This past weekend I attended a workshop on Contemplative Youth Ministry led by Marc Yaconelli (more on this event to come later this week.) As part of the...
There are thousands of sites, books and ideas for prayer stations out there. Just a quick google search for “prayer stations” will bring up some great ideas. There are also Pinterest boards with ideas. Last week I decided to create a prayer station experience for our youth. I tried to focus on creating stations based...
Explore truministry's 106 photos on Flickr!
There are thousands of sites, books and ideas for prayer stations out there. Just a quick google search for “prayer stations” will bring up some great ideas. There are also Pinterest boards with ideas. Last week I decided to create a prayer station experience for our youth. I tried to focus on creating stations based...
Explore truministry's 106 photos on Flickr!
Prayer Stations can provide an opportunity for your women to respond to God, meditate on His word, and connect with the retreat message on a deeper level. We used Prayer Stations at our retreat this fall and it was a huge hit! Today I’m going to share what we did as well as some resources for finding…
A blog by Ashley Urke on creative homemaking for the modern day woman including home decor, DIY projects, simple living, entertaining, and decorating.
I am taking time to finish up a post series of Good Friday Prayer Station ideas. These were created by my friend Jason Huffman and his youth group a few years back. At the end of this post there are links to the other stations in this series. Unleavened Bread Items Needed – Plate and...
Explore truministry's 106 photos on Flickr!
FMC Prayer Stations
The Blessing Wall! Walking into the room and seeing all the kid's blessings just makes you smile. Isn't it a WONDERFUL thing to count the blessings that God has deposited into your life? This station is designed to get kids excited to really see how God has blessed them and their friends. During Response Time, we turn off the overhead lights, using lamplight to quiet the mood of the room. We play quiet, worshipful music and explain to the kids that this is their time with God. We have enough stations around the room so that every child can interact in some tangible way with the Holy Spirit. You can read a brief explanation of why we believe Worship Stations are so fruitful with this generation, HERE. The basic concept is that we are making space for our kids to practice responding to God's Spirit. And they look forward to it all morning. For all of you creative "Pinners", here's how you can make it yourself: We used pressed plywood - the cheap stuff!! One of the "Alpha" Men's Groups in our church took a Saturday morning and cut out four of these plywood frames. Then they drilled small starter holes every few inches and screwed in i-hooks. I strung it with jute twine from the craft store in nice randomness. We used i-hooks that were large enough for at least two strands of twine to pass through. As I was stringing it, I had to be careful to keep it pretty tight along the way so there wouldn't be slack when tying it off. I went around once with the twine, tied it off, and repeated once more to make sure there were plenty of lines to clip prayers onto. We bolted it into the wall (on the studs since it is somewhat large). And I cut out squares of colored card stock (With a scrapbook cutting tool) for writing prayers of blessing. We added a table lamp (the main lights go off in the room during this time to "set the tone"), buckets of pens and clothespins, and then we were in business! Here is a close-up of what the instructions in the frame say: It is a blessing to ready what the kids are thankful for... God's blessings are greater than all the stars in the heavens!
Tear a piece of paper, write a prayer for a broken part of the world, and pin it to the maps
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general view. each coloured segment contains one station. each station has a track of words and music which is listened to on an ipod shuffle.
FMC Prayer Stations
a celtic southerner ...on a pilgrimage of discovery and creativity
“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens” (Ecclesiastes 3.1) I borrowed a sermon. Yep, I said it! I borrowed a sermon . . . actually, I adapted…
The suggested prayer stations are not overtly Pentecost in theme. However, it is during Pentecost that the Spirit made it possible for all to speak and understand one another’s native languag…
“Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who has wronged us. And don’t lead us into temptation.” (Luke 11.4) Below are ideas for interactive prayer stations focusing on Creation and…
Prayer stations are a great way to teach your kids how to pray and give them focus as they pray.
Prayer Stations can provide an opportunity for your women to respond to God, meditate on His word, and connect with the retreat message on a deeper level. We used Prayer Stations at our retreat this fall and it was a huge hit! Today I’m going to share what we did as well as some resources for finding…
Out of the generosity of Christ, each of us is given his own gift. . . [God] handed out gifts above and below . . . [God] handed out gifts of apostle, prophet, evangelist, and pastor-teacher to tra…
the centre of the installation.
Explore truministry's 106 photos on Flickr!
Here is a new prayer station that I tried out with the 8-11s at New Wine this year. It's really easy to do- you just need a collection of mirrors that the children can use to look at themselves with. Hand mirrors were not that cheap to come by if you want a larger number, but small mirror tiles (used in card making) are widely available and cheap! You could do this as a whole group or have it as part of a prayer corner where stillness is encouraged. The idea of the station is that the children look at themselves and ask God to show them what He loves about them. Encourage them to allow some silence so that they can process. This can then lead to discussion about how God sees us differently to the way we sometimes see ourselves, especially when we are saying negative things about ourselves. It might also be appropriate for children to speak out positive words about others in the group as a reflection of God's love for them. Look into the mirror. What does God want to tell you about yourself? What does God love about you the most? Another interesting avenue to explore would be to discuss how we can now go out and reflect God's love to others. Can God use us as 'mirrors' to show others how much He loves them?
