COMING UP!

Sunday, December 16 -- The Third Sunday of Advent (“Gaudete” Sunday):
9:00am, Christmas Pageant & Sung Mass

Sunday, December 23 -- The Fourth Sunday of Advent
Regular service schedule

Monday, December 24 -- The Vigil of Christmas
4:30pm, Family Mass & Procession to the Crèche
10:15pm, Musical Prelude
11:00pm, Procession & Solemn Mass

Tuesday, December 25 -- Christmas Day
11:00am, Solemn Mass

Sunday, December 30 -- The First Sunday of Christmas
Regular service schedule

Monday, December 31
5:00pm, Festival of Nine Lessons & Carols by Candlelight: music of Martin, Howells, Aston, Jackson, Byrd, Carter, de Victoria, Humphris, Ešenvalds, and Mathias

Tuesday, January 1 --The Holy Name (Parish Office Closed)
11:00am, Mass

Sunday, January 6 -- The Feast of the Epiphany
8:00am, Low Mass
9:00am, Procession & Sung Mass
11:15am, Procession & Solemn Mass

Greetings in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ!

The Church of the Advent is a Christian community, a parish of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts, which gathers together day by day and week by week to know and make known the grace of God which comes to believers through Jesus Christ. All that we are and all that we do is empowered by the grace of God which is given to us through the Sacraments instituted by Christ, particularly the Sacrament of the Altar. And by means of this abundant grace we enjoy a diverse, vital, and close-knit parish family - young, old, rich, poor, of various ethnic origins and differing backgrounds. From our extraordinary music program to a growing church school, our guilds of bell ringers, gardeners and acolytes, to those who serve our long-standing Tuesday Night Community Dinner for the needy, the Advent is a community of faith which tries to keep the Gospel close to her heart and to live by Jesus' teaching.

The mission of the Parish, as defined by its charter in 1844, is "to bring to a portion of the city of Boston the ministrations of the holy Catholic Church; and more especially to secure the same to the poor and needy in a manner free from unnecessary expense and all ungracious circumstances." To that end, the Advent was founded as the first church in Boston without compulsory pew rent. Over the years we have welcomed into our fellowship worshippers not only from the city and suburbs, but also from all New England. An appreciation of the importance of prayer and the ancient traditions of Christian worship inspires all our services, from a quiet weekday Mass in the Lady Chapel to the full splendor of Solemn High Mass on a Sunday morning. We are committed to preaching the Word of God and ministering His Sacraments to all who desire them, and we hope to have you join us in this mission.

And may the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Visit Us

30 Brimmer Street, Boston, MA 02108

Office Hours:
 Monday through Friday, 9 AM to 4:30PM
Sunday Services:
8 AM -- Said Mass, Anglican Missal
9 AM -- Sung Mass, Rite II
11:15 AM -- Solemn Mass, Rite I
Anglo-Catholic Worship
The Advent is part of the Episcopal Church, the Diocese of Massachusetts, and the world-wide Anglican Communion. We celebrate the Eucharist daily, base our worship on the Book of Common Prayer, and invite all baptized Christians to join us for Communion. Sunday services are at 8 AM (Said Mass, Anglican Missal), 9 AM (Sung Mass, Rite II), and 11:15 AM (Solemn Mass, Rite I). Nothing would make us happier than to have a chance to worship with you!

View Our Full Worship Schedule

Community
Our parish is very diverse, and we strive to be open and welcoming to everyone in our community. Whether you're liberal or conservative, young or old, gay or straight, rich or poor, just visiting or a Boston native -- we hope you'll feel at home at the Advent. If you join us for Sunday Mass, please also join us for coffee hour immediately afterwards (downstairs in Moseley Hall). Smaller community groups meet throughout the week, and we encourage all members of the parish to be involved in some form of Christian formation.

More About Christian Formation

Mission
From our founding back in 1844, the Advent has been committed to ministry and outreach. We march in Project Bread's annual Walk For Hunger, and every Tuesday evening, members of the parish serve a nourishing meal to people in need. We have also sponsored relief efforts in Haiti, have participated in our diocese's B-SAFE summer program, and have an active Care and Prayer team. We are always looking for more ways to help do God's work in the world, so please check back often to see current service opportunities.

Learn More About Our Ministries

The Church Cat Welcomes You!

Simon is the latest in a series of felines who have called the Advent home over the years.

Simon's Gallery

A Brief History

The Church of the Advent was born in 1844 from the inspiration of a group of Bostonians who desired to establish a new parish that would put into practice the ideals of the then-11-year-old Oxford Movement.

Read more.

Mass for the Solemnity of the Feast of the Holy Cross

The Advent Choir on SoundCloud

Recent Posts

  • Collect for the Third Sunday of Advent (“Gaudete” Sunday)

    Stir up thy power, O Lord, and with great might come among us; and, because we are sorely hindered by our sins, let thy bountiful grace and mercy speedily help and deliver us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with thee and the Holy Ghost, be honor and glory, world without end. Amen. Collect

  • This Week at the Advent, December 16-22, 2018

    The Advent Wreath is given to the Glory of God and in loving memory of Norman McGregor Post, priest, & Jane Irene Post.  The flowers at the High Altar are given to the Glory of God and in loving memory of Geoffrey B. Sayer. The flowers at the Crossing are given to the Glory of

  • Sermon Preached by the Rev’d Dr Jeffrey A. Hanson at the Church of the Advent, Sunday, December 9, 2018, the Second Sunday of Advent

    With the season of Advent the church begins a new year. And we begin Advent in Year C with Luke chapter 3, which recounts the entirely unique ministry of John the Baptist. And we begin with this passage because Luke’s Gospel narrative in a way begins right here. The wonderful stories of Jesus’s miraculous birth,

  • Collect for the Second Sunday of Advent

    Merciful God, who didst send thy messengers the prophets to preach repentance and prepare the way for our salvation: Give us grace to heed their warnings and forsake our sins, that we may greet with joy the coming of Jesus Christ our Redeemer; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God,

  • This Week at the Advent, December 9-15, 2018

    If you are visiting or new  to the Advent, we hope that you will feel welcome and at home.  Please fill out a visitor’s/newcomer’s card so that we will have a record of your visit here and can keep in touch. All persons baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and

  • Sermon Preached by the Rev’d Fleming Rutledge at the Church of the Advent, Sunday, December 2, 2018, the First Sunday of Advent

    Across the Charles River, in Cambridge, the famous psychology professor Steven Pinker thinks that the world is getting better. In a recent interview he says that, thanks to the Enlightenment and especially to science, life on earth is improving. He acknowledges that human beings “tend to backslide into irrationality,” but all in all, placing his

  • Collect for the First Sunday of Advent

    Almighty God, give us grace that we may cast away the works of darkness, and put upon us the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which thy Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his