Children's Service

It was Peter's task to give last Sunday's message at church. Unlike ordinary sermons, this was totally focused on primary aged children. He used an adapted version of Godly Play, a method of teaching the Bible (from Texas) that leads to contemplation and self-examination. The theme was the Good Shepherd. The Godly Play method required meaningful visual aids like the standing figures of the Good Shepherd and an ordinary shepherd. Five sheep and a wolf were also made. Green felt was the good grass. Blue felt was the cool, clear, still water. Black felt shapes represented the dangerous place. There was also a simple sheepfold to complete the props. It is always a bit of a trick finding the wherewithal to make these things but it was worth the effort.

The adults did not miss out. There was a closed circuit video camera on the Good Shepherd story and the story action was beamed onto the big screen for everyone else to see. This of course proved a distraction for the children who would often look at the big screen as well. But it seemed to work out. The children enjoyed listening to the story and watching the figures move about, and were ready to participate by reaching in and moving the sheep. So there were factors to this Godly Play story that were very random and risky. It was Godly Play and God was playing in our midst creating surprises. Peter got plenty of positive feedback afterward.
The service also had a creative prayer time when people left their seats and joined a group to write or draw a prayer message. This brought in something of a craft element into the service, something our Children's Church always does when we are in small groups. Even though some adults sat this one out, it seemed hugely successful and afterward the prayer sheets were hung up at the front. We got good feedback on that too.

Once a year our Children's Church and Beginner's Church lead the adult worship. This took a bit of planning because it was something completely out of the ordinary for everyone in our church. Children gave the Bible reading, led in the actions to the songs, acted in an interview drama, collected the offering, and fully participated in every segment of the service including the creative prayer time and the Good Shepherd message. We are so thankful to God for such a positive time for all. An "all stage" (of life) worship is tricky to do and this was as close as we have ever come to believing that it can be done well. In God's grace, that is.