Creative Ideas – serie

This vital resource draws on the vast experience of the L'Arche community to offer practical guidance and ideas for imaginative worship that engages people with learning and other disabilities.It explores the essential considerations of pastoral work with those with learning disabilities, as well as patterns of prayer and worship that are most appropriate. It offers practical ideas for enabling participation and building familiarity while keeping worship fresh and varied, with ready-to-use themed service outlines for use throughout the Christian year. It offers a compendium of resources for creating your own acts of worship, including prayers, blessings, stories, quotes, a directory of online resources, ideas for what to keep in a 'liturgy box', ideas for seasonal decoration of the worship space and many more resources from L'Arche.

Time apart to listen to God is an essential component of the Christian life. This wide ranging practical resource offers complete programme ideas - from short spiritual breaks for those who can only manage a couple of hours from their work or family responsibilities, to a range of ideas for whole day and full weekend retreats. Experienced retreat conductor Sue Pickering explores the elements that are commonly used in retreats:silence, journalling, using craft materials, reflection, lectio divina, imaginative prayer, music and movement, and more. Out of these building blocks, unlimited retreat programmes can be created. Part two offers themed retreat programme outlines complete with handouts which are downloadable from the accompanying CD Rom. These include Quiet Breakfasts, A Prayer Walk, A Garden Retreat and much more.

Ask almost any priest what his or her biggest headache is and the answer is likely to be 'coming up with ideas for including children in worship'. Here is the answer to those prayers - a whole year's worth of activities and ideas complete with artwork and visual aids. These sixty outlines have been developed and used in an Anglican parish church over the last eight years by a professional educationalist, artist and experienced children's church leader. The worship outlines include simple children's liturgies and a complete lesson or story plan that harmonizes with what the adults are doing in church on the same day. Through fun ideas, children encounter a real aspect of the Christian faith focused on a theme to be found in the Gospel of the day. Each outline includes a variety of options which make them workable with small and large groups of children or single groups of mixed ages.

This imaginative and comprehensive book offers an abundance of resources and guidelines for one of the most important and difficult things any church can do: running a family service. Drawing on her extensive work in the theatre and church, Sarah Lenton shares with infectious enthusiasm her tried and tested ideas for conducting eucharistic celebrations for all ages with confidence and joy. At the heart of the book is a series of ready-to-use sermons for the feasts and seasons of the Christian year. These include dialogue, props, jokes, and ideas for engaging every member of the congregation. In addition, it provides practical guidance for:•Creating a welcoming, worshipful space for all•Developing rapport with children and holding their attention•Channelling children’s natural energy into learning and worship •Using music and props creatively•Interacting with adults and children simultaneously •Managing noise •Making the most of the resources you have. Complete outlines for a children’s mass, a children’s liturgy for Good Friday and an illustrated Stations of the Cross are also included.

Arising out of many year's experience of helping to lead local church worship and counselling work in a children's hospice, this is the first of three new volumes that focuses on the occasions when many non-churchgoers visit a church: for christenings, weddings, funerals, and memorials. These rites of passage present key opportunities for occasional visitors to encounter the Christian faith. If they are imaginatively handled a lifelong interest can be aroused. If they are insensitively done, people can be put off for life.This practical resource offers prayers, forms of words and many tried and tested ideas for creating rituals that give support at a time of great need following a death. It will enable the creation of rites (based on the authorized liturgical texts) that are beautiful, memorable and meaningful. Particular help is given for that most difficult of pastoral challenges, the death of a child and the care of the bereaved family.

Other than Evensong or Taize-style meditation, what else is there for evening prayer? Here is a resource that fills this gap to overflowing. It offers dozens of simple, ready-made outlines that are rich with ideas for using visual imagery, music, light and other symbols, with suggestions for getting everyone present actively involved. Developed and used over many years in local churches by the authors, every idea in this book has been tried and tested. The result is an imaginative resource to inspire worship that is simple, memorable and beautiful. As well as round the year celebrations there are also extra ideas for public occasions, such as a time of tragedy, or for a peace vigil.

Going on a day retreat or quiet day is a regular activity for many local churches. During the preparatory seasons of Advent and Lent, they are especially popular. While many retreat houses and religious communities offer a program for such days, many groups prefer a do-it yourself approach. This resource contains twelve complete day-long programs that are focused around different themes and are appropriate for use at varying times of the Christian year. It is suitable for all ages and assorted pastoral contexts. It also gives step-by-step instructions on creating your own program from scratch. Each session includes: opening worship, short talk 1, reflection exercise, short talk 2, second reflection exercise, prayers and blessings. Additionally there are leaders' notes on all practical aspects of planning and conducting such a day, from booking the venue to handout templates.