Watch Night: Claiming the Promise

For Your Planning Team

The Christian church’s liturgical calendar begins with the season of Advent. Faith communities intentionally adorn their worship spaces with a Hanging of the Greens ceremony, a precursor to Christmastide. The ceremony is held directly before the first Sunday of Advent, and it emphasizes symbols of everlasting life (circular evergreen wreath), the light of Christ (Advent candles), Chrismon symbols hung on the evergreen tree that “direct our attention to the nature and ultimate work of Christ and primary Advent themes.” These symbols can include the crow, descending dove, fish, Celtic cross, Jerusalem cross, shepherd's crook, orb, crown, fish, star, anchor, chalice, shell—all made in the colors of white and gold (purity/perfection, majesty/glory), and clear lights. The Hanging of the Greens ceremony also creates a sacred space that builds or strengthens an ethos of koinonia, a community intentionally setting forth on a divine journey with God and with one another.

Watch Night (Freedom's Eve) - Rev. Dennis Oglesby, from The African American Register.

PLANNING JANUARY 2020 CHECKLIST:

• A Call to Prayer and Self-Denial – January -March
• Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus – January 1
• Epiphany Sunday/Epiphany of the Lord – January 5-6
• Human Trafficking Awareness Day – January 11
• Baptism of the Lord – January 12
• Week of Prayer for Christian Unity – January 18-25
• Human Relations Day – January 19
• The Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr’s Birthday Observance – January 20
• Ecumenical Sunday – January 26