On October 21, 2026, we hosted an Advent Planning Webinar for anyone using (or interesting in using) our Advent series, Until the Dawn: Actions for the Work of Advent. In this time, we dove into our theme and why we created this series. We shared some tips about how to use the materials and talked through ideas for implementation. Below is the recording. We hope this can be helpful to you as you plan and prepare.
We’ve also summarized much of the conversation that occurred in the chat. We are amazed by and grateful for the wealth of knowledge and inspiration within the larger Sanctified Art community. Be sure to read through the Q/A’s and crowdsourcing ideas at the bottom of this page.
In the webinar, we shared a Quick Links PDF with links to all the resources and materials discussed. If that document might be helpful to you, you can download it here:
an outline of the webinar recording:
00:00:00—00:09:52 Welcome and introductions
Welcome and introductions from the Sanctified Art creative team alongside participants’ introductions shared in the chat. Introducing all the guest contributors who helped create the Until the Dawn resources. An outline of the webinar.
00:09:53—00:18:23 How we developed the “Until the Dawn” theme & series
Telling the story behind the way this theme emerged for us as we returned to the RCL scriptures. Participants share the actions that help them resist despair and put their prayers in motion (responses summarized below, including a word cloud).
A word cloud featuring the most common words used in response to “What actions help you resist despair and put your prayers in motion?” Engaging with community, making or enjoying music, and volunteering were all very popular responses.
What actions help you resist despair and put your prayers in motion?
“We have a 15-minute weekly prayer group that gathers to pray for our country and our world—we share ideas and actions.”
“Gathering in community, sharing stories, and connecting with the broader community.”
“Recalling my mother’s words of faith and repeating them aloud.”
“I set a daily reminder on my phone to pray at noon. At noon, I look deliberately to ‘Celebrate God’s Presence’ through my camera.”
“Touching base with a mentor when I feel stuck.”
“Walking in the morning and loving the changing colors of the trees.”
“Eating chocolate!”
00:18:24—00:38:16 Experiencing the resources
A short segment in which we share art, poetry, commentary, and a breath prayer from the series. Participants respond to reflection prompts in the chat, named aloud in the recording.
00:38:17—01:04:34 an overview of all the materials
An overview of all the resources in the bundle as well as bonuses and supplements, with comments and ideas for how to use each component. Consider this an “insider’s guide” to all the resources. If you would like to share just this segment with staff, colleagues, or volunteer leaders, below is a link to the overview video:
What you’re saying about the resources…
“One thing that we will be doing in my church is using the printed devotionals as the basis of weekly Advent small groups. We’ll have one in-person before worship on Sundays, one online for accessibility, and then several in folks’ homes!”
“We are already SO looking forward to Breakfast Church!”
“We share the poems as part of our inspiration/workshop meetings for Advent art preparation.”
“We have a service based on lectio divina which uses times of creativity or action to give space for additional reflection. We repurpose your children’s ideas for those!”
“Wow—our band would really do well with this theme song!”
“Such an amazing fully realized plan with such thoughtful materials. Thank you!”
1:04:35—1:18:04 crowdsourcing ideas, Q/A, & premiering our theme song
In this final segment, we engaged with the conversation in the chat and responded to the questions in the Q/A box. While you can’t see that discussion in the video recording, we verbalize many of the ideas in the chat, and much of our conversation is summarized in the section below. We concluded by playing our theme song for the series. We invite you to join our Facebook Group to continue to collaborate with other pastors and ministry leaders.
JOIN THE SANCTIFIED ART FB GROUP
QUESTIONS & Answers: (Summarized from the chat & discussion)
-
A: Yes, this bundle marks our return to the RCL’s Advent texts for the first time since 2021! The texts for this series are from the RCL Year B.
-
A: The devotional booklet is weekly, with about 4-5 pieces of content to engage with each week. If you’d prefer a daily devotional, our Advent calendars for children and adults contain prompts for December 1-25.
The devotional booklet printing guide contains links to different formats, including an e-version and a single page file. See page 4 of that document for more details.
-
A: Our Until the Dawn bundle includes children’s curriculum that could be used for Sunday school, craft nights, or in Advent take-home kits. There are also a couple of resources in the bundle that work great for scripture study in small groups of adults:
1) The first is our devotional booklet—we strongly suggest you discuss this weekly in small groups! Your format/flow can be adapted to what you need, but you can read the weekly poem to open your time together, then read the focal scriptures for the week and discuss the art and commentary together. Lots of churches like to do visio divina with the art, which is a wonderful option. The devotional includes reflection prompts you could use for conversation prompts.
2) If you have a small group who wants to dig deep into the scriptures and weekly themes, we recommend you use the sermon planning guide. The “Guiding Q’s” section provides lots of questions for discussion on the focal scriptures. You could also pull articles/podcasts/book recommendations from the “Further Reading & Research” section of the guide if participants want to read and digest something beforehand to then discuss together.
-
A: No, the social media content calendar pulls from all the other resources and goes from the First Sunday in Advent into January with Epiphany content. The breath prayers in the adult Advent calendar are only for December 1-25. You can share one or both online, as they don’t overlap in content.
