One of my favorite free-ish Advent studies ever: songs and spirituals

Advent studies can be, as I sometimes say, tricky-woo. It’s a crazy busy time of year and it’s hard to find studies that take fresh approaches to the stories that many church folks have heard 1000 times. There are some great options, for sure, whether you’re planning to discuss daily devotions or read a 4 or 5 chapter book that’s designed for discussion. Many groups that meet weekly will only get 3 meetings during the Advent season, depending on when Christmas falls, so they sometimes require some creativity for leaders too, especially if you choose a study you love and don’t want to skip and of the content.

This year, I am loving the Advent study that I’m using with two of my small groups. It’s flexible, preparation-optional, and participatory in ways that accommodate the diverse ways that people like to engage in groups. I’m using it in a 1-hour group, and a 2-hour group, and have had plenty of material to keep us busy each week. It also has kept in line with my goal of highlighting non-white voices in our books and curricula this year, so I’m doubly thrilled with it.

The study we’re cobbling together is based on Luke Powery’s fantastic book “Rise Up Shepherd,” which connects the spirituals with themes of Advent. Some participants are reading along with this daily study that’s both super digestible and beautifully profound. Others are reading Magry deVega’s “Songs for the Waiting,” which provides really lovely - and longer - daily devotions inspired by verses of Advent and Christmas songs that may be more familiar to your congregation. We’ve put together a playlist with our favorite youtube videos of all the songs covered in these books, trying to highlight different styles, performers, and interpretations that cross musical genres. During our meetings, we stream the videos over zoom and reflect after each song.

We’ve also asked folks to choose their favorite Advent or Christmas song, share their favorite youtube-able version of it with us, and then share a little bit about the history of the song and why they connect with it. We’ve had some wonderful selections, and it’s always wonderful to hear people share about their favorite things. Between those selections and the ones from the Powery and deVega books, we’ve had plenty of wonderful things to listen to and discuss during our meetings.

While I’d also recommend Powery’s book and deVega’s book on their own, you don’t necessarily need to use them in order to do this study. Check out the playlist we created, choose your favorite songs, and do a little independent research, and you’re well on your way to a customized, DIY, and free study for your small groups for Advent. You can copy and paste this link to see the videos in our playlist, or just explore them here! A word of advice: start with The Como Mamas. You won’t be disappointed.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSIzXCFW7tafvtvtN1m9ShALI1G2i2eHA