Weekly Article

It is hard to believe that Advent is right around the corner, but in a few short weeks we’ll see the world around us transformed with lights, decorations, commercials for the latest toys and gadgets, parties & social events, festive music playing everywhere we go, wonderful concerts & performances, favorite holiday traditions carried out, gatherings with family & friends, visits with Santa, creating and checking off our shopping lists, wrapping all the presents, sending out holiday messages & cards, and probably so much more that I can’t think of in early November. 

As the person in charge of children’s programming at the church, I imagine you all assume that the Steelman family practices our faith nonstop. Maybe the image you have is a family gathered in prayer before each dinner, ending each day reading stories from our many childrens bibles, or talking to each other with great kindness and love. I’ll let you in on an honest assessment of our faith formation at home… it is struggling. We are in the phase of life that has us running seven days a week to all kinds of programming and by the time we get home, stop running, and finally gather as a family, we are lucky if we are able to include a blessing during our mealtime. I am sure many others can relate.  

Being “in the trenches” with our church families helps me stay real when offering new faith formation opportunities for folks to try at home. Before sharing a family faith formation idea with you all, I have a few rules that I have set for myself:  opportunities must be realistic, they must be fun and a way to bring family together, they need to include messages that all ages can relate to at their developmental stage of life, and they need to be something that I will do with my own family.  

The other day I was looking at one of the many Facebook pages I follow that have ideas for children’s ministry, faith formation and/or Christian education. One of the pages posted about the return of the “Wandering Wisemen” and it caught my attention. I started to read a little and quickly realized this was a wonderful idea.  The concept is simple… the Three Wisemen spend the season of Advent wandering around preparing for the birth of Jesus. The journey of the “Wandering Wisemen” will conclude on Epiphany (January 6), the day they meet the Newborn King.

This Advent season I invite you to join our family as we have fun following the Three Wisemen. This will be fun for ALL ages!  All you need is a creche, or nativity set. You will use the Three Wisemen from your set and you can either create your own journey, find “Wandering Wisemen on Facebook and follow along with their suggestions, or you can email me and be put on our “Wandering Wisemen” email list. I will send an email each Saturday morning with ideas for the upcoming week, including a description of what the Wisemen see/endure/do each day. Your family can then enjoy going on a hunt each day to find your wisemen and talk about what happens along their journey.

Don’t have kiddos living in your home? No worries! You can do this as adults or you can make this activity a fun new holiday experience to do remotely with your grandchildren. With the use of video messages and live video conversations, you can have fun with your grandchildren’s faith formation this Advent season by talking with one another each day and going on a hunt together in your home to find the wisemen. What a great way to connect with one another and also learn from each other as you journey along with the “Wandering Wisemen.”

I invite you to join us for a fun adventure as we journey along with the “Wandering Wisemen” to help bring the Christmas story new meaning and also welcome it into our daily lives as we enjoy this year’s Advent season. Joining the fun is easy: make up an adventure of your own, follow “Wandering Wisemen” on Facebook for ideas, or email me and I will add you to our email list.  

Another fun way to celebrate this Advent season is joining us for Advent Wreath making on Sunday, November 27 after 10:30 am worship in Fellowship Hall. Click here to RSVP and join us. This is a wonderful opportunity for all ages to gather together for fellowship and create an Advent wreath to use in your home to help make this holiday season more meaningful.