Advent: Spend Less

Advent Conspiracy: Worship Fully. Spend Less. Give More. Love all.

AC Week 2: Spend less? Are you kidding? Maybe like me, you are a gift giver. It’s our love language. Asking us to change how we express our love to friends & family is meddling. But what if we gave differently this year? Gave of our time, or gave experiences to enjoy together, or even gave home-made gifts — instead of costly stuff that sits on a shelf or gets worn and discarded? And what if we redirected some of the money we normally spend in order to change the world around us for newly arrived asylum-seekers?

What does this Advent Conspiracy stuff mean we will actually do at First Pres?

We’ll invite you to give those savings—or just give more—to our local mission partner, World Relief, which welcomes and serves people in need and in crisis as they arrive in Chicago each day from the borders and beyond.

• You can sign up and gather needed items to create two family welcome kits for asylum seekers arriving in Chicago beginning now through December 31. Sign up at https://firstpresevanston.org/welcomekits for an item(s) on the Signup Genius page, or stop by the front desk to pick out an item to purchase. NOTE: We are only receiving specific items which World Relief has outlined.
• A week from Sunday (December 17, 2023), come hear firsthand about the incredible needs and exciting partnership possibilities there are with World Relief. Keith Draper, World Relief Chicagoland’s regional director of church relations, will lead a pop-up Sunday School class at 10:45 a.m. in the Dining Room.
• Some may choose to take next steps to help refugees and asylum seekers such as: helping to set up an apartment or offering free rides to those arriving at airports.

As we focus more on PRESENCE—truly being together with and loving one another versus focusing on PRESENTS—it can powerfully transform our own holidays as we give more of ourselves to those who need welcoming, while transforming their holidays, too.

What is Advent Conspiracy (AC)?
Over the last decade, thousands of churches (including two I’ve pastored) have celebrated by seeking more relational traditions, partnering with more faith-based aid organizations, and channeling more resources to the poor, marginalized, and forgotten.

Advent Conspiracy is about the entire body of Christ at work in the world. As we worship fully, spend less, give more, and love all, something begins to happen that is greater than any single person, church, or denomination. God is not finished with our world and is inviting us deeper into the Christmas story.

adventconspiracy.org

On the journey with you,

Pastor Tassie

P.S. – Want some tips on how to begin a conversation on the tenets of the Advent Conspiracy? Click here!