Plan for this holy season using these Michigan Conference resources, including this year’s Bishop’s Advent Offering and Bishop Bard’s Christmas Eve message.
As autumn fades and winter draws near, we enter a sacred time of preparation. Advent invites us to pause, watch, and open our hearts once again to the promise of Christ’s coming.
This season often stirs both deep longing and quiet joy. It’s a time when the Church can shine with welcome, hope, and compassion. The Michigan Conference is blessed to offer several resources to help you plan meaningful worship, care for your community, and celebrate the birth of Christ with open hearts.
Bishop’s Advent Offering
This year’s Bishop’s Advent Offering supports Gardens of Hope, a Michigan Conference initiative that partners with ministries in Haiti to plant seeds of renewal — both literal and spiritual. Through community gardens, nutrition programs, and agricultural training, our Haitian partners are building resilience, sustaining families, and nurturing hope. Congregations across Michigan are invited to receive an offering during Advent to support the Gardens of Hope campaign. Bishop David Bard shares, “When we give together, we embody Christ’s love in tangible ways. Gardens of Hope is a way to feed the body and the soul, helping families in Haiti cultivate food, faith, and a future rooted in God’s abundance.”
Download this printable bulletin insert as you prepare to receive offerings.
Bishop’s 2025 Christmas Eve Message
Bishop David Bard will share a recorded Christmas Eve message available in early December. Churches are encouraged to include the video in worship, share it on social media, or use it in small group gatherings. The message will offer encouragement, peace, and a reminder that Christ’s light still shines brightly in our world. Watch for details and download links in MIconnect and on the Michigan Conference’s Vimeo page.
Additional Advent Resources
On the Advent Resources web page, conference staff have gathered a variety of Advent and Christmas resources to support your ministry this season, including:
-
- worship ideas for Christmas Eve,
- Blue Christmas services,
- family devotionals,
- original music, and
- social media materials.
Visit the Advent Resources web page for downloadable resources and other information.
May your Advent waiting be filled with wonder, your worship filled with hope, and your Christmas morning overflow with the joy and peace of Christ.
Last Updated on November 13, 2025