Time With God 2011

For the past few years once or twice a year our church has had a 24 hour prayer event that we call Time With God. There wasn’t one scheduled in this year but my wife and I began to feel that is was time for one. So last weekend we arrange it and again had people praying in our small church building around the clock. We had a number of different prayer stations and multi-sensory activities. For instance one was a multi-sensory meditation on Psalm 51 using horse radish source to remind us of the bitterness of sin, grape juice for God's cleansing and honey for sweetness of God's word.

Simple Beginnings

I think the ethos in Time With God has always similar to 24-7 prayer. But when we started we just opened up the rooms in our little church building for people to shut themselves away in and seek God. There were CD players in each room, we supplied people with candles and some guidelines and we encouraged people to write on flip chart paper and blu-tack it to the walls.

People in the church booked times over the 24 hour period which amazingly filled up even through the night. We managed to arrange it so we always had at least a couple of people in the building. The time flew by and some people began to happily book two hours or even more. Each time we did it there were many encouraging stories of how God has touched people during these times.

Getting More Creative
One year someone brought some art materials. Then came the ‘pray dough’ – an activity encouraging us to pray by moulding play dough. People were praying and expressing that prayer not just in written ways but also in pictures perhaps even bringing a newspaper with them and cutting out a headline and writing and drawing prayers around it. As there were so many payers written and painted we set up a wishing line in the hallway and encouraged people to peg out their prayers.

One year my wife and I took responsibility for organising it and took along lots of bean-bags and throws to make a cosy corner, laid out a few books to inspire prayer such as books of Celtic prayers. Other times people had set up one or two prayer stations. We ran with that and arranged for at least one in each room - each one encouraging prayer in different ways often using different senses.

The Beginnings of a Team
The last time we did this we had the sense of beginning to get together a team. Before this the responsibility to organise it had been with one couple who had passed it to another. When we took over we wanted to do more but it was a lot of work laying out the rooms and clearing them away again. It was great when we had one or two others on board – and it was encouraging to see them using their creativity. We also began the idea of having a corporate time during Time With God when there could be more group activities as well as individual prayer.

Even now that one of the team has now moved away to study we still felt there is the beginnings of a team as others begin to get on board. Another time we would like to build on this and get together a bit sooner to plan with one or two more if possible. I think we need to more clearly divide up the tasks so that everyone knows what to do – send out emails confirming this. Perhaps we could even meet again to confirm the plans just before the event.

One thing that we like to do is to bring prayers that have been written or drawn into the following Sunday morning meeting. People have commented how encouraging this is. I think this is an opportunity not just for the team to do this but perhaps to ask others in the church who might not otherwise be involved. It’s amazing what can be done when several people get there and muck in and it’s a lot less stressful than doing it ourselves.

related post Time With God

Christmas 2.0

It’s that time again! All newsletters and charity gifts posted and our Jesse Tree now complete with items representing the ancestors of Jesus we are relaxing and enjoying our twelve days of Christmas – sharing small gifts around the dinner table for twelve days of the holidays.

Just thought that if you enjoy Nativity plays and singing carols like ‘We Three Kings’ as well as social networking on the internet then you might like this video - Christmas 2.0:



Enjoy!

Greenbelt's Worship Co-operative



photo by mr ush

The venue that I frequented the most at this year's Greenbelt was the Worship Co-operative. For many years now Greenbelt has been the home of new creative forms of worship that were pioneered in the 90s as alternative worship. This year instead of having individual sessions run by different alternative worship communities there were four all day worship sessions each one run by a few groups working together with a common theme.

One Friday the theme was peripheral visions and I dropped in and explored prayer stations looking at writing at unusual angles through mirrors, finding a sculpture of a cross that only made sense from one angle and listening to CD with a short talk on the paralysed man while lying on my back. An interesting thought from this was that often disabled people may not be given a choice about what they do or where they go so Jesus may have been the first person to give this man a choice when Jesus asked him to take up his bed and walk.

