CREATING CHURCH

An exploration of what church is

            This group of activities is designed to help participants explore their own experiences of “church” and to design their own “church”.

Part one: The Church Worships

Materials:  Newsprint, markers, Spiritual Life Journals if you are using them or blank paper and pens or pencils

Background:  The early Christian church developed out of Jewish worship.  They read the Hebrew scriptures.  As the Gospels and other early Christian writings were developed, written down and agree on as scripture, they too were read in worship.  The early Christian church sang hymns, songs from the Psalms and other songs to God’s glory.  They prayed together, celebrated The Lord’s Supper (Communion or Eucharist), and took collections of money for the poor.  Worship is still central to what it means to be a church.  Let’s take a few minutes and brainstorm all the things that happen in our week to week worship, and special things that happen in worship seasonally or in special settings. 

You may want to look at the Deepening Faith Through Worship section of this manual.

Step one: Share the background with the group.

Step two: Do a brainstorm of all the parts of worship, of favorite songs/hymns, of favorite scripture stories or passages, of the smells, sights, sounds, and tastes of worship, the hymnals, the candles, etc.

Step three: Invite each of them to pick five to ten of their personal favorite things in worship and write them down.  Take a few minutes to reflect in writing or drawing why those things are important.

Step four: After they’ve had a chance to do some writing, have each person share their list and why.  If you have a large group you can break into small groups to do this.  Record their favorite parts on a piece of newsprint and put a check mark for each time something comes up more than once.

Step five: Tell them that their task is to create a new church as a community of individuals coming together. The first thing their new church needs to do is create a worship service that is meaningful to all the members of the group.  Invite them to take the elements they have shared and plan a worship service.  It can be as non-traditional or traditional as they want.  But tell them to remember when it’s finished that it must be meaningful to each person in the group.

Step six: Worship using their model. 

Part two: The church loves and cares

Materials:  a handful of clay for each participant, their Spiritual Life Journals or blank paper and pens/pencils

Preparation:  Have two or three adult or youth leaders prepare stories to share with the group about their experiences of the church.  These should be 5 minutes or so based on the following questions:

·       What is your earliest positive memory of being at church or with church people?

·       Who were the people in the church that cared for and loved you?

·       How did they show their love and care?

·       Have you had the experience of the church or someone in the church helping you in a time of spiritual, emotional, physical, or family crisis?

·       Are there things in the Bible or Christian worship which give you comfort?

·       If you believe God loves you, how did the church help you come to that belief?

·       How has the church affirmed your gifts and talents and given you a chance to share them?

Step one: Tell them that a church is more than just weekly worship services.  Read Romans Chapter 12.  Have the leaders share their stories.

Step two: Invite them to reflect on the same questions (above) and write or draw their reflections in their Journals.

Step three: Invite them to share their own answers.  Remember you will have introverts and extroverts.  Be careful not to let the extroverts monopolize the conversation. Invite those who haven’t shared to share, but don’t pressure them to if they aren’t comfortable.  A gentle way to do this is to say, “Is there anyone who hasn’t shared yet that would like to?”

Step four: When you feel the sharing has come to an end, have each person take a piece of clay and sculpt a symbol that represents what or who in the church gave them love and care.  When they are finished, invite them to share their work with each other.

Part three: The Church Serves and Acts

Materials:  A large piece of butcher paper and colored markers.

Preparation:  Find some stories from your denomination’s history about mission and social justice work. 

Step one: Read Luke 4:16-30.  Share with the group that part of being a church is mission and social justice work.  Sometimes this is a joy; sometimes it is difficult and causes strife.

Step two: Share some of the denominational stories.

Step three: Invite them to reflect on what social justice issues they believe it is important for the church they are creating to address.  Invite them to design programs or structures in their “church” to do that work.  Reflect on some problems or hardships they might have working on various issues.

Step four: Invite them to create a large mural on the butcher paper symbolizing the social justice work their church will do and how they will do it.