Leader’s Guide
What is a Rhythm of Life? Christians believe that they should live their lives following the example of Jesus – becoming more like him in what they do, say, think and feel. Remembering that they are in the presence of God wherever they are or whatever they are doing, Christians believe that they can become kinder, more honest, trustworthy and generous people as they allow God, the example of Jesus and the Holy Spirit to guide them in their attitudes and behaviours every day. In the Diocese of Bristol, we encourage everyone to explore what it means to grow and flourish, be it at school, in church or at home and find Rhythms of Life that enable growth. We can choose actions and activities that we commit to doing regularly – we call these practices. These practices help us to follow Jesus (look up), serve others (look in) and transform our communities (look out). The aim is to create a rhythm based on things that Jesus did in his own life and said that his friends and disciples should do too. This guide gives some introductory thoughts on how Church schools in the Diocese of Bristol can explore and develop practices that will create a Rhythm of School Life that brings space and time for spiritual growth.
Jesus says, "I have come in order that you might have life—life in all its fullness." John 10.10
Joy
Kindness
Gentleness
Peace
Faith
Waiting: Living Generously
Blessing & Serving: Befriending and Mending
Thanksgiving
Growth
Re-creation: Resting Well
Celebrating: Gathering and Sharing
Advent
Lent
Easter
Pentecos t
Trinity
Harvest
Hope
Fruit / Value
Practice
Season
Easter Prayer (Out of the Ark)
Sing out an Easter Song (Out of the Ark)
Good to Us (Out of the Ark)
Benediction Song (Out of the Ark) The Lord’s My Shepherd Faith as small as a Mustard Seed For the Harvest (Out of the Ark)
Luke 10:25-37 The Kind Stranger (Ruth 1:6-17) Psalm 103 Luke 15: 11-32 The Lost Son (Mark 16:1-8) Psalm 100 Luke 13: A little bit of yeast (Matt 14:22-32) Psalm 4 Luke 6:46-49 The Wise and Foolish Men (John 15: 5-10) Psalm 24 Luke 13:31-32 Mustard Seed (Luke 9:10-17) Psalm 121
Serve others: look in mirror
Follow Jesus: look up door
Serve others: look in mirror
Transform the world: look out window Follow Jesus: look up door
Sunflower candle
Vine / grapes
Mountain Mustard Seed
Fire / wind / dove
Cross/es
hands
Child in a Manger Born (Out of the Ark)
Luke 12: 42-46 The Wicked Servant (Luke 1:31-49) Psalm 30
Transform the world: look out window
Song
Bible focus GNB
Up/In/ Out
Image
How to use the Rhythm of Life resources These resources have been designed to support you as you begin on your journey to finding practices that enrich and sustain your school community Rhythms. Each practice comes with material for three acts of collective worship including whole school, key stage and class worship. (The material has been written with the assumption that there will also be a sung worship assembly and a celebration worship assembly each week.) There are six specific practices – one for each term across a school year. Each practice relates to a season in the church year as well as being linked with a value or Fruit of the Spirit (more in Galatians 5:22-23). There are references to both Parables (stories Jesus told using similes) and Psalms (a collection of song-poems) and some suggested songs, images and prayers including the Lord’s Prayer. Each session follows a similar, predictable pattern – this helps everyone to focus on the content knowing what is expected of them.
The Whole School (WS) session introduces the season and the practice. There is a parable to read and often an image or a situation from contemporary life to reflect on. There is a specific prayer as well as the Lord’s Prayer and a suggested song. The Key Stage (KS) digs a little deeper into the practice and introduces the value, or Fruit of the Spirit with a different Bible reference. There is often an image or a situation from contemporary life to reflect on too, along with a song suggestion. The opening and closing prayers are repeated from the WS session. The Class session encourages reflection on the messages and images from the week. KS2 children may like to record their responses in the Journal that accompanies this resource. Class worship always includes an image to reflect on and a Psalm to say aloud together. There is an opportunity to share and discuss in a smaller class group how the practice could be sustained over the coming weeks. There is lots of opportunities for sharing, talking and thinking built into the resources. This is because we know that giving children time and space to reflect, question and listen on a deep level contributes to their spiritual and emotional well-being and flourishing. There are notes for those leading the collective worship sessions, and there are links and suggestions for taking things further in PSHE or RE.
