What’s the right order for the four Advent themes?

Are you wondering about the “correct” order for the four advent themes?

When I first made my dementia-friendly Advent video church services, I used the order I thought was most common: hope, love, joy, peace.

A reader recently wrote that she’d been doing research and, “from what I remember going to church faithfully as a child, the 4 weeks have been Hope, Peace, Joy, Love. But you have Peace and Love on different weeks. Please clarify.”

She’s not the first person to ask 😇 So here’s my amplified reply …

What’s the right Advent order?

After I made my videos, I did some digging and found that, indeed, some traditions use the order I use, following the interpretation of:

  1. Prophecy: hope 
  2. Bethlehem (the Holy Family’s love), 
  3. The shepherd’s joy, 
  4. The angels’ declaration of peace on earth, goodwill to all.

However, I also learned that other traditions, including Catholic and Reformed, use orders and themes that include:

  • Hope (Prophets’ Candle), Faith (Bethlehem’s Candle), Joy (Shepherds’ Candle), Peace (Angel’s Candle)
  • Hope, Peace, Joy, Love
  • Faithfulness, Hope, Joy, and Love

“Hope” and “Joy” seem to be consistently observed on the first and third Sundays of Advent. The hope, love, and peace candles are typically purple, the liturgical color of Advent, and the “joy” candle is usually pink, the liturgical color of joy (and “joy” Sunday is often called Gaudete Sunday, meaning rejoice or praise).

Many, but not all, traditions also light a white Christ Candle on Christmas Eve, symbolizing Jesus’ light and purity.

From all that, I conclude that there’s no one “right” way! The bottom line: Feel free to watch the Advent videos in whatever order works for you and your residents.

Unfortunately I can’t easily change my videos, so I’m stuck with my original order. But what do you think: Should I re-record them at some point with the Hope, Peace, Joy, Love order? I welcome your thoughts in the comments below.

UPDATE! I rerecorded them in 2025 in the most common order: Hope, Peace, Joy, Love. Thanks everyone!

Peace be with you 🕯,

14 thoughts on “What’s the right order for the four Advent themes?”

  2. donkenney@charter.net says:
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    donkenney@charter.net's avatar

    Elisa:

    I use the Hope, Peace, Joy, Love order but I make the changes here at my end. I don’t think you need to record the series again.

    Merry Christmas to you. We haven’t communicated for a couple years. I hope all is well in Colorado!

    Don

    Liked by 1 person

  4. Dana Eckelberry says:
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    Dana Eckelberry's avatar

    Thank you so much for all your wonderful videos. I am an activities assistant in memory care where the residents have very little physical or cognitive abilities. Your peaceful voice & demeanor are soothing and your video’s are the perfect mix of bible teaching & singing. The words posted in the videos are vital & make it possible for most residents to sing along.
    God bless you & all your family this glorious holiday season!

    Like

  6. Kay McCollom says:
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    Kay McCollom's avatar

    I think it would be fine just to keep your order. I’ve seen it different ways so people can decide on their own which order to use. Thank you for all your great Bible studies. It really helps with our nursing home ministry.

    Like

  7. Sarah says:
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    Sarah's avatar

    Advent is new to me and I’m enjoying it… but I got a Deitrich Bonhoeffer advent book called ‘God is in the Manger’ and the theme for the second week is ‘Mystery’. Do you know if the themes are different depending on location or maybe type of church? Or maybe they changed at some point in history?

    Like

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