THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK - From Alan -4th December 2025“Advent is not just about waiting for Christmas; it’s about waiting for Christ with purpose and faith”So Advent is here, and everyone starts to get excited because … they can start opening their Advent Calendars. But what actually are Advent Calendars about. They are (or rather were) designed as a means of counting down to Christmas and started out as a German tradition. The original Advent Calendars contained bible verses or pictures and were focussed very much on the meaning of Christmas. They were very much a means of building excitement for the coming of Jesus. It wasn’t until the 1950s that they started to contain chocolate, and not until 1970s that Cadbury started mass producing them. It wasn’t actually until the 1990s that demand reached such a height that continuous production was needed.Now Advent Calendars have gone further and beyond containing chocolate with many produced containing perfume, pet treats, decorations and even alcohol, a further, testament to the commercialisation of Christmas and firms looking to entice more money out of us. Before, however, someone thinks baa-humbug and calls me a grinch, I am not so much criticising people for buying advent calendars, I am really just trying to suggest there is actually meaning behind them and perhaps trying to focus on what is important about them.Ultimately, they are about the countdown to Christmas, the day we celebrate the birth of Jesus, and Advent means coming – the coming of the Lord. Advent is actually the start of our liturgical year and generally we focus on preparing for the celebration of the birth of Christ. We all start (at different times) to prepare our homes, churches and workplaces with decorations as we prepare for a great celebration. At the same time it is also a message and visual reminder that Christ is coming. Just like many verses in the old testament directed people to the first coming of Jesus, Advent reminds us that Jesus is coming back. There is a Spiritual Significance. It’s a call to slow down, reflect on God’s promises, and cultivate hope, peace, joy, and love - values symbolized by the Advent wreath’s candles. As someone once said (or wrote) “Advent is not just about waiting for Christmas; it’s about waiting for Christ with purpose and faith”The true meaning of Advent challenges us to look beyond the chaos of the holiday season. It’s a reminder that preparation for Christmas isn’t just about decorations or gifts—it’s about preparing our hearts. Advent offers a remedy: a season to realign with what truly matters. By embracing Advent’s call to reflection and hope, we can enter Christmas with renewed purpose. Whether through lighting a candle, reading a scripture, or serving others, the true meaning of Advent transforms the season into something sacred.Alan Johnston, Licensed Lay Minister.
Introducing Amy!I am delighted to be joining ABC and AAA Churches as your new Children, Youth and Families Worker. It is a real joy and privilege to step into this role. I’m excited to get to know each of you—children, young people, families and the wider church community further, although having lived in Askham Bryan for nearly fifteen years, I do feel I know some of you quite well already!As a mother of three living within the villages, I am keen to create spaces where young people feel valued, encouraged and able to grow in faith, friendship and confidence. I look forward to partnering with you as we continue to build a loving, Christ-centred environment where all generations can flourish together.Please say ‘hi’ if you see me around, I’m always happy to chat!27th November 2025
THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK - From Michael Sargent 27th November 2025Certain dates stay fixed in my mind, and hopefully likewise in those of the readers, and certainly for me November 30th is one such date. For a start it is St Andrew’s Day, this year it happens to be the first Sunday of Advent and thus is the start of the Christian Year, when it might be good to resolve to make sure that our Christian witness, very often not said but certainly in many instances it is noticed, by the way our life is lived out that others copy the good that they see in others and that includes us!I think back to 30/11/1969 when a pupil I taught was being confirmed on what turned out to be her 14th birthday. The service was held in Moor Monkton Church that, in those days was candle lit and led by the then Bishop of Selby, a namesake of mine Douglas Sargent. Some reading this will remember him as having a saintly presence and always an encouraging sermon meant for all, but specifically for those being confirmed!I feel certain that there will be some who would have been a contemporary of this one being confirmed because our catchment area spread out to the surrounding villages from the Dringhouses area of York. If any were born between September 1955 and August 1956 think back to some of your contemporaries who went to Ashfield School and set your mind in motion. I hold this person in mind because, as she approaches her 70th Birthday, we are still in contact, and she is one who has retained her affiliation to her church and lived a simple life helping others, be they human or animal!Which brings me to St Andrew; he was the first disciple chosen by Jesus who brought his brother Simon (Peter) along with him. With the rest who were Jesus’ followers he became known for ‘seizing an opportunity’ like the time when Jesus was wanting to feed the 5000 to whom he had preached and Andrew said, ‘there is a lad here with five loaves and two small fish but what is that among so many?’ It was a start and from a small offering came something great!These two examples of bringing people to Christ are but a reminder of what many of us can, and possibly have done, not by something momentous but just by being ourselves or by speaking a word at the right moment or by doing a good turn. And we may never know!His feast day happens to be the first day of Advent this year and there will be many who will start lighting an Advent Candle or opening the first door of and Advent calendar: it saddens me each year to read of those who buy mega expensive Advent calendars that have costly gifts behind each window – surely most know that this is the opposite of what our Lord would expect and has little or nothing to do with the important period of waiting for the arrival of the Prince of Peace.The other point about Advent is that the church has fallen into the secular preparation for Christmas – as a child I recall not putting up decorations until Christmas Eve and having the Carol Service a few days after the festivities have properly started! Advent is an important season and though commercially it makes sense to celebrate before it happens, the church can (should) follow the pattern of preparation: the four main themes are Hope, Peace, Joy and Love – preparation for the coming of Christ into the world.It seems appropriate that at the end of this first week of Advent comes the feast of St Nicholas, a day when the folk of Askham Bryan should give thanks for the worship that goes on there in a church that has him as their patron saint, but it also reminds us that it was Nicholas who started what has become the expected giving of presents to family and friends but, perhaps more importantly following Nicholas’ example, to those who have little and for whom a gift from us would indeed bring joy to them.Michael SargentLLM at Acaster Malbis