It is a good idea to have access to these resources to support your delivery: The Good News Bible: Children’s rainbow edition The Lion Storyteller Book of Parables (£6 Eden) The Lion Storyteller Bible Prayers for Schools Jamie Prouse Out of the Ark songs for assemblies
FAQs Can the resources be used with KS1 and KS2? Yes – the resources are suitable for the whole primary phase. They can be used flexibly over several days or weeks, depending on how the children respond to the content. The timing of certain thinking points or discussion questions may need to be adapted depending on the age of the children: older children may enjoy more time to reflect and share their ideas. You may like to use video resources to tell some of the Bible Stories to younger children (we like Stories of the Bible from Saddleback Kids on YouTube) or encourage older children to read the stories from a children’s Bible.
Can we start the using the resources at any point in the year? Yes you can. You can start the resource at the beginning of the Church year – in Advent, or at any other time. Each practice has a week’s worth of resource that should help ‘kick start’ your journey of developing a Rhythm of Life for your school. You can add your ideas to this and build up a set of practices as you develop your own Rhythm.
Do we have to use all the resources in the same week? No, you don’t. Use the resources as you wish e.g. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday with your own sung worship on Wednesday and your celebration on a Friday. Or one a week for three weeks, or every class worship for a whole term by dividing them up. In the overview of the planning, we have referenced the windows-mirrors-doors and the up-in-out models of framing spirituality for those schools who already use them.
Can leaders from our local church use these resources? Yes – clergy and licenced lay ministers will receive training on using the resources and will be able to support your school community as you develop a Rhythm of Life. All the material is freely available on the Diocese of Bristol website here.
How can we give feedback when using these resources? Please do feedback your thoughts on how you have used this material. Please also let us know what you have found helpful and what has inspired you to begin to develop your own Rhythm of Life in your school. Tell us the stories of how you have begun to follow Jesus, serve others and transform our communities. rhythmoflife@bristoldiocese.org
Practice: Waiting - living generously Whole School worship Slide 2: A prayer that can be said aloud by the whole community. Advent is the start of the Church’s year and is usually celebrated on the Sunday closest to November 30th. The word ‘advent’ means ‘coming’ or ‘arrival’ and marks a season of preparation and expectation. If you have an Advent wreath, you may like to light the first candle. Purple is the colour of the season of preparation and the first advent candle is purple. See Appendix 1 for further information and guidance on lighting the Advent candles. Slide 3: A purple screen. You could use this time to ‘wait’ and see how the children respond to ‘waiting’ for something to happen! Slide 4: Encourage the children to think and then share what they are preparing and waiting for. Slide 5: Expect lots of responses to be about Christmas, giving and receiving presents, seeing family and eating special food. Slide 6: Enjoy the excitement of preparing for Christmas and maybe a visit from Father Christmas. Explain that Advent is a time when Christians begin to prepare for celebrating Jesus’ birth as a baby and to be ready for the day Jesus will come back, just as he promised. Talk about the different things Christians might do to prepare for Christmas, and what you as a school community will be doing to celebrate Jesus’ birth. Slide 7: Read the parable of the Wicked Servant. Encourage the children to consider the two questions as you read. Give them time to think and share their ideas. You may like to read it twice through.
Slide 8: Explain that waiting can be hard, and when we find things hard we can forget to be kind and generous. We want to grow in generosity like the chief servant in the first part of the parable. We can choose to be generous and this will help us to focus on the real reason for Christmas - Jesus left Heaven to come and be born as a human baby! That is God’s generosity to us. Encourage the children to think about how they could show generosity at this time: to themselves, to others in school and to the wider community. Slide 9: Thinking time and a prayer that can be read together or led by one of the children. Slide 10: The Lord’s Prayer Slide 11: a song suggestion Slide 12: This image can be left on the screen for children to reflect on as they prepare to leave worship.
