The Advent Conspiracy

Christ, though He was rich, became poor to make many rich. It was in the Advent that Jesus entered our poverty so we would no longer be poor. With the money we save by giving relationally and resisting the empire we, in turn, re-distribute the money we saved to the least of these in our communities and the world.

We recommend that before Christmas each organization take an offering made up of the money that was saved through relational giving and resisting the empire. With these funds each church and organization decides how to re-distribute the money. It is an amazing picture when you see how much money is collected and how much good it can do in the world. In 2006 only five churches participated and they collected just under half of a million dollars. Through this kind of radical giving we are transformed by the Advent story as we worship Jesus more faithfully.

In 2007 we decided to see what would happen if we invited other churches on our journey and we were blown away at the response and the outcome. Here’s a look at what happened last year…

[AC] COMPILATION REPORT

By Jan Carson

With Easter just behind us and Spring finally beginning to peak through the rain clouds, Christmas seems an awfully long way away. It would be all too easy to forget some of the amazing things that happened across the world this Advent season. Such was the incredible response to the Advent Conspiracy with over 700 churches signing up in 17 different countries, that it’s taken almost two months to collect and read through the stories of how the project impacted your community both locally and globally.

We have been amazed, encouraged, humbled and incredibly overwhelmed to read through these beautiful stories of how you learned to Worship More, Spend Less, Give More and Love All this Advent season. All across the world small family groups, church plants, large established churches and individuals drew together this Christmas in a wild conspiracy to invite the God of justice, grace, hope and peace back into the Advent Season. To see how these humble efforts have been blessed beyond our wildest expectations is a beautiful reminder of how God desires to give us a new, bigger Kingdom vision for the world He has placed us in. This vision does not stop with Christmas but infiltrates our lives and relationships all year round.

Though we don’t have an exact figure on how much money was raised during the 2007 Advent Conspiracy we can conservatively estimate that at least $2.5 million have been poured into alleviating poverty, debt and suffering locally and throughout the developing world and the needs around us. As more and more people grasped the vision of Giving More and Loving All, they not only began to give generously to some great projects but also developed a real heart for loving and entering into relationship with the people they’d been given an opportunity to bless. One Florida-based pastor wrote,

“It is beautiful to watch a family of Christ-followers radically alter their lives in order to provide practical needs and demonstrate the supremacy of Christ to all His creation. It has been beautiful to watch families wrap their hearts, lives and passion around an Advent filled with conspiracy, wonder and awe of the coming King of Glory.”

This theme of being blessed to be able to bless, ran through many of your stories and motivated churches, many of whom were economically deprived themselves, to give hundreds of thousands of dollars to well-digging projects, school building and basic humanitarian needs in developing countries such as Sri Lanka, Mozambique and Rwanda. It was incredibly encouraging to hear stories of churches suddenly consumed with the desire to establish long-term relationships and support networks for many of the communities they became involved with globally. We look forward to hearing stories of how these relationships progress, impacting your churches and the world beyond your doorstep; they are a beautiful and timely reminder of the fact that God’s incarnation, celebrated at Christmas, continues to impact the World every day of the year. There are thousands of people across the World who will drink clean water or receive a basic education today, tomorrow and for years to come simply because you embraced God’s desire that we Love All from the depths of our abundance.

Locally we were excited to hear the incredible variety of projects you chose to get involved with. Many struggling families enjoyed Christmas this year free from rent-worries, with plentiful food, clothes and gifts for their children. A huge number of churches chose to work alongside projects specifically concerned with the elderly, homeless and hospitalized. More than the financial aid given to these great non-profits, it was wonderful to hear about the meals, parties and visits you organized to begin relationships with the neediest people in your community. As one pastor wrote,
“Each year we reflect on God being with us, and now we have the wonderful opportunity of being Emmanuel’s people…God’s people with them”.

Dozens of churches reported a basic attitude change. Previously unaware of how very deeply entrenched in seasonal consumerism they had become, the Advent Conspiracy came as a wild yet simple wake up call to see Christmas in a different light. An initial hesitation to cut back, possibly diminishing the “magic of Christmas” or confusion as to how to give relationally and meaningfully, soon evaporated as they caught the true vision behind the project. Again and again we heard stories from people relieved to be able to abandon the malls and Christmas frenzy for a season of peace, community and opportunity to focus their thoughts on Emmanuel and rest in the realization of His presence.

Anya Holcomb from Mosaic Church writes,
“Advent Conspiracy helped us to worship God‚s Son and honor his arrival. The wild, yet simple concept gave us a freedom to do Christmas in a way we have always longed for, but could never quite articulate.”

We heard numerous stories from churches both small and large, reporting how this simple project pulled their community tightly together, encouraging their members to work alongside each other in finding ways to engage the true meaning behind the Christmas story through giving, service, wonderful displays of art and creativity, imaginative worship services, family events and a host of other great ideas. Many pastors enthusiastically admitted that 2007 had been their most meaningful Christmas as both a family and a wider church community.

The whole concept of relational giving, oftentimes intimidating to those who struggle with dreaming up creative ideas, ended up being one of the most meaningful parts of the entire project for many churches. Working together to swap ideas and resources people across the world came up with some fantastic and incredibly imaginative ways to give alternatively this Christmas. We loved hearing about your craft projects, your gifts which invested time and attention in relationships with family members and friends and some of the downright crazy things you were up to this Christmas as you gave freely from a place of love rather than dutiful expectation. These were gifts that will continue to impact and resonate long after the wrapping paper has been tossed aside and in some part point to God’s desire to give to us relationally and meaningfully. One pastor in Corvallis, OR wrote,

“People in our community continue to tell stories about the gifts they were given by others. Giving more intentionally and relationally has given more depth and substance to our relationships. We can honestly say that not only was this Christmas season special for us, it was life changing.”

We are so thankful for an amazing year of giving, loving and worshipping the Creator of the entire world, of entering into a fuller knowledge of His incarnation and building the Kingdom right here in the most broken parts of our World. Looking forward to the Advent Conspiracy in 2008 we are excited to better resource and equip more churches as they commit to substituting compassion for consumerism. Many of you are already planning, preparing and praying for this year and seeking to embody the values of the Advent Conspiracy throughout the year. We are blessed and inspired to conspire alongside so many beautiful Kingdom builders.