I realize that Sara Star’s The Crowning might be too graphic for some churches. Be sure to print double-sided, head-to-head.) This will run you about $20 each at most commercial print centers, or less for larger quantities. (I recommend a coil bind with a clear plastic front cover and a vinyl back cover. Want to have the booklet print and bound? Use this print-ready version. I hope these images fill you with wonder and holy desire-to know Christ more and to live into the kingdom he inaugurated two thousand-plus years ago from a Bethlehem manger.ĭownload the slideshow as a PowerPoint file.ĭownload the devotional booklet as a PDF. (Note: This version is slightly edited from the original.) You of course are encouraged to show the slides publicly, and to distribute the booklet, but you must not charge a fee. There are twenty-eight days in Advent this year but only twenty-three reflections, so I’ll leave it up to you how to parse them out.Ī humongous thanks to the artists and institutions who have granted permission for use of their work. Copyright of the images is retained by them, except where “Public Domain” is indicated, and reproduction outside the context of this slideshow and booklet is prohibited without their express permission. To reinforce the practice and to make it more communal, pastors might consider drawing one image per week into his or her sermon, or discussion could be built into the Sunday school hour. Two minutes is not nearly enough time to take in twenty-four images, so the slideshow is really just an invitation to deeper, one-on-one engagement with the images throughout the week, and that’s where the booklet comes in-as an aid to contemplation. My vision is for the two-minute slideshow to be shown in church on the first day of Advent during the main service. Here I’ve taken special care to select images by artists from around the world, not just the West, and ones that go beyond the familiar fare. You’ll see, for example, the Holy Spirit depositing the divine seed into Mary’s womb Mary with a baby bump, and then with midwives an outback birth with kangaroos, emus, and lizards in attendance Jesus as a Filipino slum dweller and Quaker history married to Isaiah’s vision of the Peaceable Kingdom. Theologians in their own right, artists are committed to helping us see what was and what is and what could be. “Blessed are your eyes because they see,” Jesus said.
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