On Saturday the theme was ‘Here Comes Everybody’ based on Clay Shirky’s book that looks at the power of groups and communication and the Ubantu Theology of Desmond Tutu looking at the African ideas of relationship, community and hospitality. I weaved out names into a tapestry, wrote on a prayer wall and had my photo taken to go on another wall all while images played on screens around the room picking up on the this theme.

Sunday was ‘Life As Jazz’ and it was good to pop in with my little daughter Callie. There were four stations outlining four moods of Jazz: a strident/angry station where we hammered in a nail, a celebration station where we could have a drink of juice at the jazz party, a jazz/blues station where we could be sad or poignantly reflective or a cool jazz station where we could relax as if on a beach and Callie could draw on postcards. I came back in the evening the King/Cave Project was playing.

On Monday morning I found a very different musical style as Blackthorn Crescent were playing some rock songs as I explored the stations looking at the theme of ‘on the edge’. I found this deeply moving as I explored stations that looking out the idea of being an insider and an outsider based on the story of Legion and the story of Hagar. One activity involved writing two labels one with a name you had been called that labelled you an outsider and the other with a name you owned such as a profession or interest. You ripped up the first label and sprinkled it into a mush from which new paper could be made and you new label embedded.

I dropped in for about 45 minutes each time but this venue had me coming back each day to see what was happening each day. And I wasn’t disappointed.

Photos from Easter Sunday

I've now uploaded several photo's from our Easter Sunday service onto flickr. We had a great time with our Resurrection Party that included breakfast, a quiz and making Easter garden - all as part of our worship to God as we celebrated the resurrection of Jesus.

"Happy Resurrection Day"

Messy Fiesta

On Saturday my wife Nettes and Simon - a friend of ours from our church - went to Messy Fiesta - a conference all about Messy Church - a technique that took off a few years ago when it was featured on a DVD by Fresh Expressions. Both Nettes and Simon came back very enthusiastic about beginning to do something like this with the families of the kids that come to our kids club.

Today Nettes took Callie and a couple of Callie’s friends from church to Kidz Aloud who run their own mix of Messy Church and Godly Play. A good time was had by all.

These are brilliant ideas for kids and families. If they are new to you please check out the links above and Barnabas in Churches for more details.

honest confession from our Time With God

During our church’s ‘Time With God’ last weekend the following quote was written on the wall. - well, actually on flip chart paper blu-tacked to the wall. We were struck at how honest this confession was and I am sure that it spoke to a number of us when we were looking around the rooms:

Lord, I want to know your security
as I step forward and take the risks
that you have called me to.
For too long I have felt over-looked
and not taken those opportunities
because of my personality type.
'Why is it like this?' I cry.
But do I really need to know?
I long to let go of the bitterness
and be born anew.
I gladly share with you the cup of suffering
in my daily hassles.
And sense that as I drink it,
it becomes a cup of blessing to me
and to others.
But only as I step forward
and, at last, take those risks.

‘Time With God’ happens once or twice a year and is a time when our little building is open 24 hours for people to spend time with God. We have plenty of beanbags, throws and drapes and bring in candles and tee-lights. There are usually a few creative installations too. This time there was a cross that Ruth made - to which people stuck post-its with their thoughts and prayers on. Ruth had also put together a rolling slideshow for the evening.

It is often commented that during these times people find God speaking really deeply to them. The prayer above was probably written during someone’s individual time when people tended to stay in one of the rooms as opposed to the ‘corporate times’ we had more people there and they could move more freely around the installations.

Don't forget to book your Time with God

Joe recorded this video promoting our forthcoming 'Time With God'. (I've now managed to load it onto our church website.)



Every few months we have a period when our little building is open for 24 hours for people to interact with God. You can see some of the things that we’ve got up to before here.

It's great to have Ruth on board.

And this time, as well as encouraging people to spend time on their own with God creatively, we are also including times of corporate creative worship. But don't forget we are still aiming to cover the whole 24 hour period and you need to see me to book your time slots.

is it really time for more “ministry prayer”?