Key Stage worship Slide 2: A prayer that can be said aloud by the whole community. Advent is the start of the Church’s year and is usually celebrated on the Sunday closest to November 30th. The word ‘advent’ means ‘coming’ or ‘arrival’ and marks a season of preparation and expectation. If you have an Advent wreath, you may like to light the first candle. Purple is the colour of the season of preparation and the first advent candle is purple. See Appendix 1 for further information and guidance on lighting the Advent candles. Slide 3: A purple screen. Can the children remember what the colour purple symbolises? Slide 4: Share a time when you had to wait for something or someone. Explain carefully how you felt and what it was like. Encourage the children to share in small groups / pairs their experiences of waiting.
Slide 5: Consider Nelson Mandela’s experience of waiting. You may have another book ro story resource in school to explore his story further, or some children may be able to share their learning about his life. Slide 6: Re-cap the reason for the season of Advent and what Christians around the world are waiting for. Ask: How should we wait? Slide 7: Children might like to put their hand up to show how they feel when they have to wait. Slide 8: Introduces Mary and how she waited with joy. Joy is different to being happy - feeling happy usually depends on our circumstances and what we are doing and who we are with. Joy is a deep feeling of contentment that it is possible to have even if you are uncomfortable, in pain, confused or alone. Christians believe joy is a gift from God and comes from knowing that He knows us and loves us and nothing can ever change that! Slide 9: Mary’s song (from Luke 1) is often called the Magnificat- this is Latin for ‘My soul magnifies the Lord’. You may like to ask a child or one of the other adults in the room to read this. Ask the children to think what brings them joy - not just happiness, but a deep sense of contentment despite their circumstances. Encourage the children to consider nonmaterial possessions or items. Slide 10: the sunflowers provide an image of joy You might like to explore the meaning being ‘they just follow the Sun’ and the link with Christians who follow God’s Son. Slide 11: Thinking time and a prayer Slide 12: A song suggestion Slide 13: This image can be left on the screen for children to reflect on as they prepare to leave worship.
Class worship Slide 2: A prayer that can be said aloud by the whole community. Slide 3: A purple screen. Can the children remember what the colour purple symbolises? You may like to say this pray antiphonally. Slide 4: An opportunity to think, recall and discuss what we have shared in CW this week. Slide 5: An opportunity to be still and focus on the flickering flames. Slide 6: Pupils can share their thoughts and feelings when looking at the image. They may recall candles on celebration cakes, or in church services such as baptism. They may know that Jesus said, ‘I am the light of the world’ (John 8:12) Slide 7: A recap of the practice and value that have been explored this week. Pupils may recall aspects of the stories and parables used. Give plenty of time to share thoughts and ideas around the question of God’s generosity. A Christian understanding of generosity is more than simply giving to be kind. God’s generosity involved a sacrifice - the pain and separation when Jesus died on the cross was costly. Slide 8: Some pupils may like to read these passages from the Bible aloud. Discuss God’s model of generosity. How is giving when you know you will get something in return different to giving when you may not get anything in return? Slide 9: This link is to Bless the Lord (10,000 Reasons) which you may like to have playing in the background while pupils consider what real generosity might look like for them over the coming days and weeks. Slide 10: How do pupils feel about this level of generosity? Do they have other ideas to share? Could your class design a ‘Generosity Charter’ that could become a purposeful practice that will make a difference in your school community? How about planning an act of generosity that would impact the community beyond the school? Children can record their ideas in their journals. Slide 11: Thinking time and a prayer Slide 12 & 13: A psalm to read: split the class in to two groups to read aloud together.
Practice: Blessing & Serving: Befriending & Mending Whole School worship Slide 2: A prayer that can be said aloud by the whole community. Lent is another season of waiting - just like Advent. The Church uses the same purple colour to mark this season. Slide 3: Your school community may well be planning to mark the beginning of Lent with Pancake Day. Slide 4: ‘shrove’ comes from the old Germanic / Latin root meaning to ‘shrive’, or ‘be shriven’ which means to confess or hear someone’s confession and forgive them. So it is a spiritual ‘clearing out’ that goes with a physical ‘clearing out’ - using up rich foods such as milk, butter and eggs ready for a time of penitence - that is, remembering that we have made mistakes and have got things wrong and need forgiveness. Slide 5: Encourage pupils to consider what they would find it hard to go without. Although many answers may be related to material possessions, encourage deeper thinking by modelling something non-material that you would miss. Slide 6: Lent is the 40 day period documented in Luke 4 where Jesus spent time alone and was tempted by the Devil. The Devil challenged Jesus’ sense of identity, his calling and his authority. Jesus chose to lean into God’s strength, goodness and power in his responses to the temptations. Many Christians chose to take up something during Lent for the good of themselves and their community. Suggest that our school community can focus on kindness during this special season. Slide 7: Read the Parable of the Kind Stranger. This story is remarkable because it challenged those listening to think about what it means to love and be kind to others. It is easy to be kind to people you like, and people who like you! What about those we find it hard to like? Those we disagree with or feel we don’t have anything in common with? Slide 8: Kind hands - what can we do to show kindness to others? What would that look like for us today? Slide 9: Children can reflect on these actions we could do with our hands, and which we should try not to do. Slide 10: Thinking time and a prayer Slide 11: A song suggestion
Slide 12: This image can be left on the screen for children to reflect on as they prepare to leave worship.
