Each Sunday, Moravians across North America share a common message based on the week’s lectionary reading on the backs of their church bulletins. The reflections, written by Moravian clergy and lay leaders, help bring meaning and inspiration to the readings for that week.
For Advent this year, those “bulletin backs” will offer something extra. The Rev. Brian Dixon, pastor of Emmaus Moravian Church in Emmaus, Pa., teamed up with David Melby-Gibbons of Tricklebee Café in Milwaukee, Wis. (together known as “The Broke Kings”) to create songs that put Brian’s poetic written message into songs.
“For each week of Advent, David and I took an inspirational look at the Bible passage for the week through the lens of song,” says Brian. “Working together like cooks in a kitchen, we brought text and tune, and poetry and play, to life, creating four new songs that bring the weekly message to the table in a whole new way.”
“These songs are very much a collaboration, with one poetic or musical idea being built upon, shaped, and informed through a creative back and forth,” says David. “Looking back through our text messages and voice memos that we sent back and forth at the beginning of each new song, it’s neat to see how the songs evolved gradually. I’m excited to see how they keep evolving as folks enter the process, interacting with the ideas from the sheet music or learned by ear and building on them!”
The text of each of these songs, along with a reflection that describes the thought behind each, will appear on the back of the church bulletin covers for the four weeks of Advent. On each print is a QR code linking to pages on Moravian.org that include the messages, song sheets and videos of the new songs.
David recorded each of the new songs in two ways—one which is a performance of the song, and a second that teaches potential players how to play each song. “We encourage congregations to use this music and interpret it in a way that works for them,” explains Brian. “Church musicians can play them live, or the performance videos can be shown during worship.” Alternatively, church-goers can view the videos and hear the songs after worship.
Brian and David worked with Hermann Weinlick, who edits the weekly messages, and Mike Riess of the IBOC, to bring this new way of experiencing the bulletin backs.
“This is the first time we’ve tried something like this, where we link the printed bulletin to online material,” says Mike. “It’s always exciting to try new things, and we hope that our bulletin back subscribers—and all other churches—find a way to use these new resources.”
To learn more and see the material for this year’s Advent bulletins, visit www.moravian.org/advent-2025-weekly-message-resources/. The IBOC also posts each week’s message on Moravian.org.
For more information on subscribing to the weekly bulletin service, e-mail Jill Bruckart at [email protected].
