The Pathfinder: November 25, 2025
Into the Stillness
It’s time to get ready. Through centuries of practice, the Christian Church has learned that in order to come close to a mystery like the Incarnation of the Christ, we have to get ready, we have to prepare ourselves.
What’s ironic about this time of preparation known as Advent is that it somewhat neatly overlaps with a time of cultural preparation for an identically named, but profoundly different holiday.
For Christians, these weeks leading up to Christmas are an invitation to stillness, not frenzy. We’re invited to slow down, to listen, to make space. At a time when these prices won’t last, and things can feel full to bursting, we are invited to find refuge in something that can be not bought nor sold, only offered and received, the presence of God.
I think the reason why Advent is a favorite season for many Anglicans is because of this contrast and the practices we have developed over time to find this refuge. In this Pathfinder, you will find practices and gatherings to help you enter in.
It begins at our services at 8 am and 10:30 am and continues with our Advent Festival this Sunday, November 30 at 5 pm, a fire-lit service of word and song in the courtyard, followed by Advent wreath making in the Parish Hall. Over the course of the days leading up to Christmas, you can mark the time and enter into stillness with the devotional booklet that Emily B has written—more on that below. On Wednesday evenings in Advent, we will be souping and singing together. You can read more about the tradition of Holden evening prayer in Matt’s article below and sign up to bring a soup or bread right here. In Beth Christensen‘s article below, you’ll find the ways that we are extending refuge to others in this season through Sunday ingatherings.
My hope is that we will each find a way into this stillness this Advent. Our forebears in the faith have left us paths into this refuge. It’s time for us to make the space and enter in.
Peace,
–Phil+
Embracing the Wonder: Advent for Children & Families
For children, there are few times in the church year as magical as Advent. It’s a season of anticipation, mystery, and excitement.
Our rituals touch all of the senses: bright candles and wreaths and pine scent and carol. It’s a time to slow down and make space for big questions and wonderings. A time when people of all ages open ourselves to wonder and unexpected joy.
At All Souls, Advent is an opportunity for children and families to sink more deeply into spiritual community and practices. This year, I want to draw your attention to five particular ways that children can take part: our Advent Festival, Nativity Story, Sunday liturgy, caroling party, and Christmas Eve services. You can read more below, and download our Children and Family Advent calendar here.
1. Advent Festival: Sunday, November 30th, 5 pm
Join us this Sunday for outdoor worship in the courtyard: song, prayer, poems, and Scripture around a fire. (Dress warm!)
Then, we'll move to the Parish Hall for crafts and fellowship. You're invited to make a wreath for your family, pick up candles and an Advent Booklet, make a Christmas ornament, and enjoy our hot chocolate bar.
Please bring cookies to share, if you're able! Bring back your wreath form, if you took one home last year.
This is a great event for newcomers. Invite your neighbors, classmates, friends, and family.
2. Nativity Story:
One of the beloved traditions at All Souls is our Nativity Story play, performed at the 4:00 pm family-friendly service on Christmas Eve.
Over the years, this story has taken many different forms. This year, we're excited to use as our script the "Story of the Nativity" written by Jerome Berryman, the founder of Godly Play. We’ll tell the story using life-size "story pieces": wooden cutouts representing the characters of the nativity. These pieces are being lovingly crafted and painted for us by members of the Arts at All Souls team. In addition to dressing up as characters, kids will help move and carry these pieces as a Storyteller narrates. Think of it like a Sunday School story come to life... and you get to take part!
There are plenty of roles and costumes for everyone: sheep, angels, shepherds, Wise Ones, animals, and more. Typically kids 5th grade and under take part in the play, but if you have middle or high schoolers, we'll gladly find a place for them. There will also be a chance for singing!
To take part:
Email emilyb@allsoulsparish.org to let me know that your kids want to participate. If you have a sense of what characters they'd like to dress up as, feel free to mention that.
And, come to our first rehearsal on Sunday, November 30th, 9:15-10:15 am in the Godly Play room. We'll have additional rehearsals on Dec. 7th, 14th, and 21st.
If you can't come to all of the rehearsals, you're still welcome to take part.
3. Participation in Weekly Liturgy: Wreath Lighting & Eucharistic Prayer
During Advent, All Souls engages in a special ritual during our 10:30 service. Each Sunday, a different child/family is invited up to the altar to light the Advent wreath. Then, during the Eucharistic Prayer, you’ll hear a child asking:
“Why is it right to give God thanks and praise?”
“Why do we share this bread and wine?”
“Why do we follow Jesus Christ?”
