Advent stories

I would like to give some publicity to www.adventstories.org.

It comprises an imaginative evangelistic advent card brought to the internet by the Archbishops Council for the Church of England, supported by Ecclesiastical Insurance.

The windows are numbered 3 to 24. There is no number 1 or 2 to emphasise that Advent began on Advent Sunday 3rd December and not on 1st December. Below the card is an advert for www.presentaid.org from Christian Aid which takes you to a site with lots of suggestions for alternative Christmas giving.

When you click on each window a personality picture and profile appears with an extended quote which amount to a Christian testimony by the contributor. So on 3rd we have John Sentamu, Archbishop of York, telling us that "Advent is like a hungry man waiting for a fabulous feast". There are links to the archbishop's website and to further "preparing for Christmas" resources and a site that helps you find your nearest anglican church anywhere in the country or in europe. 16532 churches and 12588 services and events are listed.

On the 4th Luke Cooper, a recently converted teenager from Southend, says "I've got so much more to celebrate now". His links are to "Legacy" and "Fresh expression of church". They are organisations which played a part in bringing him to Christ and the Church. On the 5th Sam Wolstencroft, a teacher from Bolton, testifies that Christmas is "the birthday of someone I love and who loves me". I tried the 6th but was politely told "No peeping. Come back on 6th December to discover this story".

I think it is excellent and I gets plenty of hits in the days leading up to Christmas and helps many to put Christ back into Christmas.