Despite the storm brewing in the sky that night, we had a GREAT turnout for our May Relief Society meeting! The theme was "Rock, Paper, Scriptures." We focused on ways to come closer to the Savior and "hold to the rod." Carrie opened up the evening with some personal experiences and a wonderful video emphasizing the importance of daily scripture study in our lives. We then split into three classes and got to take part in some great discussions. ROCK Teryl told us about her grandfather and the house he built one rock at a time. It was a three year process but the results were a house with a strong foundation and walls that would stand through the years. Even after the house was vandalized, it still maintained its structure and has been fixed up and still stands today. She tied this in with our own lifelong efforts to build upon the rock of our Redeemer. Helaman 5:12 states: And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall. PAPER Brianne led a great discussion on journaling and how it blesses our lives-- and the lives of our posterity! We talked about different kinds of journals we can keep: scrapbooks online journals (someone suggested we all try out www.ldsjournal.com !) good old fashioned pen and paper journals family journals scripture journals gratitude journals blogs Not only can we benefit from looking back at past journal entries, but our future children and grandchildren may be able to gain something from them as well. If you think about it, the scriptures themselves are record keeping and "journaling" of ancient prophets. So, in a way, our personal journals we keep can be like our own "scripture" we are writing for our future children and grandchildren to learn and grow from. SCRIPTURES (Holding to the rod): Kimberly lassoed us up and took us on a little obstacle course to drive home her point. Her instructions to us were only this: "Hold on to the rope and follow me." So the group was all walking along clumped together in the loop of the rope. We thought getting up the narrow stairway to the stage was difficult... ...but that seemed like nothing when we realized we hand to climb under a small table!!! Kimberly just kept repeating "Just hold on to the rope and follow me." Most groups went through the whole thing trying to stay inside the loop of the rope. This last group made the realization as they were trying to cram under the table that Kimberly never said they had to stay in the loop. They just had to hold onto the rope! They realized that it would be much easier if they untied the loop and just each held onto it in a straight line. This was a great object lesson that brought us closer together as sisters (literally). We discussed the point of this exercise and applied it to our own journeys in life. Sometimes we get too caught up in doing things a certain way or a way we think it should be done or even the way that MOST people do it. But, that isn't always the most effective way. Ultimately, our instruction is to "hold to the rope and follow me"-- or hold to the rod and follow Him. We need to try to get rid of those distractions or unimportant things that sometimes make it so much more difficult than it needs to be! We shared different things we personally do to bring ourselves closer to Christ and our Heavenly Father-- different ways we have found to do things that work well for US personally. Whether it was methods of scripture study or ways to get rid of distractions in life. After these awesome messages we joined back together to close our meeting. Carrie invited each of us to take a rock from the table in the back of the room and write on it something that was a "spiritual rock" in our lives. Either a favorite scripture or quote. We can display these rocks somewhere as a reminder of having that strong foundation in our lives. And... of course we enjoyed some tasty refreshments together! We had fruits and veggies and dips. Our new friend Ann even brought some delicious Pilipino dishes for us to try! A tasty sesame noodle dish and some potstickers. We always have a great time getting together as sisters and visiting together. And tonight was no different.
Last Sunday at Ashland we did prayer stations for the first time. Overall, I think it went well, kids loved it, most adults were receptive. Some people stayed in their pews, others a little of bo…
Please enjoy these resources that were used in opening worship at the NALC’s 2014 Mission Festival (Abida Hearts on Fire) & 2015 Mission Festival (Mission Possible). For other cre…
How do you help kids to pray more than rote words or “God bless my puppy”? Prayer Stations are helpful to show kids ways to pray and to keep them focused.
Prayer Stations are interactive experiences with Scripture or devotional prompts. A simple, creative gesture can help us slow down and listen for what God reveals. The gesture likewise opens us to …
To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. (Micah 6.8) For the past month, we have been focusing on stewardship and creating a new vision statement. For the past four Sundays…
“Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who has wronged us. And don’t lead us into temptation.” (Luke 11.4) Below are ideas for interactive prayer stations focusing on Creation and…
This is a really colourful way to pray for people and situations where you'd like to see God's power breaking through. Visual pray-er...
Games can be fun to teach about the purpose of prayer and how to pray. Games about prayer help teach kids and teens the purpose of prayer
This is an easy idea to help pray for healing. Stickers with names on might work better because we found that pens don't easily write on bandage! Pray for people who are ill and ask God to heal them. Write their name on the bandage.
“Necessity is the mother of invention.” That phrase rang unusually true for me this past week. I facilitate monthly Full Moon Labyrinth walks at the Unitarian Universalist Congregatio…
Please enjoy these resources that were used in opening worship at the NALC’s 2014 Mission Festival (Abida Hearts on Fire) & 2015 Mission Festival (Mission Possible). For other cre…
If you have lots of bits of lego lying around then this prayer activity is for you! This way of praying involves lots of colour and touch so it's great for visal and kinesthetic learners... You will need: A lego baseboard, lego bricks, lego people, lego accessories of any and every kind! Make a cross shape on the baseboard using some bricks to symbolise bringing your prayers to Jesus. Use bricks to pray! Here are some ideas: Use different colours to represent different types of prayer e.g. sorry, thank you, healing. Use colours to pray for different people or places Use accessories to pray e.g. flowers as thanks for nature build bricks on top of each other to pray for groups or families Do this over a period of time, either in a family, on your own or as a prayer station. See how long it takes to fill the cross with prayer!
