As we look forward to celebrating Jesus’ coming to the world during Advent and Christmas we are greatly blessed by many of our traditions. One of those traditions unique to Wales is the plygain service and its wealth of original Welsh carols used to sing God’s praises, share the Christmas story, and celebrate salvation in Jesus.
This year a new bilingual resource for Advent called The Plygain Tradition – a gift from Wales has been produced by the Methodist Church. This booklet of four studies based on the wealth of the traditional plygain carols was prepared by the Discipleship and Ministries Learning Network team in Wales. The four carols chosen for these studies take us on a journey that reflects the advent theme of waiting. They explore the nature of who and what we are waiting for; God’s incarnation in the form of the baby Jesus; and the response we need to give when the waiting is finally over.
This resource is part of a series of materials for small groups entitled Living Upside Down, a name which acknowledges that the theme of living upside down is constantly seen in Jesus’ teaching. The aim is to see things through God’s eyes and act on the things which are really important to us as disciples. At the end of each study there are discussion questions to enable people to engage with the theme and to inspire upside down living within our communities.
This resource can be used by any group which meets during Advent. Why not set up a group to meet regularly throughout Advent to discuss and pray together? Or perhaps you would like to hold a service based on the plygain carols where the carols could be sung by the congregation and the studies used as meditations.
This resource can be downloaded here
Living Upside Down Advent Resource
Byw Ben i Waered Adnodd Adfent
or you can order free copies of the booklet from Amy Adams 07799 900492 or adamsa@methodistchurch.org.uk or from Delyth Wyn Davies on 07799 902576 or daviesd@methodistchurch.org.uk