These practices are intended to bring the curiosity of children to the center of our worship, honoring the wonder that lives in every one of us.
We are looking for families to take part! We need volunteers for the 10:30 service on the following weeks:
December 7th
December 14th
December 21st
December 24th (4 pm)
Kids will be provided with the script in advance, and on your day, you'll arrive at 10 a.m. to prepare for the service. Often, siblings find it fun to do it together, but you're also welcome to sign up with a friend.
If your family wants to participate, please reach out to emilyb@allsoulsparish.org, and let me know what weeks you are available.
4. Caroling Party, Dec. 7th
Join the families of All Souls on Sunday, December 7th, for our annual caroling party!
5:00 pm - Chili potluck dinner and warm-ups at the Nicol's home (1324 Santa Fe Ave)
~6:00 pm - Caroling around the neighborhood
We'll wrap up at the Wilson's home (1120 Key Route Blvd) for cookies and cocoa.
This is a great event for all ages, especially children and families! Friends from outside All Souls are welcome. RSVP here.
5. Christmas Eve Services
We warmly invite you to join us for worship this Christmas! Here is our service schedule:
Christmas Eve (Dec. 24th):
4 pm family-friendly service with Nativity Story
7 pm & 9 pm* Carols and Candlelight
Christmas Day (Dec. 25th):
10:00a Eucharist
(*Note slightly different service times this year. Rather than a 10:30 pm "Midnight Mass," we are offering two Carols and Candlelight services.
You can save a copy of our Children & Family Advent calendar here.
Feel free to reach out to me (emilyb@allsoulsparish.org) with any questions. Thank you for helping us create the magic and mystery of Advent at All Souls!
Peace,
–Emily+
Holden Evening Prayer
This year on the three Wednesdays of Advent, we are invited to a soup supper, followed by Holden Evening Prayer, a liturgical service that invites participants to reflect on the light of Christ in the darkness of night and to offer prayers for peace and justice.
The service includes a hymn, a psalm, a reading from Luke, a canticle, a litany, and a blessing. The musical setting was composed in the 1980’s at Holden Village, a retreat center in remote Washington state, but the texts are drawn from long traditions of Evening Prayer, dating back to the earliest days of monasticism.
We sang this setting at the parish retreat this year and loved the way it connected us to one another. During Advent, we will sing Holden Evening Prayer in the Parish Hall, as a continuation of our soup supper fellowship, and a reminder that we find refuge both in places of comfort, but also with those with whom we sing, worship, and pray.
Taize Tuesdays will return in January.
–Matt Wolka, Associate for Music
Seeking Refuge in Ritual: 2025 Advent Booklet
This Advent, we are continuing the All Souls practice of a seasonal breviary. This is a booklet of prayers, readings, and hymns that we use for personal and small-group prayer. The theme of the booklet this year is “Refuge,” in many senses of the word.
The Nativity Story is full of themes of refuge: Mary and Joseph find unexpected refuge in a stable. They flee to Egypt, seeking safety. Mary finds refuge in the companionship of Elizabeth, in whom she confides about her experience.
During Advent, we seek and create refuge through liturgy and gathering. Amid a dark and chaotic world, we find respite and sustenance in ritual, community, contemplation.
Finally, this year in particular, we are aware of those people who are displaced, who seek safety and belonging and shelter. We invite you to hold these people in your mind and heart throughout this season, and consider ways that you can help offer refuge to those in need in practical and spiritual ways.
We hope that you will use this booklet on a nightly or weekly basis to ground your Advent season in the rhythm of ritual. Light Advent candles with your family, neighbors, or friends. Call another member of All Souls on Zoom or by phone, and use this ritual together. Though we may be practicing Advent rituals at different times and different places, these words unite our parish in shared worship.
You can get your printed breviary at the Advent festival on November 30th, or in the narthex in the coming weeks. Beginning Sunday, it will also be available to download on our All Souls Resources page.
Advent Blessings,
–Emily+
The Gospel of Matthew
Starting in Advent, we will begin a new liturgical year that will follow the Gospel of Matthew in our Sunday liturgies. This coming Sunday in Adult Formation, we start our four-part series delving into this book.
As we have with the other gospels, we will examine the authorship, theology, and history of this book. We will read some of the unique parables and lessons found in this gospel, noting its particular take on discipleship.
The last class will be an overview and wrap-up of all the gospels on a comparative basis. If you have not been able to attend any of the other classes, you may find this overview a beginning rather than an end.
Please join us at 9:15 am in the Parish Hall on the following Sundays: Nov. 30th, Dec. 7,14, 21. Looking forward to seeing everyone there!
