedictine spiritual practice of "divine seeing."
Art created by: Rev. Lisle Gwynn Garrity, Rev. Lauren Wright Pittman, Hannah Garrity, and our guest artist, Carmelle Beaugelin
ORIGINAL MUSIC
The Advent and Christmas season is a musically rich time. Between Lessons & Carols services and the Christmas songs pumping through every car and store, music fills December. Here are some original songs and hymns written to illustrate our Advent themes through song. Additionally, we have hymn and song suggestions for our What Can’t Wait (Year A), Those Who Dream (Year B), and Close to Home (Year C) themes available on our blog.
[This resource is one of many included in our Those Who Dream Advent Bundle for Year B]
DIGITAL DOWNLOAD FOR ONE-TIME LICENSE
This video features our Advent theme song, "Those Who Dream" written and recorded by The Many. The visuals are designed to create a dreamscape of images emerging in and out of view, paralleling the music and lyrics. You are welcome to embed this video within your live-streamed or online worship throughout the Advent season. If you’d like to share just the video publicly on social media or your website, please use our preview version to avoid non-patrons from downloading the un-watermarked version of the video.
Coloring Posters
Coloring is a simple way to provide space for either intergenerational communal art-making or individual reflection. Incorporate coloring posters into your bible study, youth group, prayer stations, children’s church, fellowship events, etc. Like our visual art, we create new coloring pages each year based on the lectionary and include written reflections on the imagery. You can also find these colorable images in our Image Licensing Library to print on bulletin covers or individual coloring pages.
Graphics & Theme Branding
One of the ways we aim to serve you is by offering you tools for quality graphic design. These materials not only help you effectively communicate announcements about your worship and seasonal themes; they also offer visual icons with deep theological meaning. Below are some of the themes you might use to shape your Advent season.
[This resource is one of many included in our From Generation to Generation… Advent Bundle]
DIGITAL DOWNLOAD FOR ONE-TIME LICENSE
Whether you are a church with a full-time communications staff or one whose pastor handles all communications (on top of everything else), this branding suite provides everything you need to effectively share the From Generation to Generation theme with your community. Download includes beautifully-designed logos and theme graphics for print and web so you can use them for worship projection, bulletins, study materials, church publications, or for advertising events on your website and social media platforms.
We encourage you to use these branding materials in your communications throughout Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany.
[This resource is one of many included in our Those Who Dream Advent Bundle for Year B]
DIGITAL DOWNLOAD FOR ONE-TIME LICENSE
Whether you are a church with a full-time communications staff or one whose pastor handles all communications (on top of everything else), this branding suite provides everything you need to effectively share the Those Who Dream theme with your community. Download includes beautifully-designed logos and theme graphics for print and web so you can use them for worship projection, bulletins, study materials, church publications, or for advertising events on your website and social media platforms.
We encourage you to use these branding materials in your communications throughout Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany.
rev. Lisle Gwynn GArrity
Founder, Creative Director
Lisle Gwynn Garrity (she/her) is a Pastorist (pastor + artist), retreat leader, and creative entrepreneur seeking to fill the church with more color, paint, mystery, and creativity. She founded A Sanctified Art with the conviction that, in order to thrive, the church needs more creative expression and art-filled freedom.