Prayer ideas linked to a theme

Light

We used candles as part of an all age service on the theme of light.

We had put several written prayers relating to light on a board (including simple ones that could be read by or read to children) and we suggested that people might like to read one of the prayers and then light a candle.

Christian Unity

"Is it possible for Christians to walk together with each other, despite their differences?"

We asked people to think about this and then draw round one of their feet. They were then asked to find someone else in the church and draw round one of their feet.

The feet were then cut out and decorated and placed on the road leading to the cross.

(In a different activity there was also the opportunity to paint or decorate different shoes and place them on the road.)

Christian Unity 2

The theme of this all age service in the week of Christian Unity was "Act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God".

People were asked to say a prayer for Christian unity and then to choose two different coloured ribbons and tie them to the cross as a symbol of their prayer.

Serving God

At this prayer station, people were asked to reflect on themselves as a whole person. The question asked was: "When did you last do something physical, something creative, something using your mind, something creative, something with your hands?"

The display included a scrapbook, running shoes, a book, a mug and a broom!

People were invited to say the prayer:

"Lord help us to serve you with all our heart, all our soul all our strength and all our mind. Amen" and to place a cut out hand on the board as a symbol of their prayer.

Around the world

This world map has been used many times to pray for other countries.

Here it was used to pray for countries where Christians are persecuted. Children and adults were asked to place a flame on the map as a symbol of their prayers.

Around the world 2

A globe was used to help people pray for other countries: "Which part of the world would you like to pray for? Would you like to put a flame sticker on the globe to mark your prayer?"

Reconciliation

We had a number of prayer actvities for this theme which linked the bombing of Coventry Cathedral with the events of Holy Week. These included:

Hope:

Making a cross out of nails, while remembering the nail crosses sent out across the world from Coventry Cathedral as a sign of hope or nailing a flower prayer of hope to the outlined cross.

Light in the dark:

The picture in the centre was designed by John Piper for the Baptistery in Coventry Cathedral to show light breaking through the darkness. People were invited to respond by tearing black paper and sticking it to the yellow background to think about Jesus's death on the cross. They were then asked to add coloured paper to the black background to symbolise the light overcoming the dark.

Mercy:

Adding a white stone to a tray of pebbles, to symbolise Christ's mercy - how can we show Christ's love and mercy to offenders and our enemies...

Church

This was used as part of our church's 750th anniversary celebrations.

The idea was that we would involve as many of the local community as possible (school, Brownies, W.I. etc) in writing a prayer on a tile that would then be stuck on to create a picture of the church (and in this case the sky behind as well.)