Church Group to Explore Religious Art and Literature During Advent Season

A four-week program at All Saints Church in Pasadena titled “Christ’s Nativity in Art and Literature: An Advent Journey” will explore one of Christianity’s central mysteries through various artistic interpretations.

The sessions, which will be via Zoom from 6 to 7:15 p.m. on Mondays from Dec. 2 through Dec. 23, aim to examine ancient perspectives through modern understanding.

Led by Wendy Furman-Adams, participants will study how artists and poets have interpreted the divine paradox of Christ entering the world as a vulnerable infant, an All Saints Church announcement said.

The program will explore profound themes including Mary’s journey from humility to exaltation and the image of an infant Christ pleading for humanity before gaining speech.

These explorations draw upon historical religious perspectives, including Augustine of Hippo’s words that “sound strange to 21st-century ears yet illuminate enduring theological truths,” the statement said.

All Saints Church quotes Augustine: “When the Maker of time, the Word of the Father, was made flesh, he gave us his birthday in time; and he without whose divine bidding no day runs its course, in his Incarnation reserved one day for himself. He himself with the Father precedes all spans of time; but on this day, issuing from his mother, he stepped into the tide of the years.”

The group will examine how the strangeness of the Nativity scene ultimately overcomes spiritual estrangement, bringing participants into intimate conversation with Christian traditions.

The sessions will explore the concept of “kairos time,” which describes a moment when conditions are perfect for accomplishing something important, as opposed to the general concept of “chronos,” or chronological time.

To register for the Zoom event, visit https://allsaints.ccbchurch.com/goto/forms/42/responses/new.

For more information, email Amanda McCormick at amccormick@allsaints-pas.org or visit https://allsaints-pas.org/.