Key Stage worship Slide 2: A prayer that can be said aloud by the whole community. Lent is another season of waiting - just like Advent. The Church uses the same purple colour to mark this season. Slide 3: A couple of questions to consider - you may like to take some answers from the children. You could also share your own experiences of friendship too. Slide 4: Encourage a discussion about what kindness is. Is it simply treating others as we want to be treated? Or could it be more - showing gentleness and warmth to people we don’t always like? In a world where you can BE anything, BE kind’ Would others say that you are kind? Does it matter? Slide 5: Class kindness jar. Use an old Kilner jar or large jam / condiments jar. Slide 6: Re-cap the story of the Kind Stranger. Read the story or Ruth and Naomi from the book of Ruth in the GNB. You might like to explain that Naomi, and old woman, had two sons who died so she sent their wives back to their families so they could be looked after. Ruth, who was married to one of Naomi’s sons, refused to leave and decided to follow her back to Bethlehem, where Naomi’s family was from. Read from chapter 1 v11 to the end of the first chapter, focussing on verses 16-18. You may like to watch the animation from Saddleback Kids here. Slide 7: Point out the broken / shattered background. Talk about how it feels when good or close friends let us down - which sometimes they do - not because they want to hurt us on purpose but because they are human! Sometimes we let our friends down too. You might suggest a moment of quiet at this point. Slides 8 & 9: a scenario for KS2 pupils to consider. Give pupils time to talk to the person next to them. Slide 10: Thinking time and a prayer Slide 11: a song suggestion Slide 12: This image can be left on the screen for children to reflect on as they prepare to leave worship.
Class worship Slide 2: A prayer that can be said aloud by the whole community. Slide 3: An opportunity to think, recall and discuss what we have shared in CW this week. Slide 4: These things are all broken. The brokenness spoils the original thing. Slide 5: This picture may encourage the children to think about ‘bigger’ issues in the world that are broken or need fixing, such as war and conflict. Allow them to talk about other things they see as broken - it may be a local, national or global suggestion. It may be something material, or something deeper. Affirm all suggestions. Slide 6: This slide allows you to focus on one area of the world that is in need of kindness and friendship. You could get atlases or maps to look at. Slide 7: You might like to set up a prayer or reflection space in your classroom, like this one. Using a zip as a visual aid enables pupils to think carefully about repair and what is needed in order to bring about reconciliation. Pupils can record their thoughts and ideas in their journals. Slide 8: Thinking time and a prayer Slides 9-11: A psalm to read: split the class into two groups to read aloud together.
Practice: Thanksgiving Whole School Slide 2: A prayer that can be said aloud by the whole community. Easter is a season of celebration and joy. This can can extend beyond Easter Day - up to Whitsun / Pentecost if you wish. Slide 3: Encourage pupils to describe a time either when they were lost, or they lost something important. You may have an example to share of your own - the funnier the better! Slide 4: Encourage an honest reflection on the feelings of being lost and losing something important - maybe even loosing something that had been entrusted to you by someone else. Slide 5: St Anthony is the patron saint of lost things. As with many of these legendary saints, Anthony was a real person who lived in the 13th century.
