The new year is still weeks away, but by the Christian Church's calendar, it starts today.

It begins with Advent, the four weeks leading up to Christmas. Although commonly celebrated by the Catholic Church as well as some Protestant denominations, it's not observed - and may not even be well understood - by all Christians.

"It's a time of waiting, preparing ourselves for the Incarnation," explains the Rev. Mimi Savidge, rector of Christ Episcopal Church in St. Joseph. "We're all so busy, busy, busy this season that we have to make a point to focus" on the coming of Christ.

To help with this, Christ Episcopal will host Advent family nights on several Wednesday evenings in December. Evenings will include dinner, prayer and a craft project such as the creation of Advent wreaths, which hold four candles - one for each week of Advent - representing hope, love, joy and peace. (Some wreaths also incorporate a center candle for Christmas day.) Other churches will incorporate Advent wreaths and teaching into their services, as well, a long-held tradition helping people prepare to truly celebrate Christmas.

There are people, too, who are taking part in a more modern Advent movement. More than a thousand churches - including several in St. Joseph - have become part of Advent Conspiracy, which began among just a handful of churches a few years ago and offers a book and DVD to help people focus their hearts on Christ as Christmas approaches.

And on its Web site, www.adventconspiracy.org, Advent Conspiracy encourages people to spend the season worshipping Jesus to the fullest, spending less money but giving meaningful gifts - such as quality time or a gift you took the time to make - and using the money you save to benefit the people most in need of it. Advent Conspiracy asks that at least 25 percent of what churches or individuals collect go to Living Water International, which drills fresh-water wells in countries where people routinely die of water-born illness. (None of the money goes through Advent Conspiracy.)

St. Paul United Methodist Church in St. Joseph is among those taking part in Advent Conspiracy.

"We are asking the people of our church to spend less on Christmas this year and more quality time together," says the Rev. Laura Blevins, the church's pastor. "It's not just about saving money in this economy; it's about remembering that when we give presence instead of presents, we are truly celebrating Christmas."

Some of this quality time will take place during Tuesday family nights at the church, and some of the money church members save will go toward building a well in Mozambique, Africa, one of the poorest countries in the world - thereby allowing the church to love like Jesus, the Rev. Blevins says.

Wellspring Community Church in St. Joseph is taking part in Advent Conspiracy, as well, after also doing so last year and raising more than $13,000 to partner with Living Water International in putting two wells in El Salvador - one of which church members drilled themselves in a village of about 800 people last summer. The Rev. Bob Miller, Wellspring's pastor, says the decision to take part in Advent Conspiracy grew out of discontent he felt with how his own family was celebrating Christmas.

"God showed his love by pursuing us, by giving himself relationally," he adds, "as opposed to giving a gift card to the mall."

Some in his church modeled this by taking a day off work to spend with each of their children or making meaningful gifts at relatively low costs, in the process cutting down on stress and wasted money - and saving lives. Advent Conspiracy's Web site notes that 1.8 million people die from water-born illnesses every year but that this problem could be eradicated by about $10 billion - a cost that may sound large until you compare it to the $450 billion Americans spent on Christmas last year.

Contributing to work like this is significant at any time of the year, of course, but the push for it in the weeks leading up to Christmas can be especially effective because people are already prepared to give and are already spending a lot of money; it's just a matter of making them aware of a really good cause, the Rev. Miller points out.

"Living Water isn't doing any evangelistic outreach; they're just serving people," he adds. "But people are going to ask questions about why people in America are doing this for them, and that opens a door to tell them about Christ."

Lifestyles reporter Erin Wisdom can be reached at ewisdom@npgco.com.