Christmas Fund Advent Resources Filled with Spirit of the Season; Drive Helps Active and Retired Clergy

The UCC Council for Health and Human Service Ministries and Pension Boards-United Church of Christ have again teamed up to bring all settings of the church this year’s Christmas Fund Advent resources, including the four weeks of Advent and Christmas Eve.

The 2025 Advent liturgical resources were created by the Rev. Dr. Elyse Berry, CHHSM’s associate for advocacy and leadership development, in consultation with Paul Ramsey, philanthropy officer for the Pension Boards. They include liturgies for each week and Christmas Eve—Invocation, Litany of the Advent Candle, Prayer of Transformation and Grace, Invitation to the Offering, and Prayer of Dedication—along with engaging children’s sermons, including artwork. The resources are broadly based on the 2025 General Synod theme, “Into the Deep.”

“When Paul and I began discussing the Christmas Fund advent materials for this year, we both agreed it would be meaningful to make a connection with the ‘Into the Deep’ theme from General Synod,” said Berry. “Reflecting on this theme, along with the shortened days and longer nights of the advent season as well as the imagery of the star of Bethlehem, I wove a theme of “into deep space” into the liturgical materials and the children’s sermonettes. We chose the scripture passage, ‘When they saw the star, they were filled with joy’ (Mt 2:10), and so language, images, and inspiration from the cosmos is very present in this year’s materials.”

The children’s sermons follow the theme, titled Hope: Cosmic Dust; Peace: Black Hole; Joy: Dark Constellations; Love: Winter Solstice; and Christmas Eve: Stellar Nursery. Each is accompanied by beautiful artwork, also created by Berry.

“I loved not only writing the children’s sermonettes but also researching ways to use facts and stories about space to help illustrate the Advent themes of hope, peace, joy, and love for children—of all ages,” Berry said. “Considering what wisdom there might be from cosmic dust to teach us about hope or what black holes reveal about peace brought these ancient values to life for me. I brought them to life in a more literal way through creating original art pieces for each sermonette.”

Berry used the craft of needle felting—using special needles and sheep’s wool to form shapes, figures, and more—to create the original art pieces. “I then made a diorama of the cosmos and took pictures of each one to make the graphics,” she added.

The artwork Berry created for the 2024 Christmas Fund materials received positive feedback, so Berry was eager to create new art for this year. “When I made graphics for last year’s Christmas Fund materials, I received feedback that those helped to engage folks and made the content stand-out,” she added. “So, because I already had it in mind to make artful graphics for the sermonettes, my own imagination was able to enter into that childlike space of wonder and play. It was so fun to do, and I hope that spirit of playfulness comes through the materials.”

The Christmas Fund has been caring for active and retired clergy and lay employees of the United Church of Christ for more than 100 years, providing emergency grants, supplementation of small annuities and health premiums, and Christmas “thank you” gift checks each December to the denomination’s lower-income retirees. In addition to the liturgical resources, the 2025 Christmas Fund campaign includes an easy-to-download poster and promotional calendar to make publicizing the fund drive— one of the UCC’s annual special mission offerings—easy to accomplish.

“The Christmas Fund is one of the lovely ways we show grace in the United Church of Christ—a nest egg for our ministers and church workers which supplies a sense of confidence that they will be supported during times of financial distress,” said Paul Ramsey, Pension Boards philanthropy officer.

Download the 2025 Christmas Fund materials.