The Rev. Michael Lemaire
Advent Ingathering 2025
During the four weeks of Advent, we collect donations for organizations that serve the wider community. Learn more about the work of these four service providers and how you can help each week.
Week 1 (Nov 30th): The Berkeley Food Pantry
Week 2 (Dec 7th): Elizabeth House
Week 3 (Dec 14th): The American Indian Child Resource Center (AICRC)
Week 4 (Dec 22): Undergraduate Street Medicine Outreach (USMO)
Read more about these organizations below!
Week 1: November 30th
The Berkeley Food Pantry has been serving the hungry in Berkeley and Oakland since 1969. BFP welcomes donations of packaged foods (NOT expired, damaged, or opened), and they love donations of produce and fruit from home gardens and yards. Popular foods and kitchen favorites often requested:
Canned meats such as tuna and chicken (low-sodium and low-fat)
Peanut butter
Shelf-stable tofu
Low sugar breakfast cereal
Canned soups (low-sodium)
Brown or white rice, pasta, and pasta sauce
Shelf-stable non-dairy milk such as soy, almond, and oat
Healthy snack foods for kids, such as low-sugar nutrition bars and dried fruit
Energy or snack bars for unhoused visitors
Cooking oil
Ketchup, mustard, salad dressing, and mayonnaise
Seasoning such as salt, pepper, herbs, spices, and garlic
Boxes of teabags
Ground coffee
$$$ Monetary donations. For each $1 you donate, BFP is able to purchase $7 worth of food! Make checks payable to All Souls Parish and include BFP in the memo section.
Week 2: December 7th
Elizabeth House is one of our Isaiah Project grantees. Although it is a small organization, it makes a tremendous impact on the people it serves – women and children (primarily people of color) who have been living unhoused and in extreme poverty – by providing transitional housing for up to two years. Approximately 80% of the women who have stayed at Elizabeth House go on to find safe, permanent housing and employment.
For the ingathering, we are requesting that people bring one or more of the following items, which Elizabeth House will wrap and provide to the families at Christmas:
pajamas* for the children
socks for the children and for the mothers
board games (traditional and not electronic) that family members can play together
*Sizes needed are as follows: Infant 0-3 Months; Boys Toddler 9-12 Months; Girls 2T (Toddler) Boys 3T (Toddler); Girls 7; Girls 8; Boys 10; Boys 12.
Week 3: December 14th
American Indian Child Resource Center (AICRC) is an American Indian led, American Indian serving, community service organization whose mission is to “preserve and promote the cultural integrity of American Indian youth and their families.” Founded in 1974, AICRC provides culturally congruent services to American Indian children and families (e.g., culturally focused mental health services for children), recruits and trains American Indian foster parents/families, and prioritizes youth programming. AICRC is also one of four organizations chosen by the All Souls community to receive an Isaiah Project grant, which is being used to support their staffing needs. Another need is holiday gifts for children and youth who participate in AICRC programs.
With this in mind, we will be gathering holiday gift cards from Amazon or Target to give to AICRC children and youth.
Week 4: December 22nd
Undergraduate Street Medicine Outreach (USMO) is a volunteer student organization at UC Berkeley focused on providing aid to Berkeley and Oakland homeless encampments. Each week, student volunteers go out to encampments and hand out food, hygiene supplies, medical supplies, and other requested items, such as clothing and desserts. They are committed to bridging the gap between the unhoused community and access to basic services and necessities.
They are requesting the following items, which are in especially high demand in the winter.
Tents
Petrol
Winter jackets
Camping stoves
Butane and propane
Socks
Underwear
Blankets
Gloves
Batteries (any type)
USMO also accepts monetary gifts through GoFundMe, at this link.
Thanks,
–Beth Christensen on behalf of the Justice and Peace Committee
Announcements & Events
Wednesday, 11/26
9 am Eucharist Service in the Chapel
Sunday, 11/30
7:00 am, Reading Between the Lines Bible Study in the Common Room or click here to join by Zoom.
8:00 am, Holy Eucharist in the Chapel. Please enter through the copper doors downstairs on Cedar Street.
9:15 am, Adult Formation: “The Gospel of Matthew,” with the Rev. Michael Lemaire in the Parish Hall and Newcomer Class downstairs in the Common Room. Rehearsal for Christmas Eve Nativity Story in the Godly Play Room.
10:30am, Sung Eucharist in the Nave. Join us via livestream here. Sunday School in the Godly Play room.
12 noon, Coffee Hour in the Courtyard.
