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Silent Night: A Candlelight Advent Labyrinth Walk in Austin
Sunday, December 6, 2026 | Gather at 6:00 pm, walk at 6:30 pm | Oak Hill UMC, 7815 US-290, Austin | Free, no registration (campus map)
Picture our labyrinth lit with hundreds of small lights, the whole winding path glowing against a December night. On the second Sunday of Advent, Oak Hill United Methodist Church invites you to a candlelight labyrinth walk in Southwest Austin. It's free, open to everyone, and there's nothing to sign up for.
We can't imagine a more fitting Advent prayer than this. Advent is the season of waiting in the dark for light to arrive, and on this night we'll do exactly that with our feet: walk a lighted path, slowly, in the quiet, while the year turns toward its longest night.
Come as you are
Last May, about fifty of us walked this same labyrinth for World Labyrinth Day. Some came from our congregation. Many did not. People walked for peace, and afterward, when we tried naming the experience in a single word, what came back was community, peace, unity.
If you are a longtime church member, this is a way into Advent that reaches you somewhere a Sunday service can't quite get to. You already know from years of worship and Sunday School that Advent symbolizes our collective waiting, hoping, and longing for a light in the dark. Out on the labyrinth you wait and hope and long with your body, in the dark, at your own pace, and it tends to land differently. And if you've never walked our labyrinth, this is a perfect first time.
If you are somewhere on the edges of faith, or well outside it, know that you are genuinely welcome here. Walk in silence. Pray if you pray. Breathe if you don't. Walking a labyrinth is an ancient contemplative practice that predates most of our arguments about religion. There is one path in and the same path out. You simply walk it. Whatever you bring with you — grief, gratitude, a question you've been carrying for months, the particular exhaustion of December — the path will hold it.
What to expect at the Advent labyrinth walk
6:00 pm: We gather at the outdoor chapel area. There'll be a brief welcome and a few words about how to walk a labyrinth for anyone who's never done it.
6:30 pm: The walk begins. Walkers enter the path one at a time, at their own pace. Some people take fifteen minutes; some take forty. Faster walkers pass slower ones — that's part of it. When you reach the center, stay as long as you like. Then follow the same path back out. Afterward, we welcome you to linger and share a word about your walk if you'd like to.
A few practical things
Children are welcome. So is going at your own pace, stepping off the path, or sitting on a bench and simply watching the lights. Kids often take to the labyrinth immediately.
Wear shoes you can walk grass and gravel in. A flashlight for the walk to and from your car isn't a bad idea either.
Come as you are, and come even if you're late — the path will still be lit.
No registration or experience required. Just show up.
Why bother, in a month this busy
December asks a lot of us. Lists, obligations, spending, performing cheer we may not feel. For plenty of people, this season carries real grief.
An hour of walking a lit path in the dark is a small act of resistance against all of that. It's slow. It costs nothing. It doesn't require you to be festive.
Advent labyrinth walk FAQ
Is the Advent labyrinth walk free? Yes. It's free and open to the public, with no registration.
Do I need to be a member of Oak Hill? No. Everyone is welcome, whatever your faith or none.
How long does it take? Most people walk for 25 to 45 minutes. Come and go as you need.
What if it rains?
Where is the labyrinth? Beside the Preschool Building on the Oak Hill UMC campus at 7815 US-290 in Southwest Austin. (campus map)
Learn more about our labyrinth, or about this ancient practice at The Labyrinth Society.
Looking for a place to keep practicing in the new year? Contemplation Lab meets every Monday evening.
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