It’s not quite November, not too early to think about Advent. About this time a few years ago, a worship committee met with a new pastor to plan the holiday season. A lay member commented without much enthusiasm, “I wish there was a little less Pentecost and we could move Advent up and enjoy Christmas a little longer.”

Surprise! The pastor readily agreed! There was a sudden breakthrough in the rhetoric that insists Advent be kept sacred with nothing of Christmas showing until Christmas Eve. The committee eagerly reviewed the lectionary and made adjustments that moved Advent up two weeks, allowing some Christmas spirit when the rest of the world was enjoying Christmas, yet still giving the Advent season its due. Advent wasn’t abandoned. It was extended with Christmas music introduced slowly in later weeks. The lighting of the candles, etc. adhered to the season. A few readings were moved around. Christmas music was slowly introduced, adding anticipation.

What had happened was not unlike the first Christmas observances — as the church set aside time to celebrate the birth of Christ. The date for Christmas was set to coincide with pagan festivities, catching people as they were ending their celebration of the winter solstice. Most scholars agree that true date for Christ’s birth was probably in the spring. Deciding on December 25 was  opportunistic — and it worked! We can learn from this!

The four weeks of Advent have no real historical connections. It is something the church decided we need to properly prepare for the Savior’s birth.We spend 40 days (the number of days Jesus spent in the wilderness) preparing for Easter with Lent. It didn’t seem right to observe Christmas without a similar period of reflection. Some traditions even call Advent “a little Lent.” There was plenty of Scripture to cover — the hundreds of years of prophecies, John the Baptist, Mary and Elizabeth.

There was a time in Church history when people spent a lot of time in church. Many observers attended mass daily and the traditions/music of Advent had more exposure. Today, the most faithful are in church only four weeks a year for Advent, probably fewer. They don’t have much time to absorb and learn to appreciate the Advent sound, especially when the car radio blasts a different season at them as they drive home.

A typical Sunday morning during the Advent season has the core congregation singing unfamiliar and difficult hymns. Seekers who first enter a church during Advent, perhaps attracted by the more upbeat hymnody they are hearing in the shopping mall, encounter something entirely alien. Visitors are likely to be totally confused. It is difficult to “teach” Advent with Christmas in full swing everywhere else.

We face the same conditions the early Christians faced. How do we get people to pay attention to the coming of Christ when they are otherwise having such fun?

The answer often presented by clergy to their congregations is to keep Advent holy and sing Christmas carols only from Christmas Eve to January 6 — after everyone else has stopped singing carols. Post Christmas Sundays are notoriously low in attendance. The faithful end up singing with lonely joy, and feeling a bit awkward about it! Yet this does not seem a bit odd to many clergy who openly advocate for a rigid interpretation of Advent — no matter how few people get the message!

Advent should be observed. There is a great deal of value in its traditions. But if the traditions are standing in the way of spreading the Good News, allow some room for flexibility. Teach Advent by starting the seasonal music a bit earlier. Some popular Christmas carols are about the prophecies and the joy of receiving (Joy to the World; Lo, How A Rose; Of the Father’s Love Begotten). They lend themselves to the Advent season. Allow the Christmas sound in your worship sooner. Add more hymns to your service if it will help. Allow room for repetition during the season so these often unused hymns become more familiar.

One idea would be to have purely Advent worship, followed each week with a carol sing as a “sending.”

Both seasons may end up meaning more. The rafters will probably not break!