Let There Be Light
Beginning the Church’s New Year
A Message from Mark Taylor, Minister of Faith development mtaylor@fccedmond.org 405.341.3544
The world counts down to midnight on December 31, but the Church tells time differently. Our new year begins not with fireworks, but with a candle. Not with resolutions, but with waiting. Not with noise, but with a quiet flame that whispers, even in the dark: “Let there be light.”
On the first Sunday of Advent, the Christian year turns, inviting us to slow down and pay attention to the light that still breaks into our weary world. In my role as Minister of Faith Development, I often think about what helps us grow in a spacious, grounded, and resilient faith. We grow through worship that opens our hearts, through serving others in ways that help our whole community thrive, through quiet practices of meditation and reflection, and through simple daily rhythms that make room for God’s presence. Advent gathers all these together, inviting us to wonder, to notice, and to let God’s love take shape in us again.
This year, we will trace the story of divine light from Genesis to John, from Mary’s brave song to the Word made flesh. Over five weeks, we will explore what it means not just to see the light, but to become it.
Each week opens a different doorway:
· Week One: The Light We Long For on November 30 reminds us that new light is always possible.
· Week Two: The Light We Prepare For on December 7 invites us to make room for what matters by clearing away what no longer serves.
· Week Three: The Light We Carry on December 14 echoes Mary’s courage; even in uncertain times, we carry light within us.
· Week Four: The Light We Share on December 21 asks how we can create space for others to thrive.
· On Christmas Eve, we celebrate The Light That Shines as the Christ Child comes to us again.
· And the story continues on December 28 with The Light We Embody, a reminder that God’s love and light live in us, and it is up to us to carry it into the world.
To help you mark this season with intention, our staff has created a simple Advent Devotional Guide with readings, reflection questions, and a brief breath prayer for each week. You can pick one up in the church lobby. I invite you to create a small ritual: read the devotional by some form of light. Light a candle. Sit by the fireplace. Sit on your patio under a strand of twinkling lights or rise early and read by dawn’s first light with a cup of coffee in hand. Let the light itself become your rhythm. These few minutes can help you slow down, breathe deeply, and notice the holy in your ordinary days.
If this month invites us to carry and share the light, then one of the most joyful expressions of that is our Holly Jolly Morning of Service on Sunday, December 7. This all-ages event gives us the chance to wrap books, prepare care kits, pack food, and support families across Edmond who could use a little extra light. (Read more about the Holly Jolly Morning of Service projects on page two).
We know for some, this season holds the weight of absence and the ache of memory. Believing that light comes even in the darkness of grief, we begin Advent with our Candlelight Service of Remembrance, Sunday, November 30, at 3 PM. This meditative gathering offers all who grieve a chance to light a candle for those we miss and to rest in the comfort of God’s presence.
This season, prepare for the light. Carry it. Magnify it. Walk toward it. Be it. When we mark time differently, we make space to see God’s light in new ways and how light grows when it is shared.
The Church’s new year begins with a spark.
I hope you will join us.