Slide 6: Expect the pupils to mention joy, relief, happiness, thankfulness etc Slide 7: Read the Parable of The Lost Son. Encourage pupils to listen and consider whether this story could have a different title. What is the story really all about? Slide 8: Christians often use the word ‘lost’ when they mean ‘far away from God’. Talk about the younger and the older brother both being ‘far away’ or ‘lost’ as neither really lived as though they knew how much their father loved them. Slide 9: Christians explain this feeling of being ‘lost’ or ‘cut off’ as SIN selfishness that gets in the way and cause hurt and pain and sorrow. This selfishness can spoil all our relationships. Pause at this point to enable pupils to reflect on where they may feel selfish behaviour has led them to feel ‘cut off’ from others. Slide 10: Take suggestions from the children that describe how we can put things right with one another. Slide 11: Thinking time Slide 12: Invitational prayer Slide 13: The Lord’s Prayer may be read all together or by one or two children. Slide 14: song suggestion Slide 15: This image can be left on the screen for children to reflect on as they prepare to leave worship.
Key Stage Worship Slide 2: A prayer that can be said aloud by the whole community. Slide 3: This slide gives an opportunity to consider hope as different to wishing. You might like to talk about the varied ‘superstitious’ ways our culture thinks about hoping or wishing - touching wood, lucky charms / socks, crossing fingers etc. These things do not really have any power or efficacy! Hope is a Christian ‘fruit’ that is grown and nurtured by faith. It is the confident expectation and certainty of God’s promises that nothing - not even death will separate us from God’s love. This faith in God’s unchanging nature gives Christians strength to overcome difficulties and challenges and to trust God for the future, even when the present is hard. Christians believe hope in God is powerful!
Slides 4 & 5: For KS2 Corrie and Betsy Ten Boom were held prisoner by Nazi Germany during WW2 because they sheltered Jewish people in their home. Read more here or see The Hiding Place (book). Slide 6: Retell the story of the Lost Son and then watch or read the Easter story from Mark’s gospel. You might like to invite children to read. Slide 7: Encourage pupils to imagine how Jesus’ disciples felt after he died on the cross - they had lost their hope! They didn’t think they could trust Jesus and what he said after all! Then Jesus came back to life and they knew that they could trust him. Slide 8: thinking and praying time Slide 9: a song suggestion Slide 10: This image can be left on the screen for children to reflect on as they prepare to leave worship.
Class worship Slide 2: A prayer that can be said aloud by the whole community. Slide 3: An opportunity to pause and reflect on the stories, themes and ideas from CW this week. Pupils can make notes in their journals. Slide 4: An Easter image Slide 5: An opportunity to consider what we are thankful for. Encourage pupils to go beyond the material possessions they have and consider a person they are thankful for. Encourage older pupils to consider someone who is not their immediate family, or someone they have never met. Collect responses of how we show we are thankful. Slide 6: More from the story of Corrie and Betsy in WW2. You may chose to omit this with younger pupils. Slide 7: Thinking and praying together Slides 8 & 9: A Psalm of thanksgiving. Psalms are ancient poems, songs and prayers written as a response to God. Encourage pupils to write their own poem or prayer of thanksgiving. Slide 10: This image can be left on the screen for children to reflect on as they prepare to leave worship.
Practice: Growth Whole School Slide 2: A prayer that can be said aloud by the whole community. Slide 3: Encourage the children to reflect on the difference the tiny drop of water makes and how the ‘ripple effect’ can be felt even at the edges of the pond. Slide 4: An opportunity to consider other tiny things that can make a big difference! You may like to discuss some of these and the children may have other examples. You could tell a story related to one of these tiny things and how it has affected you. Slide 5: You may like to bring in a loaf of well-risen bread and compare it to a flat bread or other type of bread that has no yeast so the children can see the effect of yeast. If you can, show the tiny specks of dried yeast from a packet. Then read the parable of the Yeast. Jesus told this parable because he wanted to teach his followers about God’s Kingdom and what God values. Slide 6: Yeast is a tiny fungus that works gently but transforms the whole batch of dough. It causes the dough to grow and develop - slowly! Slide 7: Encourage the children to think about other ‘small’ things that can cause growth and transformation. Encourage them to think about behaviours and attitudes that can cause gentle change and transformation. Slide 8: This slide gives space for us to consider that sometimes we don’t want to grow or change or that growth and change can be tricky. As humans we all enjoy familiarity and sameness - even as grown ups! But growth is a good thing and God wants us to grow but it is never forced or demanded. Growth in God’s Kingdom is gentle and kind. Slide 9: Let’s Think and Pray. Make the link between growth and taking the time to be still and quiet. Emphasise growth as spiritual, rather than physical. Slide 10: Say the Lord’s Prayer together. Slide 11: A song suggestion Slide 12: This image can be left on the screen for children to reflect on as they prepare to leave worship.
