St Peter’s Anglican Church

November 21 - Sunday before Advent - "Stir Up" Sunday

Sermon by the Rev. Faye Daveport

On Christmas Day we had to be very patient and wait until the grandparents arrived. No presents were distributed or opened until that time. By then it was usually 11 or 11.30am! As a child I have very fond memories that, in my family anyway, it was the role of the Grandmother, or Nana, as we called her, to make the Christmas cake, the Christmas fruit pudding along with the trifle. The fruit pudding had coins, 5 cent coins, if I remember correctly, wrapped in tin foil and placed in it prior to the cutting and serving. I remember the real joy for those, especially the children, who received the coin, or several coins, in their piece of pudding. Who had got the coin and just how many had they got. Both the cake and the puddings had alcohol in them, not to speak of just what had gone in to the trifle and how much!! Again, that was Nana’s job. And so today is Stir Up Sunday when, as part of the 10am service, we mix the ingredients prepared for the cake. We all get to take a turn, to toss the ingredients around, move them about and mix them together. Today and this sharing in the mixing, takes pastoral care and team work to a whole new level!... Read more...

About Stir Up Sunday

"Stir Up Sunday" is the Sunday immediately before Advent and our every year our custom is to prepare our Church Christmas Cake. The children in our parish feature in this as they all have a turn at stirring up the makings before going to Sunday School. The bowl remains in the chancel and everyone is invited to have a stir on their way to receiving Communion.

This symbolises a “stirring up” of ourselves before the season of Advent with the name coming from the original Collect for this Sunday in the Book of Common Prayer

Stir up, we beseech thee, O Lord,
the wills of thy faithful people;
that they, plenteously bringing forth the fruit of good works,
may of thee be plenteously rewarded;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.