- About
- Admissions
- Academics
- Resources
- Enhance Your Education
- Barbour Library
- Field Education
- Writing Center
- Give
Advent Devotional
The Twelve Questions of Advent Quiz
Take this Advent Quiz with your family around the dinner table, give it to your high-school or adult Sunday school class, discuss it in your Bible Study group, or test your knowledge on your own and perhaps learn something new about this special time of the year.
Advent Music
Advent Service of Word and Song
Planning an Advent service of word and song at your church? Check out this bulletin from a 2016 service at Pittsburgh Seminary. The PDF provides song suggestions as well as prayers and background info about the Advent season.
Advent Song Suggestions
Here you will find suggested song selections related to the lectionary’s festival passages for each Sunday in Advent 2018, thanks to the Rev. Kendra Buckwalter Smith ’12/’13, director of PTS’s Worship program.
DOWNLOAD ADVENT SONG SUGGESTIONS
Advent Music for Guitar
The SYI Guitar Hymnal is available for a wide range of guitar players and musical environments. The SYI Guitar Hymnal coordinates with the 1990 Presbyterian Hymnal. This resource presents as many as five versions of 33 different Advent/Christmas hymns, and facilitates guitar accompaniment of congregational hymns in neo-traditional worship in addition to blended or contemporary settings. Visit this music resource to see all that's available! This free resource is a service of the Seminary's Miller Summer Youth Institute. Have feedback about the Guitar Hymnal? Let us know: SYIMusic@pts.edu.
O Come, O Come Emmanuel
This well known Christmas hymn has a long and interesting past! Fully explore the song's history, meaning, and verses in this Advent study, perfect for small groups (think adult education during the Sundays in Advent), corporate worship (read the Scriptures and sing the verses), or personal devotions. This study is provided by the Seminary's Miller Summer Youth Institute.
In addition, encourage the guitar players in your congregation to perform the song, thanks to sheet music provided in the Miller Summer Youth Institute Guitar Hymnal. You can even watch SYI musician and PTS alum Jeremy Fisher teach folks to play the song on guitar in the YouTube video.
DOWNLOAD THE O COME, O COME EMMANUEL ADVENT STUDY
DOWNLOAD THE LYRICS (PowerPoint) After clicking "Download the PowerPoint," be sure to "Save As" to enable editing and picture viewing.
DOWNLOAD THE LYRICAL VIDEOS
Full Song (Hymnal Order)
Verse 1
Verse 2
Verse 3
Verse 4
Verse 5
Verse 6
Verse 7
DOWNLOAD THE MUSIC TRACKS
Full Song (Hymnal Order)
Verse 1
Verse 2
Verse 3
Verse 4
Verse 5
Verse 6
Verse 7
BIG BOOK OF ADVENT DEVOTIONALS - YEAR 1
The Seminary's “Big Book of Advent Devotionals - Year 1” gives you a valuable resource for personal and corporate Spiritual formation during the Advent season. From Day 1 through Christmas Day, each section includes multiple biblical passages from the daily lectionary, reflections based on those passages, and accompanying prayers based on each reflection. Members of the Seminary community since 2008 have contributed to this resource as a means of blessing you not only in this Advent season but also in those to come!
DOWNLOAD THE BIG BOOK OF ADVENT DEVOTIONALS - YEAR 1
Advent Sermon "Fulfilled"
This sermon by PTS’s vice president for seminary advancement, the Rev. Dr. Christine Chakoian, focuses on the Magnificat of Mary to demonstrate the reality that Christmas, though yet to be celebrated this Advent season, is already a “done deal.”
Advent Reflections
Use these previously posted PTS blogs as sermon inspiration or illustrations. Professor John Burgess discusses fasting in Orthodox Russia. Director of the Church Planting Initiative Karen Rohrer reflects on the symbolism of candles and connection to new worshiping communities, and professor Roger Owens writes about ruptured relationships and God's restoration of all things.
DOWNLOAD REFLECTION - JOHN BURGESS
DOWNLOAD REFLECTION - KAREN ROHRER
DOWNLOAD REFLECTION - ROGER OWENS
Cookie Activity for Kids
Everyone loves Christmas cookies—especially children! Make these holiday-titled recipes for your Sunday school students—or with them!—and tell the associated biblical stories as you share in sampling these sweets on Sunday morning—and throughout the Advent season.
"WHAT IS ADVENT?" VIDEO
Share this video with your youth group, Bible study, or congregation to help answer the question "What is Advent?"
POWERPOINT
Consider adapting this template for your worship service. Insert your Scripture passage, Call to Worship, hymns, announcements, or whatever else you may need! After clicking "Download the PowerPoint," be sure to "Save As" to enable editing and picture viewing.
Additional Advent Resources
Need even more Advent resources for corporate worship and personal devotions? Check out the Seasonal Resources - Advent section of our website.
ABOUT PITTSBURGH THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
Rooted in the Reformed tradition, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary is committed to the formation of students for theologically reflective ministry and to scholarship in service to the global Church of Jesus Christ.
Become a Hybrid Student
PTS Neighborhood Collaborative Resource Programs
- Center for Adaptive and Innovative Ministry
- Continuing Education
- Faith Forming Families Network
- Kelso Museum of Near Eastern Archaeology
- Miller Summer Youth Institute
- Metro-Urban Institute
- World Mission Initiative
Faculty
In addition to their on-campus duties, our faculty are experts in their fields and are available to preach and teach. Learn more about their topics of research and writing and invite them to present at your congregation or gathering.
Events
The Seminary hosts a wide range of events—many of them free!—on topics of faith including church planting, mission, vocation, spiritual formation, pastoral care and counseling, archaeology, and many more. Visit our calendar often for a listing of upcoming events.
Visit PTS
Interested in the Seminary? Come visit us!
Stay in Touch with PTS
Sign-up to receive the Seminary's newsletters: Seminary News (monthly), Center for Adaptive and Innovative Ministry, Continuing Education, Kelso Museum, Metro-Urban Institute, Miller Summer Youth Institute, and World Mission Initiative. Alums, there's also one for you!