It’s Advent! This season of Advent is one of my favorite times of year in our worshiping life. The world seems to take on a more festive air during this season of preparation for Christmas. Some of my favorite church traditions are part of Advent, such as Advent wreaths and Christmon trees.
One of the changes we’ve had this Advent at Central is the use of blue as the liturgical color for Advent. The colors we use in worship are filled with theological meaning. For example, white represents purity and light. As such, it is used to represent Jesus and is used for holy days associated with particularly important times in Jesus’ ministry such as Christmas and Easter. Red represents the Holy Spirit and is used on Pentecost and other occasions associated with the Holy Spirit. Green represents growth and is used for the time between seasons. In the past, purple has been used to represent both Advent and Lent. So why the change to blue?
Advent and Lent are both seasons of preparation for the two most important days on the Church’s calendar. They mirror each other in that Lent is a season of preparation for Easter and Advent is a season of preparation or Christmas. Even though they are both seasons of preparation, they have different theological emphases. Advent is a season of preparation that anticipates both Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem and the consummation of history in the second coming of Jesus Christ. In contrast, Lent is characterized by critical introspection, self-denial, fasting, and penitence. Purple has been used to represent this penitential tone of solemnity and somberness. Blue, in contrast, represents hopefulness. The United Methodist Book of Worship encourages the use of either purple or blue for Advent. Additionally, the use of blue for Advent is not new. We know that English churches used blue for Advent as long ago as the 11th century. Many Protestant and Roman Catholic churches have recovered this ancient practice as a way to emphasize Advent’s unique themes.
Considering all of this, the worship committee with my encouragement opted to use blue for Advent. We pray this new part of our worshiping life can help us enter into the joy and hope that are hallmarks of Advent.
Yours in Christ,
Thomas