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Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway? #28
An Advent and Christmas Resource for Families, Individuals and Churches
WHOSE Birthday? is for your personal inspiration, community education and sharing.Want to Contribute?
Submission Guidelines
Although this resource is not available in print, you may make all the copies you choose.
It is covered by Creative Commons non-commercial attribution share-alike license.
Choose from 20 daily Advent/Christmas guides/calendars. Some are lectionary-based, some are thematic. Copy your choice on recycled paper as a bulletin insert, in your own Advent-Christmas booklet or as a series in your weekly service bulletin.
Do-It-Yourself 'WHOSE Birthday?'
Table of Contents
Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway?
An Advent and Christmas Resource for Families, Individuals and Congregations
Brief IntroductionReflections & Activities
How the Story behind Civilization's Christmas Is a Jubilee Event by Lee Van HamThe Light that Ecological Darkness Cannot Put Out by Lee Van Ham
The Challenge of Christmas by John Dominic Crossan
Advent Activities for Families and Kids from Christine Sine of Mustard Seed Associates/GodSpace
'The Slaughter of the Holy Innocents of Sandy Hook Elementary,' chapter 8 of Accidental Saints: Finding God in All the Wrong People (2015) by Nadia Bolz-Weber. Get this touching, insightful book from your local public library.
'Keep Herod in Christmas,' chapter 16 of We Make the Road by Walking (2014) by Brian McLaren. Get this insightful book from your local public library.
'Putting Herod Back Into Christmas' by Joy Carroll Wallis, Sojourners
'Piggy Banks and God's Abundance: Teaching our kids (and ourselves) to be smart--and generous--about money' by Susan Taylor
Ancient Good Uncouth by Peter Sawtell: The season of Advent is not about decorating the tree and buying presents. Advent calls us into prophetic honesty about what is really going on in our world. Advent stokes our longing for justice, peace and righteousness -- and so it will also stoke our discontent with injustice, conflict, and exploitation.
'There's a Better Way to Understand Isaiah than to Think He Predicted Jesus': longer think-piece by Lee Van Ham
Whose Birthday? How-To
- What Happened to Christmas?
- Why a Simpler Christmas?
- Weekly Family Time: How to Use These Reflections & Activities
- Let Us Have a Truly Christ-like Christmas
- Top 10 Uses of "Whose Birthday?"
- More Exciting, Helpful Ways to Use "Whose Birthday?"
- Going Beyond "Whose Birthday?"
- Alternative Giving \ Alternative Giving Index
Resources
- SLW! 'WHOSE Birthday?' Podcasts, Episodes 6-11, 32-35, 57-59, 80-83
- 10 Tips for a Simpler, More Meaningful Christmas
- Carols with Justice TEXT and AUDIO
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Finished-Ready Resources
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Advent Bulletin Insert series
Advent 1-Simply Advent.pdf
Advent 2-Simply Presence.pdf
Advent 3-Simply Miracles.pdf
Advent 4-Simply a Savior.pdf
Consumo, Overlord of Overconsumption
Consumo: Cover of 'Quaker Life'Christmas Packs:
Christmas Budget
Advent BudgetSimple Living 101: Tools for Activists: More Resources for Speakers
Let's Talk About Christmas - PDF 29
Christmas Budget Worksheet 33
Alternative Giving Card - PDF 34What Does Jesus Want for Christmas? pageant - PDF, TEXT and AUDIO.
Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway? (Advent/Christmas)
#20-text & PDF (Tony Campolo, Shane Claiborne and others)
#19-text & PDF (Millard Fuller, Walter Wink, Ched Myers and others)Worship Alternatives: Sermons, Art, Litanies, Hymns, Prayers, etc. Look for PDF in all Worship Items categories.
