Why do you call Christmas "Advent?"

When attending San Pedro during the weeks from November 29th to December 24th (Christmas Eve), guest will notice the word “Advent” used to describe the Christmas season. Advent is a Christian season of preparation that leads up to Christmas, with the word derived from the Latin - meaning “to come to” or “arrival.” This is a four week time period of hopeful anticipation and reflection, focusing primarily on the historical birth of Jesus. You will witness a weekly candle lighting with a total of five candles, one lit each week. At San Pedro we invite different families and groups to light candles at the start of worship in both the contemporary and traditional services during these weeks.

The Advent season is celebrated with themes of hope, peace, joy, and love, symbolized by the four candles on the Advent station at the front of our worship spaces. The first candle represents hope, followed by candles for peace, joy, and love. The fifth "Christ candle" is lit on Christmas Eve. We encourage folks to participate in their own Advent lighting at home, too.

Our modern participation in Advent primarily focuses on preparing for Christmas, but the history of Advent started as a season was a period of preparation for the baptism of new Christians. It later became expanded to connect beliefs with the second coming of Christ before being more explicitly linked to his first coming (the birth of Jesus) in the Middle Ages. At San Pedro we primarily use this time to wait and then prepare for the celebration of Jesus's birth. 

We invite you to any Sunday during Advent, which include various special music and worship experiences. On Christmas Eve our service starts at 5:00pm, with active participation for both adults and children. The Christmas Eve service at San Pedro is more traditional in style, with Communion, candle lighting and familiar Christmas hymns.