Key Stage Slide 2: A prayer to say together. Slide 3: An opportunity to discuss some ‘Would you rather...’ scenarios in pairs. Draw everyone together by encouraging hands up for each choice and making the point that we are all different. Slide 4: Children may well be familiar with the ‘comfort zone’ concept and the idea of stepping into a season or situation that is unfamiliar and stretches and challenges us on a personal or physical level. Make it clear that our ‘comfort zone’ is a place or space that is safe, familiar and comfortable. This can be a physical place or a mental or emotional place. You may like to take some examples from the children or other adults in the room (the adults may need some warning!) Slide 5: The children should be familiar with Malala Yousafzai and there may be a book in school of her story. You could read that, or find a short film online, or use the slide. Slide 6: Make the link between growth and courage and stepping out of our ‘comfort zone’! Read Matthew 14:22-32 together from the Good News Bible or other children’s Bible, or watch a short animation online. This story is about Peter who is gently challenged by Jesus to grow and change in his level of trust in him. Slide 7: An opportunity to reflect on Peter and then ourselves. Remind the children of the tiny bit of yeast from the parable earlier in the week. Slide 8: Thinking and praying together. You may like to invite the children to pray the prayer aloud with you. Slide 9: A song suggestion Slide 10: This image can be left on the screen for children to reflect on as they prepare to leave worship.
Class worship Slide 2: This can be said aloud together, or by one or two people. Slide 3: This slide provides and opportunity for children to think back over the week and reflect on the stories and images discussed in collective worship. Children might be able to recall the story of Peter and the parable of the yeast.
Slide 4: The image of these trees has been taken from the ground looking up so their magnificence can be appreciated! (pronounced se-coy-ah) Slide 5: If you know the height of the room you are in, you could compare the average height of these trees to that. The trees are mighty but it didn’t happen overnight - growth is slow and gentle! Slide 6: Ask the children to share examples of when they have experienced slow growth and speedy growth. This could be physical (more than one shoe size in a year for example) or could be personal. Slide 7: Today’s focus is about gentleness and this value in God’s Kingdom. Not only is God gentle and allows us to grow gently, we can also ‘grow’ in gentleness towards one another to reflect God’s character. It is very easy to be impatient and cross with people, but God’s way is gentle. Slide 8: These symbols show God’s gentleness and also his strength. Make the point that gentleness is not weakness or allowing others to take advantage of us. Slide 9: An opportunity to pray together. Slides 10-11: Divide the children into two groups - red and black. Read Psalm 4 together as another way of praying / reflecting together. Slide 12: This image can be left on the screen for children to reflect on as they prepare to leave worship.
Practice: Re-creation - Resting Well Whole School Slide 2: This prayer ‘sets the scene’ and can be said aloud as a whole group or by one or two voices. Slide 3: This image shows the foundations of a building being built. Hopefully the children will recognise that something is being built and that the firm base is needed for a building. Slide 4: Explain that tall buildings need deep foundations. If your school has lego or building blocks, you could illustrate how easy it is to knock over a building without foundations! Slide 5: An opportunity to talk about how our shared school rules give us a secure foundation.
Slide 6: Read the Parable of the Wise and Foolish builders. Slide 7: Encourage children to think and share the things they know Jesus said that help Christians to live a life firmly rooted in Jesus. Slide 8: Thinking and prayer time: an opportunity to think about a person who is a firm foundation for each of us. You might like to share a personal story here. Slide 9: The Lord’s Prayer to say together. Slide 10: A song suggestion Slide 11: This image can be left on the screen for children to reflect on as they prepare to leave worship.
