Click here to access the November/December 2024 issue of Gather.
See November Bible study session, “Living as children of the Light.”
What concrete advice can Ephesians give us on how to live a fuller, happier life? What poetic inspiration can it offer us for living as Christians?
See December devotional, “In God’s garden.”
See video supplement for December devotional.
This Advent, we’ll learn from some surprising teachers: fig trees. Astonishingly vibrant, fig trees have a zest for life. Their roots have even been known to bust through plumbing and climb walls like ivy! Yet fig trees also have a dormant period—a time when they do not grow or bear fruit. But this period of waiting and rest isn’t a time of waiting around. It’s a time of pruning and fertilizing and watering; a time to prepare for the fruitful season ahead.
As we prepare the way of the Lord in this season, we are in our own dormant period of waiting and anticipation. Still, Jesus calls us to “keep awake” and to prepare ourselves for God’s coming.
Join us to explore what fig trees can teach us about waiting and preparing for God’s coming!
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Gather, the magazine of Women of the ELCA, offers a mix of articles, theological reflections, devotions and stories of comfort and challenge that help readers grow in faith and engage in ministry and action.
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December 2024 “In God’s garden: What fig trees teach us about Advent” by Hannah Hawkinson
Download the devotional. View the video supplement. This Advent, we'll learn from some surprising teachers: fig trees. Astonishingly vibrant, fig trees have a zest for life. Their roots have even been known to bust through plumbing and climb walls like ivy! Yet fig...
Journey with us through Advent
Read Gather's 2024 Advent devotional, "In God's Garden." View the devotional video supplement. Read “A sacred season,” an article from November/December 2024 issue of Gather that features 23 Advent disciplines. Download Advent resources from Women of the...
Prayer book submissions welcome
We are producing a new resource designed to enhance your prayer and meditation life. The Women of the ELCA “Just Prayers” coloring book will feature prayers that can be used in a variety of circumstances, including (but not limited to): Start and end of day Before and...
Building Advent traditions
Every Advent, mom would drag the yule log out of storage and place it on the kitchen table. She’d made the dusty birch centerpiece herself, complete with greenery and holes to anchor the Advent candles. Although I can no longer remember if we lit one or all the...
Redeeming grace
Coupons, rainchecks and rebates were my dad’s way of saving money on groceries and other household items. Because of this, even as a young child I understood what “redeeming” meant. Dad redeemed coupons a little like he played cards. He knew just what coupon to play,...
Nothing can separate us
Holy and abiding presence, out of the depths, I cry to you! Like so many before me, I wonder: “How long?” “Why me?” “Why them?” “Why now?” “Where are you?” and “Why have you forsaken us?” If I were to rend my garments each time these thoughts come, I would no longer...