Advent resources now available for 2025
Devotions, worship resources and a new Advent calendar recognizing trans saints are among the many offerings from the PC(USA)’s ministries and partners
LOUISVILLE — In this holy season of hope and expectation when Christians prepare to celebrate Christ’s coming into the world and Christ’s coming again to usher in a realm of righteousness, justice and peace, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and its partners have produced a variety of resources that help believers hold both meanings together.
“We believe that God is with us in Jesus,” said the Rev. Dr. David Gambrell in the PC(USA)’s office of Reformed/Constitutional Practice. “A new day has already dawned. This is the year of the Lord’s favor. The time of salvation is now. This is indeed a cause for celebration, good news of great joy for all. But we also believe that Christ will come again. Creation is still crying out for redemption. Captives are still struggling for freedom. Communities are still yearning for peace. And these are reasons for vigilance and renewed discipleship, hard work and fervent prayer. The season of Advent teaches us to live in this tension.”
Chief among the resources that emphasize the second understanding of Advent, namely a new Earth where justice reigns, is Unbound's 2025 Advent Devotional, Trans Advent, a powerful new resource that centers and uplifts the voices of trans people of faith.
“Faith has been an instigator of hate toward our trans siblings and we must push back against any creed or doctrine that spreads transphobia and perpetuates systems of oppression,” said the Rev. Lee Catoe, editor of Unbound. “We are called to offer a new way to follow Christ, the grassroots way: leading with love, flipping over tables of injustice, seeing God in all we meet, and experiencing the full expressions of God’s beloved Creation.”
The devotional includes weekly commentaries, both digital and printable, from trans people of faith as well as the Trans Advent Calendar featuring Trans Saints and Trans Organizations that Presbyterians can learn from and support.
Because Nov. 20 marks the observance of Transgender Day of Remembrance, Catoe added that the devotional also contains an Advent Calendar “that recognizes the trans saints who have gone before us, some of them living out their lives, some of them taken too soon by transphobic violence and hate.”
“As state and federal legislation continues to target our trans siblings, causing extreme harm, we are called to lift up the trans saints to experience their power and energies that moves us to action,” he said.
Other resources available this year for Advent, which begins on Sunday, Nov. 30, include the ninth annual edition of “Words for Waiting: Daily Devotions for Advent and Christmas,” a devotional from UKirk Collegiate Ministries, a partner of the PC(USA). This is a free resource that includes daily Scripture readings, reflections, and prayers by students, campus ministers, and chaplains representing 34 different Presbyterian-supported student faith communities, alongside neighbors from other areas of the Church as well. There are two ways to read: via downloadable pdf or by subscribing to daily emails at ukirkadvent.org.
In downloading the 2025 Christmas Joy Offering Leader’s Guide, worship planners will find a variety of materials — including a suggested litany for a Christmas Eve Candle Lighting Service — to help promote the Christmas Joy Offering and teach church members about the work supported by their gifts. Additional resources, including minutes for mission, are also found on this site.
Original artwork by Vilmarie Cintrón-Olivieri, Co-Moderator of the 223rd General Assembly (2018), illuminates the resource cards of the “Advent at Home Candle Lighting” resource, available in Spanish and English produced by the Around the Table Initiative. These can be downloaded free either as a side-by-side layout or for print as back-to-back cards. They feature simple guidance on how to mark, remember, listen, reflect, pray and bless as a family or community gathered around a ritual or casual meal each week.
Presbyterian Disaster Assistance has published a new, interactive, four-week Advent study, “Annunciations: Disruption and Invitation,” using award-winning documentary resources from Counter Stories Productions films, which can be accessed here.
The Presbyterian Foundation is offering a lectionary preview for Advent, “Advent emphasizes God’s purposeful time: December 2025 Lectionary Preview: Year A, Psalms 72, Isaiah 11, Matthew 3, Romans 13.”
A variety of Advent resources, some free and downloadable, others available at a modest cost, are available through the PC(USA) Store, including this Gift Guide.
For more than 10 years, churches, mid councils and individuals have been turning to the Presbyterian Giving Catalog as a tangible way to provide real and positive impact around the world. New for Advent, the Giving Catalog’s activity, “Links of Love,” is designed to help the whole Church come together to see the power of shared ministry in action. Churches are encouraged to start a new tradition by creating a beautiful Links of Love Christmas Tree in support of Presbyterian mission. Each decision to give results in a paper link joining with others in an illustration of how Presbyterians and all God’s children are connected. The Links of Love activity can be ordered, free of charge, by clicking here.
“Following the Star,” a devotional series for Advent and Christmas, returns to d365.org in late November through early January. This series features scripture, prayer, and meditative thoughts accompanied by gentle music. “Following the Star” is part of the year-round ecumenical devotional website and app, d365, which is partially sponsored through the Office of Presbyterian Youth and Triennium and regularly features PC(USA) writers.
Bread for the World, a PC(USA) partner working to alleviate hunger and eliminate its root causes, offers an Advent devotional here.
For worship planners and people looking for devotional practices in Advent, Gambrell offers the following helpful references and resources.
The Glory to God hymnal places Advent hymns in two sections: “Jesus Christ: Advent” (numbers 82–107) and “Christ’s Return and Judgment” (hymns 347–369). Hymns under the heading “Christ’s Return,” such as “Keep Your Lamps Trimmed and Burning” (350), look to Jesus’ return in glory and work best with the Revised Common Lectionary texts for the first couple of weeks of Advent. Hymns in the “Jesus Christ: Advent” section, such as “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” (88) anticipate the church’s celebration of Christ’s nativity and are most appropriate for the later part of the season.
The latest edition of the PC(USA) Book of Common Worship provides expanded offerings for the season of Advent, including theological commentary and resources for every element in the service for the Lord’s Day, including candle lighting and communion liturgies. The 2018 Book of Common Worship also includes resources for Lessons and Carols and Las Posadas services.
The PC(USA)’s Daily Prayer app, available through the Amazon, Apple, and Google stores, offers brief services of prayer for evening, night, morning, and midday, useful for Advent devotions on the go. Two lectionary options are provided: the two-year daily lectionary and the three-year cycle of weekly readings of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Liturgical and other resources for worship planners are available on the pcusa.org website.
To add a video component to the Advent devotional experience, Unbound recommends subscribing to the Unbound YouTube channel, which will feature interviews with the writers of Trans Advent.
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