Across the world we may be due another wave of what is sometimes called “ministry prayer”. Last year such a move was sparked off as the ministry of Todd Bentley was publicised across the internet. And now Todd has a new website and appears to be getting ready for a comeback. There was a wane in these times across the world following news that Todd had fallen into an affair. So might Todd’s comeback reverse this trend? I sincerely hope not!

So what's the problem?

Is it Todd's recent divorce and remarriage? Well actually Todd is now going through a time of "restoration". He has made himself accountable to Rick Joyner. This is documented in videos on his new site. Of course falling as Todd did is a very human failing. We can and should learn to rebuild our trust of him in this area.

No, I have a different concern – the whipping up audiences especially using exaggerated claims. Todd claimed some incredible miracles. News media such as ABC's Nightline broadcast concluded that not one of these could be independently verified. Nevertheless his staff worked overtime collating testimonies and medical reports. So what are we to think? I am sure that some people were really touched but also I think there was a lot of hype.

Don't get me wrong. I am a great believer in prayer and I look for God to heal today. But observing the way that phenomena such as this spread makes me wonder to what extent human psychology is involved. And in fact whenever I see people called forward after hearing a motivational message I wonder how much of what follows is due to suggestion. I'm not saying that the emotional manipulation is always intentional. But when the focus is on an individual and their needs people tend to get over emotional. Those that do respond in this way may even start to get dependant on this emotional experience.

In our church we are careful not to make claims we can’t back up and not to whip up emotions. Times of “ministry prayer” are thankfully rare and, when they do occur, often the meeting is formerly closed so that we can get a coffee if we prefer, which I do. But I long for more of God and I feel that sometimes it would be good to respond to him with a physical act but, to be honest, for all the above reasons most of these "appeals" give me the willies.

So what are the alternatives? Well I think we can be more creative. Why can't we have activities in which we can all take part if we want to – not just those “in need of prayer”? Let's not be so intense about it.

On occasions in our worship we have been encouraged write or draw something to give thanks for and bring that forward to be displayed. Once during our Time With God we wrote down things that we were praying for God to get rid of such as debt or injustices and dropped them into a litter bin. I saw a number of activities like this at Prayer House at Spring Harvest this year. And in previous years I have seen many ideas in worship sessions at Greenbelt. On my bookshelf I have a series of books with many innovative multi-sensory ideas by Sue Wallace. The list could go on. I’m sure we can think of more of these ourselves and use them as ways to respond in our services.

More “ministry prayer”? No thanks!

But I would love to see more of these creative and relaxed ways for us all to respond to God. Come on! Let’s go for it!

For a related article by a friend of mine see Catching Men by David Matthew.

Reflections on the Community Fun Day

I have now added a set of photos on flickr for yesterday’s Community Fun Day.

Instead of meeting on Sunday our church threw itself into supporting this event and many of us came as volunteers. This was our worship. A few helped with the set up and stewarding, Heather & Roo did face painting, I was involved with a team from our church in organising a prayer tent and my wife Nettes ran the bric-a-brac stall. The day was initiated by Karis Neighbour Scheme and lots of local organisations got together to arrange it. Everyone worked very hard. Apologies to any I have missed.

In the prayer tent we offered prayer including prayer for healing and laying on of hands. A few completed prayer-cards and posted them in the box. We had a good time praying with these cards at the end of the day. And we prayed with a few in person, anointing at least a couple of people with oil. It was good being a listening ear. People also took away some of the free resources. There were some booklets, we had printed some of Stephanie's poems on card and printed these downloads on how to pray from an excellent website called rejesus.

It was a steep learning curve for me. I'd never really done anything like this before. But I knew that a few from our church had run a prayer tent last year. So I was very greatful to have people around me who knew what they were doing. It is a lot harder than I realised to put up signs on a tent. And one problem with being in a tent is that your papers tend to blow around. It was very quiet at first and I thought that we might have no vistors. But in the end we were encouraged and felt that all who came to the tent received a blessing.

