Discipleship

Advent Journey: Encountering Emmanuel

What if this Advent you could help each of your parishioners enter into a transformational experience that they have never had before? One that can help them allow God into deeper parts of their heart? This journey equips your parishioners to take a step back from the chaos of life and deepen their spiritual life. Encountering Emmanuel is a daily advent devotional by Heather Khym, co-host of the Abiding Together Podcast.

The goal of this journey is to help you invite every parishioner to deepen their spiritual life and enhance their Advent season observance. Encountering Emmanuel is perfect for individuals, families, or as part of small group discussions (there is a free downloadable PDF group study guide available that helps foster community and shared faith journey).

‍

How to Buy the Book:

U.S. Parishes: Ave Maria >> *Buy 100+ books and get each book for $6.00 USD

Canadian Parishes: Sunrise Marian >>

Special Thanks to Heather Khym

•

https://www.liferestoration.ca/

A special thanks to Heather Khym and Ave Maria Press for your partnership on making this book as accessible as possible for parishes.

‍

Customize for your parish

Everything in this package is ready-made for you to use as is or edit to make it more your own. We've created fully customizable templates in the free-to-use online design tool, Canva. Use all the assets together or pick and choose what makes sense for your community.

View the roll-out plan by

WORD DOC

Letters

Pitch the idea of Encountering Emmanuel to parish leaders.

advent-letter

Doc

Parishioner emails

Provide additional videos to parishioners each Sunday as they go through the study.

advent-email

Canva Link & JPG

Posters

Promote the study across the parish.

advent-posters

Doc & JPG

Bulletin insert

Promote the book in the Sunday bulletin.

advent-bulletin

Canva & JPG

Pew card

Remind parishioners of the study when they sit down for mass.

advent-pew-card

Canva links & JPGs

Social posts

Promote the book on all your social media channels.

advent-social-posts

Doc

Pulpit announcement

Introduce the book study to the parish from the pulpit.

advent-pulpit-announcement

PDF

Leader Guide

This leader’s guide is designed to cover five meetings to discuss the book.

advent-leader-guide

Letters

Whether you're the pastor of a parish or a lay leader excited about this study, these letters help layout why and how it can impact your parish community during Advent.

Customize to meet your needs

Pastor letter

Pitch leaders on promoting Encountering Emmanuel in their teams.

Download

Lay person letter

Pitch Encountering Emmanuel to your pastor.

Download

Parishioner emails

These emails introduce the Encountering Emmanuel Study to parishioners and provide them weekly touch points with video introductions from Heather.

Customize to meet your needs

Email: Are you interested in purchasing a book?

Pitch the idea of Encountering Emmanuel in the parish + gauge interest in book.

Download

Email: Order Books

Remind your parishioners to order their books for the study.

Download

Email: Books are in!

Let parishioners know their books are ready for pick up.

Download

Email: Weekly Parishioner Emails

Emails for each week of Advent.

Download

Posters

Put up posters inside the parish and in common spaces that your community gathers. Place them outside the parish to invite anyone in the surrounding neighbourhood.

Customize to meet your needs

11x17 Poster

Set up promotional posters in your parish and shared spaces.

Edit in Canva

8.5x11 Poster

Standard US Letter size for quick printing.

Edit in Canva

Bulletin insert

Use the bulletin insert to remind people that they can join the parish in reading the Encountering Emmanuel study over every day of Advent.

Customize to meet your needs

Bulletin

Promote the book in your Sunday bulletin.

Download

Pew card

After you've announced the study across the parish, pew cards help remind people to get their book and sign up for weekly emails.

Customize to meet your needs

Pew card

Place a reminder in your pews leading up to Advent.

Edit in Canva

Pulpit announcement

One of the most powerful ways to create momentum is word-of-mouth. Have a pastor, deacon, or lay leader introduce the book during Sunday announcements leading up to Advent.

Customize to meet your needs

Pulpit Announcement

Introduce Encountering Emmanuel to your parish from the pulpit.

Download

Pulpit Announcement 2

Remind the parish a second time about joining the parish in reading Encountering Emmanuel.

Download

Leader Guide

Use this guide to facilitate five weeks of discussion.

Customize to meet your needs

Discussion Guide

This guide is designed to cover five meetings, each running approximately forty-five minutes
to one hour. They include questions to help go deeper into the reflections.

Download

Part 1 - Invite other leaders in your parish

If it’s feeling overwhelming to try and get other leaders excited about a parish-wide initiative, here’s a template of invite them to join. Whether you're a pastor or a ministry leader, these templates will help you invite others to get excited about what this book could bring to the parish.

‍

Part 2 - Print & create promotional materials

The next step is prepping your promotional materials. Print banners, bulletin inserts and more using the files below.

Part 3 - Promote in the parish

As you get closer to Advent, send out the first email and utilize your printed promotional material across the parish. Additionally, post on social media channels and announce from the pulpit about the book.

‍

Part 4 -Schedule emails for each week of Advent

Before Advent starts, schedule weekly emails for every Sunday of Advent. These emails will be reminders for people to engage their study and include a weekly video to help them enter into the theme for the coming days.

Also included in this step is optional discussion guides to include in emails or pass out to those who are forming groups in your parish.