From the Manger: Practical Ways to Engage Your Family & Congregation This Advent

An image of a wooden table setting. On the left is a teal ceramic plate with bread and jelly. The focus of the image is the product From the Manger Advent for Families. Week One reads: Hope Grows. Crayons surround the plate and paper.
In the upper left corner is a white box with black text, "From the Manger." In the lower right corner is a white box with black text, "practical ways to engage your family and congregation this advent."

Guest Author: Renee Purtlebaugh (Associate Pastor to Children and Their Families at Highland Baptist Church).

As a parent and pastor to families with children, I know how busy and overwhelming December can be. So when I look for Advent resources to share with my congregants, accessible, engaging, and progressive theology are at the top of my “must-have” list.

From the Manger offers all this and more.

Are you curious about using From the Manger with your family or congregation this Advent season? Here are a few practical ideas to get you started.

Image showing an Illustrated Ministry booklet titled "From the Manger" with a stylized mosaic illustration of a manger. A smartphone next to the booklet displays the same cover art in a music streaming app. The background includes various papers, creating a cozy, family-oriented feel. A banner at the top reads "ADVENT FOR FAMILIES."

1. Make use of the time you actually have.

I am so excited the reflections, questions, and prayers in From the Manger Advent for Families will be available in podcast format (in addition to the PDF download). This added flexibility invites families to be with God exactly where they are, whether in the car, at home, or around the table.

Listen to the reflection together, then press pause after each question to have a meaningful conversation or create space for thoughtful contemplation. End with listening to the prayer together.

Image of an Advent calendar poster titled 'From the Manger' held to a white refrigerator with decorative triangle magnets on the corners. The design features a mosaic manger and words representing Advent themes like 'family,' 'peace,' and 'joy.' Next to the calendar is a magnet with the phrase 'YOU ARE LOVED' and holding a card with text about taking safe risks and adventures. A banner at the top reads 'ADVENT CALENDAR.'

2. Choose your own Advent-ure, beginning at the refrigerator.

I don’t know about you, but the refrigerator is one of the most commonly approached objects in our home, making it an excellent spot for your From the Manger Advent Calendar! With twenty-five reflection words with corresponding activity cards, there are many fun and playful ways to “choose your own Advent-ure!”

Try this! Use one magnet to hold the calendar on your fridge and one smaller magnet to choose your daily word—bonus points for using silly or colorful magnets.

Or try this! Turn it into a game. Before choosing your word for the day, turn around three times and then place your magnet on the calendar.

Only able to interact with the calendar once a week?

Give everyone a magnet, and explore that number of words on the same day each week. Once the magnet lands on a word, find the matching cards—whether piled on the table or hidden around your home!

An image of two printouts of the colorable rectangular gift tags. the paper on the left has not been colored in, the paper on the right has four boxes colored in. Surrounding the pages are an assortment of color pencils and sharpie markers. Some of the gift tags feature mosiac illustrations while some also include phrases like, "Hope Grows" or "Joy Grows." A banner at the top reads, "FREE DOWNLOADABLE GIFT TAGS."

3. Embrace the bread theme…make some!

With your From the Manger Coloring Page and coloring utensils at the ready, chat together while the smells of baking bread waft through the kitchen. You can also download and color these free printable gift tags and give loaves to neighbors and friends.

Need a recipe?

Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day is a great bread-making resource or use your favorite Google recipe. Or your own sourdough starter. Or a prepared package of bread mix. You do you.

4. Spark joy with a curated holiday playlist of family favorites.

Whether you prefer classical Christmas choirs or popular holiday tunes, add the Advent Hymn: From the Manger to your curated Spotify playlist (or wherever you stream music) for the holiday season. If you enjoy the song, heart it, like it, and share it! You can also watch our From the Manger lyric video here!

Stream it while you host family Christmas gatherings or as you travel around town. Let this song of faith seep into you and your family as you move through daily life. Maybe in January, you’ll still be humming about the town named House of Bread…

An image of a peaceful table setting. A lavender candle is lit in the top left corner of the image. At the center is a print out of the From the Manger Advent Devotional featuring a mosaic design. To the right is a black notebook with a sticker that says "LOVINGKINDESS" in a rainbow gradient. At the top of the image is a banner that says, "DEVOTIONAL."

5. Slow down the hustle and breathe through the bustle.

Several years ago, author Traci Smith introduced me to the concept of a 2–3 minute Sabbath. Create Advent Sabbath moments amid the joyful chaos by reading From the Manger: Advent Devotional (I love the Joy devotion…and all of them!) with the Advent Hymn playing in the background. Trust me. It’s Divine.

An image highlighting the From the Manger Worship Liturgy and Scripture Commentary. On a wooden table are two printed pages from the product. They mostly contain text with a rectangular space to take notes. On top of the printed pages is the corner of an open Bible. It is turned to Luke 2, the main scripture of the From the Manger theme. Next to the bible is a pastel blue highlighter. At the top of the image is a banner that says, "LITURGY & COMMENTARY.'

6. Simplify your sermon or liturgy preparation.

Writing a sermon?
Preparing orders of worship?
Have adult Bible study teachers who need inspiration and background?

The From the Manger: Liturgy and Commentary will give you a new perspective on each week’s texts and offer thematic, liturgical elements to carry you through the season.

Typically write your own liturgies?

Take this one and tweak a word here and there to make it sound like your congregation.

Only need a Prayer of Confession or a Call to Worship?

Make use of the parts you need.

A flat lay image of preparing gifts. On a wooden table lays two copies of an Interactive Worship bulletin with small portions colored in, there is a word search in one and a coloring page in the other that says, "Love Grows." Among the pages is a dark blue sticker sheet featuring characters of the nativity story stylized like stained-glass. Gold glitter ribbon is strewn across the top left corner and at the top of the image is a banner reading, "INTERACTIVE BULLETIN + STICKERS."

7. Skip the mall, give the gift of interactive storytelling instead!

Did you know that From the Manger Interactive Worship Bulletins paired with Nativity Sticker Sheets make a simple and meaningful stocking stuffer? Place these resources inside a simple plastic sleeve, seal them with a “Merry Christmas!” sticker, and share them with your congregation.

Parents will take them, grandparents will take them, aunts and uncles will take them. It’s a beautiful way for families to weave the Christmas story into their Christmas morning.

Remember, keep it simple and accessible.

Yes, there are endless possibilities to use these Advent resources with your churches and families, but there’s no need to do them all. Keep it simple and accessible.

What does your family need most this Advent?

Organic opportunities for conversation?
A joy-full memory-making experience at the end of a tough year?
To feel the mystery of the Divine in a new and different way?

Which resources do the families in your church need most this Advent?

Would it be helpful to print and gather supplies for them?
Or save them some decision-making energy by curating and sharing a holiday playlist?
Do they need a resource they can trust will be filled with God’s radically inclusive love and an invitation to be open to the questions on our minds and hearts?

Minister to minister, practitioner to practitioner, and parent to parent, you won’t be disappointed when you choose to use any or every From the Manger Advent resource with your church or family. I trust the bread of life will satiate your hunger this Advent season in a way you may not have even known you needed. I know it has already done so for me.

Renee Purtlebaugh

Renee Purtlebaugh is the Associate Pastor to Children and Their Families at Highland Baptist Church. She makes her home in Louisville, KY, where days revolve around life with her husband and daughter. Renee delights in a good cup of coffee, watching her daughter sound out words, baking from scratch, and designing experiences for children that are Reggio-inspired.