Celebrate the excitement, anticipation and wonder of Christ’s birth with new Advent resources from ELCA World Hunger 2025!

Seasonal times of the church year like Lent, Easter and Advent are perfect seasons to raise awareness for issues surrounding hunger and poverty. Use these resources to plan educational and fundraising events at your congregation.

This season’s Advent calendar and study guide invite you to prepare room in your home and hearth for yourself and your community before going into the world to act on behalf of your neighbors. In a time of global suffering and anxiety, Richard Wilbur’s hymn “A Stable Lamp Is Lighted” calls us to embrace the tension of the moment, the natural desire for a place of our own, and our call to care for the stranger.

A stable lamp is lighted
whose glow shall wake the sky;
the stars shall bend their voices,
and every stone shall cry.

The simple act of making a hospitable, warm, cozy place — even in a stable — moves the sky, the stars and the stones to tremble. ELCA World Hunger’s seasonal packet has resources for creating a place of care, rest and reflection for you and your family so that you feel prepared to strengthen your community.

The Advent calendar evokes feelings of a welcoming hearth during the harsher months of winter. The activities inside start with a standing nativity scene, ready to be colored throughout the season. Alongside each day’s craft activity, the calendar includes:

• Opportunities from ELCA Good Gifts to generously support the church’s national and global work to end poverty.

• Everything you need to create “Stocking the Streets” bags for your unhoused neighbors.

• Scripture, prayers and hymns for seasonal reflection.

2025 Advent Study

This season’s ELCA World Hunger study guide provides reflection questions for engaging the brand-new, ELCA World Hunger-produced short video documentary “Intersections: Justice Ministry With ELCA Partners.” The video and study guide ask viewers to think differently about the root causes of hunger and poverty, making complex issues seem manageable through our collective action as the church.

We prayerfully invite your household and congregation to light your own stable lamp to warm you for your ministry under the starry sky and among the crying stones. Note: If ordering, this resource comes in packs of 10. 1 = 10 studies. FREE and free shipping.

2025 Advent Calendar

Create the feeling of a welcoming hearth with this year’s interactive Advent calendar. The calendar activity includes a 11″x17″ standing nativity scene, ready to be colored throughout the season. Alongside each day’s craft activity is a hymn, Bible verse, learning opportunity or information about how ELCA Good Gifts make a difference in the world. If ordering, this resource includes all 3 pieces. FREE and free shipping.

2025 Action Guide for Congregations

This guide is designed to equip you with some of the newest and most popular ELCA resources to activate your congregation as you continue your ministry. Through this work and together as a church, we are achieving things on a scale and scope we could never do otherwise. FREE and free shipping. 16 PG, 65 MB.

Congregational Resources for the 2025 Advent Season

Helpful resources to get your congregation more involved with the Advent theme for 2025m A Stable Lamp Is Lighted.

• ELCA Good Gifts Catalog. The 24-page ELCA Good Gifts catalog offers many ways to honor friends and loved ones with gifts that will make a difference in the world. With more than 60 giving options – from 10 little chicks to help a family escape poverty to a scholarship to help a young leader attend an ELCA seminary – there’s something for everyone on your list. The catalog is also a great resource for your congregation. Sunday school classes, youth groups and adults can use it for special fundraising events. Shop the catalog online at ELCA.org/goodgifts.

• “Stocking the Streets” Bags. Use these instructions to participate in ELCA World Hunger’s “Stocking the Streets” activity this Advent. “Stocking the Streets” is an effort by ELCA World Hunger and your community to care for all our neighbors, some of whom lack a roof over their heads. A “Stocking the Streets” bag includes the items most frequently requested by individuals facing homelessness. .149MB. Download here.

• Social Media Graphics. Use these social media graphics to invite others to join ELCA World Hunger for Advent, share instructions for the “Stocking the Streets” activity, share the theme verses for each session of the Advent study, and invite people to share photos of their colored Advent nativity scenes. There are sizes suitable for Facebook, Instagram and stories. 29MB. Download here.

• Bulletin Inserts. This bulletin insert can be distributed in your congregation to learn more about the new ELCA World Hunger Advent resources and the “Stocking the Streets” activity. .509MB. Download here.

• Powerpoint Slides. These PowerPoint slides can be used in your congregation to learn more about the new ELCA World Hunger Advent resources and the “Stocking the Streets” activity. You can also customize the blank slide with information about your congregation’s participation in the ELCA World Hunger Advent activities. 23MB. Download here.