In the Northern hemisphere, Advent is a time when the days get darker and more pressured as we seek to buy gifts, meet friends and prepare services for Christmas. Looking outside ourselves, there is also much to unsettle us in politics and global affairs. It seems slightly odd that Advent also starts a new Church Year; we tend to associate New Year with more positive celebrations. As Christians, we offer the hope of God’s presence, forgiveness and eternal life – gifts which are worthy of celebration and thanksgiving. However, as preachers and pastors, we also need to have the ability to name the darkness – the darkness of loneliness, wrongdoing and death. If you follow the lectionary, recent readings have given us many reminders of judgment and the impact of evil, yet with a constant thread of hope due to God’s love and faithfulness. In the darkness of the Northern Advent, these are truths which we can hold tightly.

Yet lay ministry, and the Anglican Church, and the wider church are found across the world. Christians in the Southern hemisphere experience longer days and warmer weather as Christmas approaches. Does this encourage greater joy and celebration? Or does it underline the pressure to be busy and distracted? If any readers from the Southern hemisphere wish to comment, please do write to us (editor@transformingministry.co.uk)

Wherever we are in the world, may each of us know God’s blessing on our ministries in this new (church) year.

Stephanie CRC Co-Chair

: Photo by Thomas Bormans on Unsplash