Print the PDF containing 24 worship phrases from the psalms, and cut them out. Fold the phrases up and stick in balloons, which you inflate (for best result with helium). Attach the balloons to different places in your worship space (creates a great celebration atmosphere as people arrive). In the...
This worship idea is designed to be used near the beginning of a service, perhaps after the first song and afterwards leading into a longer worship set. It is all about encouraging people to feel ‘at home’ and truly welcome in church and to spend time ‘at home’ with God...
In the mingling before the service, send someone out to greet as many people as possible. Let this person put on some – expensive is best! – perfume on their hands. Later on in the service, ask people to smell their hands – they might be surprised to find them smelling...
Say the whole of Psalm 139 together near the beginning of the service. Choose one or all of the following ideas: Interaction – Ahead of time ask three people of differing ages and outlooks to chose their favourite verse from the Psalm and say why (check before that they have chosen...
Put pens and paper under chairs/pews in your worship area before people arrive. Before you start a time of sung worship, encourage people to write down short testimonies of what God has done in their life this week (keep the pieces of paper small, and the testimonies will be short!),...
The aim of this idea is to symbolise Mary and Joseph’s journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem; to help people to get to know each other better and to encourage worship outside of church walls. Basic idea: Mary and Joseph need accommodation – so a household in the church community offers to...
This one is for all you Blue Peter fans out there … it is designed to remind people of the kingship of Jesus, that the tiny baby in the manger is the Prince of Peace, with infinite power to change lives and set the dark on fire*. For to us a...
This is a worship idea that helps us come together as a Church, bringing our personal thoughts to God and yet at the same time creating something larger together. In preparation before the worship time, choose an image that fits your theme, and draw an outline of this image on the...
This idea works best with a small congregation, home group or youth group etc Theme: This idea is based on the Beatitude in Matthew 5:9: “Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called sons of God”. The Message version of the same verse is: “You're blessed when you can show people how...
This service is designed around the congregation moving between three different 'stations' for the middle part of the meeting, and then coming back together for two final sections. The service could be started with sung worship, and perhaps reading Psalm 29. When beginning the middle section, be as clear as...
This is a guided meditation works best for a small congregation, youth group or home group. It is designed to help participants think about the way God appears to biblical characters in the great outdoors – the setting, the scenery, the time of day, the weather, their relationship with him, and his...
Hearing life stories from the ordinary Joe and Joanne in the congregation is a great way to remind us that God is alive, active and in the neighbourhood. I have introduced a themed, regular slot in the service called "this time tomorrow" where an individual is asked what they will...
This is a prayer to be read by one voice. Before the prayer begins (perhaps during a song before the prayer time) hand out ‘sour’ sweets. You can purchase packets of jelly sweets that are covered with ‘sour’ sugar. They come in many guises and different price brackets, but are...
This Easter Sunday we are planning a Resurrection Praise Celebration. We are splitting the teaching into two halves – in the first half the preacher will show a giant paper world, and talk about how God created everything perfect. He will then rip the world into pieces, talking about how...
This is a simple idea for 'unfinished worship' - getting people to interact and participate in the leading of worship in a safe, pressure-free way. Ask people to open their Bibles at the Psalms, then sing a simple, celebratory song. After you've sung it for a few minutes, invite people...
This song is designed to be improvised! There are a few basic verses to get you going - you can then choose to stop, or carry on with improvised verses. The leader or members of the group/congregation call out 4 or 5 syllable phrases which everyone then joins in singing,...
We first saw this idea used at Willow Creek - it may have originated before that - and the YFC team used it really effectively last week at New Wine. It is a way of helping people share what God has done in their lives in a simple but powerful way. ...
I have grown up seeing images of war on the television. Conflict after conflict has hit the news headlines and my screen and then appeared to become less significant. It has seemingly been too easy to become desensitised to world conflict. For Remembrance Sunday last year, I wanted to lead something...
Instead of focussing on death towards the end of October, let's focus on the lives of the saints that have gone before us. All Saints' Day is traditionally marked on the 1st of November, but whether your church is traditional or not, you will hopefully find this meditation helpful. The idea...
A few weeks ago our church celebrated with a thanksgiving meal together, the inspiration span out of a desire to celebrate Harvest in a creative way; but I reckon this could work anytime of the year. Firstly, we decided to meet at lunchtime instead of our usual 10.30 meeting. For...
Here is a simple reflection on the meaning of advent, using purple ribbon. Reflection: Advent, from the Latin adventus, meaning arrival or coming, is a chance for us to slow down and take time to prepare for Jesus’ birth at Christmas. It is an opportunity for us to reflect quietly on what...
This creative meditation on the theme of exile is designed to be used with a congregation during a church service, but it could work equally well in a youth group or small group setting. It has been linked with a Christmas reading (Jesus, Mary and Joseph’s flight to Egypt - Matthew...
Here’s an idea that you can either use the week before Easter Sunday (Palm Sunday), on Good Friday or on Easter Sunday (or even during a regular communion service). It could just as easily be used by a small group as by a large congregation. The idea...
What do you normally do with your old BBQ ashes? Bin them? Put them in the compost? If this BBQ summer decides to get back on form, this idea might give you a different use for them. We were running a series of services themed around the Psalms, and one...
This idea is to use an auction of gifts and skills to raise money for your church community or project, all within the context of the worship service. What follows is the write up that was produced to promote the idea to our church family - hopefully this should explain...
I don't know about you, but when I'm praying, my mind wanders, especially when prayers are led in a coporate setting. This idea is intended to try to root the wandering mind by bringing a physicality to our prayers. For generations, Christians have established pracices which hold the body in...
A group of people associated with the Nightclub Chaplaincy in Bournemouth have run ‘Church for the Night’ quarterly for over five years. These are wonderful events where hundreds of passers-by drift in and out of St Peter’s church in the heart of the club strip in the centre of town. ...
Here's a simple idea to encourage people to commit to praying for specific people who don't know Jesus. Say: "God wants us to reflect him and his glory to all those around us. Let's commit to praying for one specific person this week. Let's pray that as we keep close to God,...
I have used this idea at several places, all very different worship settings. First it was used in in my apartment in Chicago, as we prayed for each other, second it was used in a house church, third at a college all night worship event setting, and lastly in my...
Our church community is starting to get ready for the Open Doors day of prayer for the persecuted church on Nov 6th, on the theme of "Secret Children". A bunch of resources including vids, Ppt, service plans are available on their website - take a look. For me, this feels...
This is a great way to get all ages praying for the world, in a fun and simple way. Play the music and pass the globe around like a balloon. When the music stops, the person holding the globe opens a prayer and reads it (into a microphone if necessary), and...
To introduce the subject of lament, this is a visual way to engage people with the concept of the brokenness of the world we live in. It lends itself to preceding an explanation of the gap between the brokenness of the world and our understanding of God’s goodness and care for...
This is a very simple idea, but one we've used a few different ways and always got a lot of positive feedback about. The basic premise is singing out your prayer, using a few lines from an existing Christmas Carol (or other hymn or song would work). At a number of...
This act of worship is designed to encourage people to think beyond the cradle and to put the Resurrected Christ into the Christmas story. Activity: As the service begins and you give notices, welcome, sing etc. have people come and place baubles in the manger. Then at the time you want to...
The church I belong to doesn’t do much to celebrate Holy Week, which means in practice that we don’t meet all together between Palm Sunday and Easter Day. I wanted to create a way to walk through Jesus’ final week as a man, in one act of worship, suitable for...