Across the site some good relationships were built with people in the community. For example, both Nettes and I had a chat with the people from our local LETS. I also met Karis's Jude Greenwood, for the first time, who among other things is an associate of Spring To Life specialising in life coaching. And through this event I met Gwen the minister of the Church of the Redeemer who mentioned that her church was starting a Messy Church.

All in all it was a great day. A special thanks to Annabel from Karis for getting this off the ground!

Praying 24-7

Pete Greig from 24-7 Prayer is calling people together to pray for Europe in a massive prayer meeting in Amsterdam.



And people will come. But, when local churches may lament how poorly attended their prayer meetings are, what is drawing them? A longing for more in their lives? A desire for God? A move of the Holy Spirit? Yes, I’m sure it is all of those things. But one element that marks out the 24-7 prayer movement is their use of creativity in prayer. If you’re not familiar with this movement then check out the 24-7 Prayer website to get a flavour of what is happening.

Across the UK and now across the world prayer rooms are appearing populated with people praying in shifts for a week or more around the clock. In a typical prayer room we see prayers graffitied on the walls, we see original pieces of art work sculpted or painted as prayers during the prayer times. There are candles to set the ambience and CDs are often playing.

Another element that may surprise some is the rediscovery of liturgy. In prayer room across the world people are searching out and reading ancient prayers. Celtic prayers and prayers of medieval monks are again touching people as God breaths new life into these words. People in these prayer rooms are also writing new liturgies. Having just finished reading the 24-7 Prayer Manual I want to read Punk Monk for some insights from the monastic traditions that can be applied today.

People can wander around a prayer room looking icons in the form of artwork and read prayers written on the walls or sometimes follow specific trails with items to pray about at various points. Some of this is created spontaneously while to room is open but also a lot of work can go into preparing prayer stations. On occasions, 24-7 prayer rooms have even used labyrinths so that people can walk meditatively around the room as they pray – their attention brought to certain items at certain points. As you can see in this prayer room organised by Bath City Church - log on to facebook to see the photos.

People are being drawn together and motivated to pray. They are finding prayer interesting. They are finding prayer exciting. People are praying: not out of duty, not because they are made to feel guilty, not even as an exercise in self disciple. They are praying because they want to. They are enjoying it.

In our church we have seen a glimpse of this in our Time With God where we do just one 24 hour stint every few months. I long to see more of this. Don’t you?

Interesting Sunday

Our Sunday morning church meeting in the style of a pub quiz certainly got a lot of people involved. And a few of us also had a good time in the evening on outreach. We met some interesting people including one man who was involved in organised a squatters protest in Edgbaston. As it was bank holiday weekend more people were out on Sunday night and also some events from Birmingham Pride were still going on. As usual we gave out sandwiches and teas & coffees to some of the guys who were sleeping rough around the city centre.

Spring Harvest

For a few days over the Easter weekend we went to Spring Harvest at Butlins in Minehead. We were pleased that there was plenty for our little daughter Callie. We could drop her off in her own sessions for three hours each morning. The Butlin’s activities were also open to us such as a fairground, swimming pool, climbing frames, etc. So it was just as much a holiday as a conference. But still I was hoping for a little more than just 'lively' worship and 'inspiring' sermons in the meetings.

In the mornings we chose the Encounter Bible Studies. Russ Parker who is part of the Northumbria Community had some interesting stories to tell about how God had spoken to him and used him in various settings. I was glad that the preaching was accompanied by PowerPoint and short videos often featuring Christian music and compilations of scenes from movies or slides. Russ also had a couple of violinists who played for us and led us in songs and hymns. And there was a short time for group work and feedback.

After a break there was a choice of sessions that unpacked the study guide on the theme of being an apprentice of Jesus. I went to a couple of these sessions and found that it was good to have the talks broken up with activities again. But I found all these teaching sessions a bit too much really. So one morning I went to the chapel to be quiet, read the Bible and pray in the first session. I also found the Prayer House, which for me was the best find of the week. For a couple of the second sessions I was in there praying at the various prayer stations, writing on the prayer wall and relaxing in God’s presence.

