Holy Week 1: Shopping for Easter
Holy Week 1: Shopping for Easter
by David Perry
Holy Week 1: Shopping for Easter Reflection accompanying image “Shopping for Easter” The shops are full of Easter gifts. One of the local pubs is even displaying a large sign which says "Come and celebrate Easter with us". Good times lie ahead. Shoppers are spoilt for choice and…
Festivals Together - Parade with passion
Festivals Together - Parade with passion
by SPCK - Sandra Millar
Parade with passion Palm Sunday The Palm Sunday procession marks the beginning of the greatest week in the church calendar, the week when we engage again with the story of Jesus’ journey to the cross and beyond. The story is so powerful and contains so many core images and motifs…
Festivals Together - Food, feet and feelings
Festivals Together - Food, feet and feelings
by SPCK - Sandra Millar
Food, feet and feelings Maundy Thursday Maundy Thursday may not be an obvious occasion on which to offer all-age worship. Yet it is a vital festival in the church year, as we remember the pivotal events leading up to Jesus’ death on Good Friday. There are some very dramatic stori…
Festivals Together - Who's the mummy?
Festivals Together - Who's the mummy?
by SPCK - Sandra Millar
Who’s the mummy? Mothering Sunday The celebration of Mothering Sunday has changed greatly over the past decades. In some parishes it remains one of the days when a high number of occasional churchgoers can be expected, but in others it has been superseded by the commercial ‘Mothe…
Festivals Together - Serious stillness
Festivals Together - Serious stillness
by SPCK - Sandra Millar
Serious stillness Good Friday Good Friday is always a public holiday in the United Kingdom, regardless of where Easter and school holidays fall. This means it is increasingly an opportunity for churches to engage with a range of ages. However, Good Friday presents particular chal…
Festivals Together - Looking back, moving on
Festivals Together - Looking back, moving on
by SPCK - Sandra Millar
Looking back, moving on Candlemas (2 February) Candlemas is a festival full of Christian symbolism, folk tradition and church history, which means there is a wealth of images and themes to explore. It marks a turning point in three ways – within the Church it is the moment we tak…
Worship Together - Universal Stories
Worship Together - Universal Stories
by SPCK - Sandra Millar
Universal stories – it happens to us all Creating all-age worship: the key components Part 1: Worship Together Creating worship that has the potential to engage everyone present needs structure and pattern, it needs to be multi-sensory, it needs to have moments of mystery, but pe…
Worship Together - Mystery and Wonder
Worship Together - Mystery and Wonder
by SPCK - Sandra Millar
Mystery and wonder Creating all-age worship: the key components Part 1: Worship Together It may seem strange to include mystery and wonder as key components of good all-age worship. Yet the sharing of moments of awe and astonishment is one of the things that help cross-generation…
Worship Together - Putting it all together
Worship Together - Putting it all together
by SPCK - Sandra Millar
Putting it all together Creating all-age worship: the key components Part 1: Worship Together I recently attended a very ordinary church service. There were probably around 40 people there, ranging from age 3 to 90, but with the overwhelming majority in the over-55s age range. No…
Worship Together - March - A journey for everyone
Worship Together - March - A journey for everyone
by SPCK - Sandra Millar
March- A journey for everyone This outline uses as its key texts the story of Jesus’ temptations and the classic Ash Wednesday readings as a starting point. The journey is that made by Jesus out into the wilderness but also the journey we make through the weeks of Lent. During th…
Worship Together - January -a gift for everyone
Worship Together - January -a gift for everyone
by SPCK - Sandra Millar
January-A Gift for everyone This outline uses the Epiphany readings as a starting point, but could be used on any Sunday in January. Throughout the season of Epiphany the readings are always widening the vision of who Jesus is and widening the scope of his mission and ministry...…
Worship Together - February - Love for everyone
Worship Together - February - Love for everyone
by SPCK - Sandra Millar
February- Love for everyone This outline uses the Ordinary Time after Epiphany as a starting point, but could be used on any Sunday in February. At this time of year, the readings focus on Jesus’ relationship with the disciples and their growing understanding of his full identity…
Worship Together - How to use the service outlines
Worship Together - How to use the service outlines
by SPCK - Sandra Millar
How to use the service outlines The service outlines Part 2: Worship Together The outlines that follow are ready to be used. They are designed to fit into a traditional Sunday morning worship slot and build on the principles outlined. They are not dependent on the presence of chi…
Monologue: Come away, my love
Monologue: Come away, my love
by Marjorie Dobson
Monologue: Come away, my love Did you hear that? ‘The voice of my beloved’ and ‘he comes leaping over the mountains like a young stag.’ Can you imagine that kind of thing happening round here? I don’t know what your beloved would sound like but mine’s more likely to be bellowing,…
Let Christmas come
Let Christmas come
by Michael Docker
Let Christmas come Let the Saviour small as a cradle and already playing with nails Come to our century with its camps and soldiers, tourists and money-men, and play the games of God with our souls, Let the Josephs and Marys, those common people, Let the hill men, the fabulous fo…
Festivals Together - The heart of everything
Festivals Together - The heart of everything
by SPCK - Sandra Millar
The heart of everything Patronal/dedication festival or special event During the course of a year there may be other opportunities for a festival celebration. It may link in with a community tradition such as a feast day or the arrival of the travelling fair, or it may be that th…
Festivals Together - Biblical and other resources