-
A: This year we wrote a “Liturgy for the Night,” available free on our blog here. The service flows through movements naming the gifts of the night. We hope this is a healing and meaningful service for the Longest Night.
-
A: We didn’t create a pageant this year, but there’s been brainstorming around that in our Facebook group.
-
A: We have a theme song (“Until the Dawn” by Sam Allen) that includes sheet music, lyrics, an MP3, and a music video, as well as a collection of original hymns for each week in the series. These hymns, written by Rev. Anna Strickland and set to familiar Christmas tunes, are included in the devotional booklet and linked in our music suggestion blog post. Bundle patrons receive the entire collection of hymns as part of the bundle—look for this document linked on the patron access page. While we don’t include slides for projecting the music/lyrics in worship, you are welcome to copy and paste the lyrics into slides. Coordinating slide backgrounds are included in the branding suite.
-
A: It depends on the number of volunteers and the option you choose. If you have 3-5 volunteers without any experience creating paper lace banners, we estimate about 7 hours of work. Of course, if you have more or fewer volunteers, choose to paint the shapes instead of cut them out, or choose to create a different size, the amount of time will vary.
-
A: If you order the full bundle, all of the free bonuses and supplements we’ve progressively released are at the bottom of the Patron Access Page. They are also linked at the bottom of the public webpage for the Until the Dawn bundle.
-
A: Yes, if you purchased the full Until the Dawn bundle, then you will be directed to a Patron Access Page to download all the files/materials you need. You are welcome to share the link and password with the rest of your staff, worship team, or anyone else in your congregation who may need access to the resource files.
-
A: You can find the price for each tier of the bundle (depending on average worship size) along with a description of every resource included and their individual prices (if purchased a la carte) on this page.
Q: Where do we order the paraments & banners for altar display?
A: We have two printed-to-order banners that feature the Until the Dawn branding. The small banner is printed on a weather-resistant material and includes grommets. It could be displayed outdoors or indoors. This size might work well as a parament for the pulpit. The table tapestry is printed on a fleece fabric and it is hemmed along the edge. It’s not best for outdoor display, but could be displayed as a cloth for your Communion Table.
Mock-up of an altar display utilizing our custom design print-to-order paraments & banners. 
crowdsourced ideas (Summarized from chat and discussion during this and previous webinars)
-
-
The devotional we will use with our congregation as a whole, both online and hand delivered to our elderly and housebound members.
-
As we have an older congregation, I print the devotional as a ledger size booklet (using the large format file). It makes it easier to read.
-
Will be using it in group study midweek.
-
We use this in small groups, including online, and in adult classes.
-
We have used it as our Sunday School time. The devotional is a great way to engage in conversation.
-
We also printed it in black and white to save money. Then I put the colored art online and shared my screen during the small group meetings.
-
-
IDEAS SHARED:
-
We are going to print out the art in poster size and create a space for contemplation in our narthex with a bench and questions for visio divina to invite people into the threshold of worship.
-
I’m inspired to use it with our Contemplative Prayer group.
-
We have done visio divina with the artwork for adult ed and it has been great.
-
We used visio divina for our midweek Advent services in place of a sermon or homily.
-
We did visio divina in worship. We had instrumental music and gave time for people to take in the art. It worked very well in the worship flow.
-
I’ve been using the art as part of my sermons for the last few years.
-
Last Advent, we printed off all the art and framed them for a gallery spread—folks loved both looking at them, seeing what the artists had to say right next to them, and reading the poetry for that week.
-
I often use the art for children’s sermon.
-
We have taken the art and artists statements with the corresponding scripture and have made prayer stations for them.
-
In the past, we’ve printed the art on large posters and displayed them in our entryway so they can be experienced as you enter worship.
-
We print the images with artist reflections as our bulletin.
-
We’ve used the art within projection in worship. We’ve also projected the images on the wall rather than the text of the scripture. It allows people to focus in on the image and ponder its connection.
-
-
IDEAS SHARED:
-
During each season, we start each service with different voices reading the poems to ground everyone into the service. They are followed by the prelude music.
-
I love to use the poems to set the tone of the homily and reintegrate a key phrase as a wrap-up.
-
We often use the poems in our visio divina sessions.
-
I begin adult Bible study sessions with the poem for the week as an opening prayer.
-
-
IDEAS SHARED:
-
For sanctuary adornment, we are going to cover a large hoop (purchased for Christmas Sunday morning worship several years ago!) and cover it with black fabric. Then, each Sunday we’ll stretch a printed cloth over it that has various looks, from starry night to northern lights to sunrise dawning. And a creche in front.
-
We use dyed cloth (old sheets, fabric, etc.) from the weekly color theme to swath our Communion Table, moving toward the dawn.
-
I love the paper lace, but we’re not able to put together a team to create the large banner. Instead I’m planning to have folks do paper cutting of tears that will be suspended from ceiling.
-
We have a couple of gifted quilters working on a project that will be added to throughout the season.
-
