The church I attend gives
first graders their very own canvas worship bags when they begin attending
worship full time at the beginning of the school year. Their name is drawn on it in large decorated
letters by some creative youth and adults.
One item in it is a lined spiral bound notebook. It was first added as a pad that was easy to
write or draw on. Over the years several
children have developed those spiral notebooks into worship journals. First they scribbled. Next they began drawing what they were
hearing. Then, they began writing what
they were thinking. Sometimes they wrote
down what they were thinking about what was going on around them in worship. Sometimes they wrote about important things
in their lives at the moment. At times
the writing was just notes or paragraphs. Other times they wrote carefully
thought out and crafted prayers, even poems.
The artistic ones continued to illustrate worship or worship themes. When the first notebooks were filled, they
were replaced with new ones with covers that pleased the maturing owners. As the children became teenagers, they let go
of the bags and selected cooler notebooks they could tuck into a purse or
pocket. Several save their worship
journals.
How can congregations can
encourage such worshipful writing?
! Give children notebooks when
they are young. Encourage parents to pay
some attention to what the children are drawing or writing in them and to let
the children know that writing or drawing can be as much a part of worship as
singing along or listening.
! Worship leaders can occasionally
suggest writing or drawing projects related to the sermon or some part of
worship, i.e. draw a picture of what happened in this scripture story, make a
list of people you know who need this kind of loving attention, etc.
! Parents (and all the adults
in the congregation) can be taught to encourage rather than discourage
worshiping with a pencil in hand.
! Parents can initiate or
respond to child-initiated written conversations about worship or something
important. This can be done on the
margins of a bulletin or in the child’s worship journal. It is up to the parent to keep the
conversation “on track.”
! Occasionally set up a
situation in which a teenager can show some children his or her journal/s and
talk about how they use them. (Teenage
role models are powerful.)
AND IT IS ALSO TRUE THAT…
for some children these
notebooks will never become more than paper for scribbled art about whatever
comes to mind whether it is related to worship or not. For them something to do with their hands is
a survival tool. Survival tools are
appreciated!! In fact used as survival
tools, journals can enable children to listen.
Stories abound of children who seemed lost in drawing pictures of
monsters fighting surprising their parents with comments that indicated they
heard what was going on it the room. Who
knows!!!
What other items does your church put in worship bags? In my experience it is difficult determine what will be too distracting and what will be helpful.
ReplyDeleteVirginia, I thought I had done a post about that - but I don't find it. So, I'll write one - but not until next week. I am trying really hard to finish the Advent - Christmas posts this weekend.
DeleteThanks for asking.