Key Stage worship Slide 2: This response prayer can be said aloud together. Slide 3: This is an image of grapes growing on a vine. Ask the children if they know why grapes are grown like this - do they know that grapes make wine? You may like to bring some grapes in to worship as a focus. Slide 4: Talk about all the things that need to be right to grow healthy grapes that make good wine. The grower / farmers need to think about a lot of things! Slide 5: Talk about the trellis - the structure around the vines that help the plants grow well and the grapes to flourish. Slide 6: Read from John 15:5-10 using the Good News Bible or another children’s Bible, or use the words on the slide. Jesus’ followers would have known about how wine was made and there would have been vineyards all around the area. Remind the children that water was not always very clean in those days so many people drank cheap wine. Slide 7: Explain that Jesus wants to be like the trellis and support us as we grow and flourish. Slide 8: An image of cattle yoked together. This image may be unfamiliar and seem old-fashioned but the yoke helps the cattle to stay close to one another so they can work effectively together.
Slide 9: Read from Matthew 11:28-30. Slide 10: This slide gives an opportunity to pause and consider what we understand in these farming images. Invite the children to think about which image helps them to understand what Jesus meant in his words. Slide 11: Time to think and pray Slide 12: A song suggestion Slide 13: This image can be left on the screen for children to reflect on as they prepare to leave worship.
Class worship Slide 2: This opening prayer can be said aloud. Slide 3: An opportunity to think and discuss what we remember from our worship this week and also who we know who is creative. Slide 4: Give plenty of time for children to think and reflect on this image. Encourage quiet for as long as you can! Slide 5: There is an opportunity for children to hear about the work of Louis Braille. You might find a short child-friendly animated film online. Slide 6: If you have anyone in your community who can share an example of their creative gifts, this would be great. Slide 7: Christians believe God is creator and creative and that as humans made in his image, we can also create and be creative. Explain the belief that God is always creating and re-creating and so we can join in with that. Slide 8: This understanding of God as creator helps us to understand our role in caring for the Earth as God’s creating and joining in with its renewal and recreation. Encourage the children to share their understanding of the effects of climate change on creation. There is an opportunity to fill in their journals here. Children can begin to plan together how they can join in with God as re-creators of the Earth. Slide 10: Time to think and pray together. Slides 11 & 12: Divide the group into two groups and say the psalm aloud together. Slide 13: This image can be left on the screen for children to reflect on as they prepare to leave worship.
Practice: Celebration - Gathering & Sharing Whole School Slide 2: This prayer can be said aloud together. Slide 3: These tiny seeds from this yellow flowering plant are mustard seeds. You may like to bring a jar of mustard seeds in and see if the children can guess what they are. (NB: mustard is a food allergen in the UK so check with school staff before you do this. Do not let anyone try to eat the seeds.) Slide 4: Some children may well like mustard! Slide 5: Read the story of the Coleman family from Norwich. Slide 6: Explain that God’s Kingdom is not a physical place like the United Kingdom but that God’s Kingdom will flourish anywhere where people who know and love him try to live in love and obedience to him! Slide 7: Read the parable of the Mustard Seed. Slide 8: Encourage children to reflect on the small things (like the mustard seed) that they can do to enable others to flourish. Gathering together and sharing are key ingredients to enable flourishing! Slide 9: An opportunity to remind the whole school community of why we gather together for worship and that during this season of harvest we are gathering in and sharing food too. This coming together is us being like a mustard tree! Slide 10: An opportunity to think and pray Slide 11: The Lord’s Prayer Slide 12: A song suggestion Slide 13: This image can be left on the screen for children to reflect on as they prepare to leave worship.
Key Stage Slide 2: This response prayer can be said aloud together. Slide 3: Faith is a tricky idea to understand! Faith is believing of trusting in something, even when you can’t see it straight away. You might like to encourage children to try and explain what they think it means before revealing the definition! Encourage the children to think about what it means to have faith in a person. Slide 4: This is Sam who has faith in a football club (which many of the children will also have!) But no matter how much faith we have in a sports club, we can’t actually make a difference to how well they play. Slide 5: Faith in God is different. Christians would say this is because He is real and powerful. Read the story of the five loaves and two fishes from the Good News Bible, or find a short animated version online such as this one. Slide 6: Retell the story together. Talk about who had faith and what that meant. Slide 7: Remind children of the tiny mustard seeds from earlier in the week and how they grew into something big that enabled all to flourish and grow. Christians ask God for the gift of faith in him to help them serve and share with others. Slide 8: Time to reflect and pray. Invite children to consider how they can be kind and if they need God’s help to share with others. Slide 9: A song suggestion Slide 10: This image can be left on the screen for children to reflect on as they prepare to leave worship.