In the afternoons I went to the art workshops and spend some time with Callie taking her on the dodgems, adventure golf and soft play area as well as taking her to a multi-sensory worship workshop. My niece Hannah had also found the Prayer House and recommended going to one of their meditations while Nettes watched Callie. I discovered that this was really an alternative worship service – with video, prayers and responses and a worship activity. If I was to go to Spring Harvest again I would do one of these every day.

We went half board so we had dinner and breakfast at the Butlins' diner. They were excellent for your traditional British meat and two veg. But there was not so much choice on the veggie options, healthy options or international cuisine all of which I tend to prefer. So I usually joined the queue for the salad bar. But the 'all you can eat' policy meant that we always had plenty.

In the evenings I took turns with Nettes to be with Callie in her session and put her to bed - I found it very special to take the bread and wine with Callie one evening. But this meant that I only got a couple of full evenings out as the first day we were just settling in. One evening I spent in the Encounter Café that ran as an alternative to the main celebration. There was music, audience interaction, chat, games and a five minute preach as well as making these plasticine models! The other evening I went to the Readings and Reflections - another service with Russ Parker. I also went to see Sue Rinaldi and comedian Joe Fisher. But these gigs didn’t start until 10:30 so this gave me a couple of hours in the Sun and Moon where I could quietly read my study guide with a pint.

All this meant there was one venue we had not gone to when it came to the last day – the Big Top. I did see something of it the night before on our chalet TV. During the meeting two artists who I knew from the art workshops were painting a huge picture at the back of the stage. And anyone could come up and do some art beside the stage. So on the last morning it was the Big Top. I looked around the artwork that was there. But apart from the art I was not as impressed with this venue as much as the others I had seen - especially the Prayer House. There were some familiar contemporary worship songs. And finally we were aptly sent off with a sermon on ‘Go!’

Spring Harvest this year was probably a one off for us - although next year’s does look interesting. The title is ‘Different Eyes - Living Distinctly in a Time of Uncertainty’. We were grabbed by the themes of social justice and ethical issues such as fair trade that are going to be covered. Perhaps we should have waited a year?

A Multi-Sensory Time

Last night Nettes & I did an activity together from Sue Wallace’s book Multi-Sensory Scripture. This book contains some creative ways to interact with the Bible. We were looking at the story of the raising of Lazarus. Unlike some of the activities this one took minimal preparation. After doing some relaxation exercises we simply read a script that took us through the story a few times each time focusing on a different sense. A very relaxing and interesting way to meditate on this passage.

You can also read my review of Sue’s previous book Multi-Sensory Prayer on Amazon.

Time With God

I have now added a set of photos on flickr for last weekend's Time With God. Please feel free to have a look and read some of the 'writing on the wall' and 'washing line' prayers.

For those that don't know, for a few years now our church has done a 24 hour stint - every 6 months or so - where our centre is open for people to spend some time with God. People have the option of candles, music and the chance to write on the wall – actually on flipchart paper that we blu-tack on the wall. Two or three years ago we started bringing in art materials too and on one occasion we had some prayer stations including last time the idea of writing or drawing your prayers and pegging them to a washing line. We have always said that how people spend the time is between them and God. But this time the feeling was that at least some of the time was to be spent in intercession for the world.

So last weekend we were busy bringing in more candles and throws and beanbags. We provided people with loads of suggestions for prayer including local items and information on international issues such as the current financial crisis. Helen made displays about Christians that we have relationship with including some in Zimbabwe. We used visual prompts such as a globe and maps. For example, Nettes & I laid out an activity to turn weapons fashioned out of tinfoil into ploughshares as people prayed for peace. We also placed some herbs in the kitchen to eat while people could read a meditation on slavery and a prayer for those enslaved today.

Steve Watts, our elder, was excited about finding a set of ‘soaking’ CDs that someone had loaned to us for the time. He soon began to meditate on God relaxing on a beanbag. Through the night we were praying, worshipping and producing pieces of abstract art. People came and went in the early hours of the morning. I had a good time praying with Jackie early in the morning about liberation and we were writing out things that we wanted to get rid of in our own lives as well as in the world - such as fear, insecurity and poverty - and throwing them in a waste bin. On Saturday, Nettes and Callie went and Callie took part by painting a picture of heaven and by praying for China. Callie is only five.

