Advent is the 40-day period before Christmas, which is devoted to preparing for the coming of the Messiah. It is a period of fasting, prayer, scripture reading, church attendance and participation in the sacraments, to enable us to capture the full meaning of Christ’s coming. A candle is lit on each of the 4 Sundays in Advent and is accompanied by a Sunday School Student verse and a Scriptural reading. Pat Grammes, Sunday School Director, lit the first candle (which is green for faith), and Elizabeth Hockman recited the student verse and the Scriptural reading.

The congregation and choir, directed by Nick Lezinsky, ended the lighting ceremony by singing “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”.