Class worship Slide 2: This response prayer can be said aloud together. Slide 3: An opportunity to think and reflect on the stories and images from worship this week and to share what we can remember. Slide 4: Allow some time and quiet to look carefully at the image. Slide 5: This slide has some questions. You may like to maintain a quiet atmosphere or encourage hands up sharing.
Slide 6: Encourage the children to use their journals to write down words that describe a mountain and to then to share their best three. Slide 7: The Bible describes God as being like a mountain. Can you see why people long ago thought that God was like a mountain? Ask the children if they know any Bible stories that have mountains in them. (e.g. They may recall the Ten Commandments being given to Moses on a mountain; Jesus often went up a mountain to be on his own etc) Slide 8: Look again at the image. Does it help us understand anything new about what God is like? Slide 9: For KS1 younger children Slides 10-13: For KS2 older children. Divide the group in two - red and blue. Slide 14: Thinking and praying time Slide 15: This image can be left on the screen for children to reflect on as they prepare to leave worship.
Lighting the Advent Candles Week 1 – The Patriarchs Each week as we light the candles on the Advent Ring we remember different people who prepared for the coming of Jesus into the world. First Sunday: the Candle of Hope − this candle is purple. This week we remember the Patriarchs – Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob who lived hundreds of years before Jesus was born. Abraham left his home at God’s command and travelled to a far country, and was even prepared to sacrifice his own son Isaac to God. Light candle 1
Prayer Thank you Father that the Patriarchs were ready to obey your commands. Help us to do the same as we get ready to celebrate the birth of Jesus this year.
Week 2 – The Prophets Last week we remembered the Patriarchs – Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who all obeyed God’s commands. Light candle 1 Second Sunday: the Candle of Peace − this candle is purple. This week we remember the prophets who brought messages from God to His people. Some of their messages spoke about a king or saviour who would come to save the people. Isaiah, and Micah are two prophets who spoke about the coming of Jesus. Light candle 2
Prayer Thank you Father that the prophets were willing to bring your messages to your people. Help us to be willing to do what you want as we get ready to celebrate the birth of Jesus this year.
Week 3 – Mary So far we have remembered the Patriarchs – Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob who obeyed God’s commands, and the Prophets who brought God’s messages to His people. Light candles 1 and 2 purple Third Sunday: the Candle of Joy − this candle is pink. This week we remember Mary Jesus’ mother. Mary was a very ordinary girl who was afraid when God sent His angel to tell her that she was going to have a very special baby. But Mary was prepared to trust God. Light candle 3 pink
Prayer Thank you Father that Mary was prepared to out her trust in you. Help us to trust you as we prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus this year.
Week 4 – John the Baptist The first week we remembered the patriarchs, the second week the prophets and last week Mary. Light candles 1, 2 and 3 Fourth Sunday: the Candle of Love − this candle is purple. This week we remember John the Baptist who came to prepare the way for Jesus. He told the people “ The man who will come after me is much greater than I am. I am not good enough even to bend down and untie His sandals. I baptise you with water, but he will baptise you with the Holy Spirit.” (Mark 1 v 7) Light candle 4 purple
Prayer Thank you Father for sending John to prepare your people for the coming of Jesus. Help us to be prepared and ready to celebrate the birth of Jesus this year.
Christmas Day – Jesus Over the last four Sundays we have remembered the patriarchs, the prophets, John the Baptist and Mary. Light candles 1, 2, 3, and 4: 3 purple 1 pink A fifth candle, a white one, is lit on Christmas Day to symbolise the Nativity − Christ's birth. Today we celebrate the birth of Jesus and remember how He came to save us all. Christians remember the first coming of Jesus − when he was born − and look forward to the day when he comes again to lead his people. Light candle 5 white Prayer Thank you Father for sending Jesus to us. Give us your joy and peace as we celebrate Emmanuel - God with us!