Advent Roll Call: 85+ Resources To Add Creativity & Inspiration to the Advent Season
Over the past seven 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!
If you’re familiar with our work, you may know that we bundle our resources because they often overlap in use, and because we want to equip you with comprehensive materials for a whole season. Our newest Advent resource bundle, How does a weary world rejoice?, contains twelve multimedia resources to tell the Christmas story. You’ll also see individual components of our How does a weary world rejoice? bundle organized by categories below.
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.
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.
“The World’s Child” Mini Christmas Bundle w/ Full Order of Worship, Narrative Reflections, & Illustrated Foldable for Kids ($22-$28)
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.
From Generation To Generation… Devotional Booklet For Advent ($18-$85)
Close to Home Advent Devotional, Year C ($18-$85)
Those Who Dream Advent Devotional, Year B ($18-$85)
What Can’t Wait? Advent Devotional, Year A ($18-$85)
Draw Near Advent Devotional, Year C ($18-$85)
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.
From Generation to Generation... Advent Calendar for Children and Families ($5-$55)
Close to Home Advent Calendar for Children & Families ($5-$55)
What Can’t Wait? Action Calendar for Children & Families ($5-$55)
“The World’s Child” Mini Christmas Bundle w/ Full Order of Worship, Narrative Reflections, & Illustrated Foldable for Kids ($22-$28)
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.
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.
Let There Be Light Advent Customizable Short Film ($75-$105)
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.
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.
From Generation to Generation… Original Hymns (free for congregational use)
Close to Home Original Hymns
(free for congregational use)
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.
“The World’s Child” Mini Christmas Bundle w/ Full Order of Worship, Narrative Reflections, & Illustrated Foldable for Kids ($22-$28)
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.
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.