Annual ‘AdventWord’ Virtual Advent Calendar Available Soon

Lifelong Learning, VTS
Posted Nov 20, 2018

For the fifth year in a row, #AdventWord will gather prayers via a global, online advent calendar. Virginia Theological Seminary is offering 24 meditations and images during this holy season beginning Sunday, 2 December. Images and meditations can be experienced via the #AdventWord website, direct daily emails, as well as on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, and ASL videos via YouTube. This year, meditations will also be available in English, Spanish, French, Chinese (Traditional), German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish available via email and on www.adventword.org .

“It is so easy in the noise of December to lose sight of the privilege of waiting for the arrival of the Christ Child. This brilliant idea invites us all to pause every day of Advent – to pray, think, and respond,” said the Very Rev. Ian S. Markham, Dean and President of Virginia Theological Seminary. “The beauty in the response is a calendar that will be shared with others.”

This initiative, spearheaded by Lifelong Learning at VTS, connected over 600,000 persons in over 50 countries in 2017, using over 15,000 unique posts and images, creating an, “…extraordinary ripple of awareness…” across social media platforms.

“The hope is to create a global prayer network, with images and meditations, stretching across countries and languages, as we enter into this holy season of preparation,” said Sarah Stonesifer, Digital Missioner for Virginia Theological Seminary.

#AdventWord begins on Sunday, 2 December, 2018, with images and meditations available via email, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Persons interested in participating should visit www.AdventWord.org and sign up via email. During the 23 days of Advent, a daily email featuring the #AdventWord of the day will go out at 5 a.m. each day (local time), and respondents are encouraged to share their responses to the meditations and images to the aggregated prayer walls within the advent calendar, found at www.AdventWord.org, which draw together the prayers of each day. We welcome posts that resonate with #AdventWord from all persons:

• 2 December #Journey
• 3 December #Watch
• 4 December #Focus
• 5 December #Night
• 6 December #Light
• 7 December #Sprout
• 8 December #Alert
• 9 December #Wild
• 10 December #Cry
• 11 December #Go
• 12 December #Rough
• 13 December #Smooth
• 14 December #Prune
• 15 December #Prepare
• 16 December #Rejoice
• 17 December #Sing
• 18 December #Ancestor
• 19 December #Wash
• 20 December #Ablaze
• 21 December #Sign
• 22 December #Expect
• 23 December #Persist
• 24 December #Peace
• 25 December #Celebrate

During the 24 days of Advent, participants can deepen their understanding of the coming of Jesus into the world through the practices of meditation and prayer. Join an international community in prayer to explore the mystery and wonder of Advent!

A bulletin insert, available in English and Spanish, can be found here.

For more information,
www.AdventWord.org
www.instagram.com/adventword
www.twitter.com/AdventWord
www.facebook.com/AdventWordOrg
AdventWord@vts.edu
+01 301.275.6898


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