We received some really positive comments about the event and hope to do this again later in the year.

Time With God 2008

Last weekend our church did our regular Time With God. This is a 24 hour period when our building is open for us to pray, read or however we want to spend some time with God in a similar way to 24-7 prayer. We have candles, music and plenty of paper for people to draw a picture on or write down prophecies, scriptures or prayers to hang around the building. This time as a family we contributed a few beanbags for the ‘comfort zones’. And there was some play-dough to work with as we prayed. During the night I made a model of the ‘body of Christ’ by making many small figures and molding them into one. I spent some praying with others, did a bit of reading but for a lot of the time I sat in God’s presence with the lights off and the candle burning. As we discussed the time on Sunday morning I was encouraged to hear that others had lit the candles and turned out the lights too. Some whom a few years ago would never have dreamt of doing so. And it was great to see the prayers that people had written pegged out on the 'washing line'.

The Future Direction of Worship

On Thurday and Friday Jonny Baker took part in a symposium on worship at the London School of Theology. I know Jonny through CMS events and worship sessions at Greenbelt but mainly through his blog. He has been asked to be part on a panel of experts on worship that also includes among others Graham Kendrick and Joel Edwards. They are discussing the future direction of worship. To help Jonny out I left a couple of comments on this blog here - a long with a lot of other people - the gist of which Jonny tried to weave into his contributions.

Jonny has outlined some of the thoughts of his fellow panellists here, some of his own contributions here, and his summary of the arguments here. I am following this with great interest and commenting on it as it goes - sometimes with more than one comment on a post. There are some very open and honest thoughts in this discussion, some of which I think are pertinent to our worship experiences in Church Alive. Of course I am not denying that we have some good times of worship - I just want to go further.

Please let me know your thoughts by leaving a comment.

Time With God - Autumn 2007

Our church has just had our ‘Time with God’ - 24 hours of prayer. As usual I did a stint through the night. As before there was music, candles and art materials laid out so that I could chill out in an atmospheric environment while focusing my prayer drawing some graffiti - on paper I hasten to add not the newly painted walls! But this time the rooms were also swathed in sheets with pillows and there was a number of prayer stations. We could add a paper fish we the name of someone to pray for following the theme of being ‘fishers of men’. We could sit on some concrete slabs to pray for the persecuted church seeing a reminder of prison bars. There were plenty of places to write words or prayers or names of people to pray for all around the rooms. There were prompts on the walls pointing us to passages and a material cross on one of the walls. All this added to the experience. I felt that we stepped up a gear or two from the times when there was just flip chart paper to write on. The creativity in the rooms made praying through the night a breeze. Thanks to Andy and Emma who set the whole thing up. We are clearly moving on.

Using Art in Prayer

Last night in our home-group we spent some time meditating on the word ‘lost’. Jesus told parables about a lost coin, a lost sheep and the prodigal son. This fitted in with my prayer on Sunday for those that had left our church over the years and are now journeying on a different path from us. Our meditation involved us creating a collage each on a big sheet of paper with the word lost at the centre. We could look through some newspapers to cut out words and phrases and glue them on our sheet. We could draw, paint or crayon on our sheet but I chose to make a stamp out of some plastic and a piece of string to stamp a pattern over the words which proved very effective. I found searching through for the words and creating the collage an interesting way to pray. My mind focused on those that had rejected and so lost friends as their life had unravelled over the years.

I want to continue the idea of using art in prayer is a theme tonight in our Time with God. I’ll be getting up in the middle of the night to spend a few hours tonight in our church building. In the light of Amazing Grace Sunday I feel to pray for the slavery that still exists such as people trafficking and have in my mind the raising of Lazarus. My prayer is that God will not only bring life into these areas of death but also ‘unwind the grave clothes’ bring freedom to individuals across the world. There usually are some art materials available so hopefully I’ll be able to make a picture.