Generous Seasons

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Generous God, Generous Advent

Christmas is coming and Advent lights the way. Celebrate the overflowing generosity of God who so loved the world that he gave his only Son (John 3:16), as we celebrate God’s generosity the Gospel invites us to live and give generously.

But let’s be real. This winter will be tough for many and tough for our churches. How can we celebrate generosity in times of scarcity? People of faith have been here before: manna in the desert; abundant wine for wedding guests; bread and fish for a hungry crowd; a widow’s mite speaking of deep faith and prophetic challenge to injustice. As St Paul says, we are give from what we have, not what we don’t have (2 Cor 8:12).

Generous Advent is a creative opportunity to do two things:

  • To celebrate the generosity of our God using the fabulous and resources, all freely available and adaptable
  • To invite generous giving, as people are able, to sustain and grow the mission of ministry of our churches: “my gift to my church for our future”

Where do we start?

1.Choose your dates

Generous Advent can be run over two Sundays, using the standard Generosity Week template, the first Sunday explores Generosity, the second Gratitude. You could host Generous Advent on the Sunday before Advent (“Stir-Up Sunday”) and Advent Sunday or on Advent One and Two. We’ve adapted the collects for the Advent season.

2. Design your programme

Below are the resources you can choose from to design your Generous Advent Programme. Use as many or few as you need to create a warm and reflective space for your church.

  • Sermon Notes
    • Introduction to Haggai – download
    • Notes and Sermon for Christ The King Sunday – download
    • Notes and Sermon for The First Sunday in Advent – download
  • Coming in November: Generosity Fika (Smaller Group Study with Videos)

Gather in a smaller group for an evening, or after a midweek service, for cake and coffee. Follow the outline for the session outlined in the document, using the videos linked below and reflect on how the story of Haggai and the rebuilding of the Temple helps us consider how we steward our church buildings, and our own finances. (Videos filmed and produced by Ruth Bayes)

  • Generosity Fika Leader’s Guide
  • Video 1 – The Bible Project: Haggai (5 minutes)
  • Video 2 – A Fire That Sparked Transformation (8 minutes)
  • Video 3 – Rebuilding Well: A Conversation (20 minutes)

 

  • Prayers

This pack contains images and instructions for creating beautiful prayer stations to help us ponder the generosity of our generous God in a tactile and accessible way. Created with the diocese of York, the stations are interactive, great for children, adults and family groups they help look at generosity through a seasonal lens.

3.Signpost your events and prepare for a response!

Advent and Christmas will see many visitors in our churches. People enjoy carols by candlelight, crib and Christingle services, Christmas tree festivals and more and they value their church. So ‘go digital’ this Christmas. You can download the Generous Advent Logo and images below. Here are some top tips:

  • Add your Generous Advent events to your AChurchNearYou.com page for those seeking to visit your church during the festive season.
  • Post images of your activities to your church social media pages. If you make up the prayer stations, we would love to see how they look in your church setting.
  • Pray about your planned programme. Churches are busier than ever, and it can be hard to find peace and quiet during the festive season. Pray that ‘the greatest story ever told’ reaches new ears, refreshes tired souls, and warms cold hearts.
  • Finally, prepare to receive donations and gifts by;
  1. Having your church contactless machine turned on!
  2. Advertising the Parish Giving Scheme through posters, flyers and links on your social media (see the Parish Giving Scheme page)
  3. Making sure people can donate you your church via your website/ACNY page using a link to your online giving provider, e.g. Parish Giving Scheme, GiveALittle, JustGiving.

 

Follow the Star

Last, but by no means least, check out the comprehensive resources at Follow the Star. This is the Church of England’s annual advent and Christmas campaign and it has huge reach. The 2021 Christmas content was seen 27 million times on social media with 1.2 million views of online services. So, make these brilliant resources work for you as you share the good news of God’s abundant generosity with your congregation and

Generous Lent

Generous Lent

We are encouraging you to take part in Generous Lent with resources to help you use lent to think about giving in your church context.

Generous Lent offers some ‘out of the box’ resources to help congregations explore generous discipleship this Lent. Over the octave of the first two Sundays of Lent churches have the opportunity to do two things:

  1. To celebrate the generosity of our God and to explore the spiritual discipline of generosity and the Gospel’s invitation to generous discipleship
  2. Optionally, as a Lenten discipline, to invite generous giving as people are able, to sustain and grow the mission and ministry of the local church.

There is a natural rhythm in life that is essential to our human flourishing. There is also a rhythm in the spiritual life, just as vital to our personal and shared discipleship as followers of Jesus.

Lent is part of that rhythm, a special season in the life of the church. In Lent we not only wait for Easter, we wait upon God and do business with God. Lent is a season of self-reflection and self-discipline, Lent invites us to read God’s word. Lent invites us to the spiritual disciplines of prayer and fasting and the giving of alms – what today we call generous giving. It is an invitation to generous discipleship.

Generous Lent Resources

Generous Lent offers a range of resources themed on the Baptism and Temptation of Jesus (the first Sunday of Lent) and the Feeding of the Five Thousand (the second Sunday of Lent). Background notes and sample sermons are offered to support preaching alongside themed liturgy for both sermons. A congregational leaflet and a creative range of prayer and all-age activities are also offered.

(Please note, the linked resources below are preparatory ‘beta’ versions to show what each resource looks like. They have full text but are not yet properly formatted. Final versions of most resources will be available from Thursday 11th January)

Sermon Notes

 

Liturgical Resources

Reflections on a Generous Lent

Prayer Activities

  • Lent Prayer Stations – developed with the deanery of Wigan. Flexible and adaptable prayer stations offer a focus for personal and family prayer over the Generous Lent octave or until Passion Sunday
  • Group Activities – Linked to prayer stations, a range of interactive material adaptable to all age worship or the Ministry of the Word in separate children’s groups. The resources include an all age Shrove Tuesday activity

Letters and response forms

Alongside prayer and fasting, generosity is a traditional spiritual discipline (Matthew 6:2, 5,16). If you want to use Generous Lent as an occasion to write to congregations inviting a prayerful review of giving please contact the resources.team@dioceseofliverpool.kinsta.cloud for customisable letter and response form templates.

 

Other useful resources

National Giving Team  – Generosity Week

You may also want to note the comprehensive Generosity Week resources from the National Giving Team which can be adapted for Lent. 

Acts of Kindness and Generosity

You may want to check out the archived random acts of kindness and generosity, resources developed for Lent for over ten years by the charity Stewardship www.stewardship.org.uk