5 pm, Advent Festival in the Courtyard and Parish Hall.
Learn With Us
ADULT FORMATION
This week: The Gospel of Matthew,” with the Rev. Michael Lemaire
See the article above for the full description of this four-part series on the Gospel of Matthew. Class meets in the Parish Hall at 9:15 am on the following Sundays: Nov. 30, Dec. 7, 14, 21
Newcomer Class
Wondering how to learn more about All Souls and connect with ommunity? Whether you are new here or looking to become a member, join us for the final class in this series in the Chapel at 9:15 am, Sunday, November 30th.
Worship With Us
CHILDREN & FAMILIES
Christmas Eve Nativity Story Rehearsals
Rehearsals for our children’s Christmas Eve Nativity Story starts this coming Sunday, 11/30! Join us again on 12/7 & 12/14 from 9:15-10:15 am in the Godly Play Room. Plenty of roles and costumes for everyone! Email emilyb@allsoulsparish.org to take part!
Sunday School: Sunday School (for kids pre-K through 5th grade) happens every week during the 10:30 service. Meet outside of main Cedar St. doors at the start of the service; teachers will lead you around the corner to our temporary classroom space. (If you’re late, ask an usher for directions). Children return to church at the “Peace.”
To join our Children and Family mailing list, email emilyb@allsoulsparish.org
See Emily B’s article above for information on children’s activities during the Advent and Christmas seasons!
Download our Children & Family Advent Calendar.
YOUTH
Youth Group (for grades 6-12) generally happens each Sunday from 7-8:30pm.
Join us on Sunday evenings from 7-8:30 pm for games, art, reflection, and prayer. We alternate between a large, combined middle and high school group and a small high school-only group.
COMING UP:
Nov 30 - All Parish Advent Festival at 5 pm (in place of regular Youth Group)
Dec 7 - All Parish Caroling Party at 5 pm
(in place of regular Youth Group)
Dec 14 - All Grades Holiday Youth Group
To join the weekly youth mailing list, email emilyb@allsoulsparish.org.
Serve With Us
JUSTICE & PEACE
Sugarcane Film Screening - Friday, December 5th
The Racial Justice Committee (RJC) invites you to join us on Friday, 12/5, at 6:30 pm in the Parish Hall for a screening of the documentary film Sugarcane, a groundbreaking investigation into an Indian residential school, shedding light on years of forced separation, assimilation, and abuse that Indigenous children experienced at the hands of church and government. Click here to see the flyer with additional details.
Advent Ingathering 2025
See the article above for all the details on the four organizations that we will be collecting donations for during Advent.
Gather With Us
EMILY HANSEN CURRAN’S ORDINATION - SATURDAY, DECEMBER 6th
The day has arrived! Our beloved Emily Hansen Curran will be ordained to the Diaconate at Grace Cathedral on December 6th at 3 pm. All are welcome to celebrate this memorable occasion, marking the end of one journey and the beginning of another.
THE CENTER FOR ARTESTEEM FUNDRAISER - SATURDAY, DECEMBER 6th
The Center for ArtEsteem, one of the four Isaiah Project grantees, is having its annual fundraiser on Saturday, December 6th, at 12 pm. You will enjoy a delicious catered lunch while having heartfelt conversations in small groups about critical issues facing our city and our world. You'll have a chance to see their new studio space, see student artwork, hear from students in their programs, and learn about ArtEsteem's current initiatives.
Here are the details of the event and links that you can click on to learn more and purchase tickets:
DATE: Sat Dec 6, 2025
TIME: 12-3:30pm
LOCATION: The Center for ArtEsteem, 3111 West St, Oakland CA 94608
Food catered by Jusla Catering
Hope we can see a few All Soulsians there!
ALL SOULS CAROLING PARTY - DECEMBER 7th
Join us on Sunday evening, 12/7, for the annual All Souls caroling party! This is a great event for all ages, especially children and families. Invite your friends! RSVP here. The schedule is as follows:
5 pm - Chili dinner and warm-ups at the Nicol's home (1324 Santa Fe Ave)
5:30 ish - Caroling around the neighborhood
We'll wrap up at the Wilson's home (1120 Key Route Blvd) for cookies and cocoa. We hope to see and sing with lots of All Soulsians and friends.
LAST BUT NOT LEAST
This special Advent Edition of The Pathfinder is being published on Tuesday this week due to the Thanksgiving holiday. Next week, it will resume its normal schedule of Thursday evening delivery.
Please pick up your photos and mementos from the ofrenda in the back of the Nave. We will have a box on the counter in the narthex for those unable to take theirs home last week.