- 37 Marketing Traps to Look Out for This Holiday Season (from PostConsumers.com): Online Marketing Traps // Offline Marketing Traps // Sign-Up Marketing Traps // Upgrade Marketing Traps // Data Collection Marketing Traps // All Marketing Tricks and Traps
Colleague Organizations
Brief Introduction
A quick internet search for 'simplifying Christmas' yields 2,370,000 results. To the average person, that would seem insurmountable. Why bother?The articles for 'WHOSE Birthday?' #28 are drawn largely from colleague sites, groups that we trust. So, if you read some of the articles here and then snoop around on the site, we're confident that you will not be drawn into a scam.
The content of this edition of 'WHOSE Birthday?' is not the same as the podcast. The podcast is taken from the audio tracks of a previous edition of 'WHOSE Birthday?' So, this year you get a two-fer.
NOTE: The Creative Commons license only applies to the content on this site. Since most of the content of this edition is not on this site, contact the owner of the content you choose before you make copies.
DIY WHOSE Birthday?
The classic Advent/Christmas resource 'Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway? is available in multiple formats in 2016 to meet your personal, family and community needs. 'Whose Birthday?' 2010 was the last edition distributed on paper. Since then I have published it on the internet.'Whose Birthday?' #28 is a new, free online collection. Use as much as you need in print or online. Also, contribute your art and articles to SLW! for it.
'Whose Birthday?' #20 is scheduled for release as a SLW! podcast series late this fall. This legacy resource can also be used as text or audio. It's calendar matches the lectionary cycle (C).
DIY 'Whose Birthday?' Yes, you can produce our own customized, do-it-yourself 'Whose Birthday?' You're welcome to assemble and copy a version that meets your local needs. All of our resources and service are now free of charge.
- CREATE - select the items most appropriate for your congregation or group, including graphics. Add some of your own original material if you choose.
- PRODUCE - assemble the items in an attractive way, using publishing software (probably already on your computer) for a paper version; or electronic software for internet-based version (using PDF's of a paper version or a template for a newsletter version).
- DISTRIBUTE - Hand out copies to your congregation or group at a worship service or meeting or by mail, make additional copies available to share with friends and relatives. Do not sell for a profit or copyright it under our Creative Commons license. Post it on your congregation's or your personal web site.
- PROMOTE - Tell people where it's available using social media and any other ways available to you -- newsletter, worship bulletin, posters, etc.
To make your selections, visit:
- 'Whose Birthday?' index by editions.
- Alphabetical index of Advent/Christmas Alternative articles taken from 'Whose Birthday?' and our Christmas Packs
- Graphics at 'Spirit of Simplicity: Quotes and Art' and from 'Worship Alternatives'
- Complete Thematic/Seasonal index of Advent/Christmas resources
- For help with your workshop, visit parts 2 & 3 of 'Simple Living 101: Tools for Activists Shy or Bold'
- I plan to continue issuing podcasts of audio from 'Whose Birthday?' To hear past episodes, visit the index.
- For audio and video resources visit our AV index.
How the Story behind Civilization's Christmas Is a Jubilee Event
br LEE VAN HAMThe Christmas of the malls is as anti-Jubilee as you can get! But, go behind civilization's money-coup that neutered the radical events, and we find Jubilee! The stories in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke counter concentrations of wealth in elite institutions and privileged people. Mary sang (Magnificat in Luke 1) about the leveling of inequality through humane redistribution as found across Creation.
The Gospels counter military enforcement of peace through might. That's what the Pax Romana was. Today's Pax Americana, if there even be such, is shredded by low-end technologies in the hands of extremists born of U.S. and Western suppression.
And on immigration? The Gospels also trump that strange presidential candidate we have named Donald. Exiling Jesus and family to Egypt was a wicked act of Herod. He's bad company, Donald. The peasantry of Bethlehem and Galilee welcomed the immigrant family from Nazareth. Only imperial types were bothered.
See how the story behind Christmas is a JUBILEE EVENT, including following blogs:
Page updated 10 Dec. 2016
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