This is an idea to be used around All Saints' Day or anytime you want to think of our individual places within the community of saints. By 'saints' I refer to Christians who have gone before us, be it by hundreds of years or only a couple, recognised by the wider church or not. You could use this activity within a small group, each making their own concertina saints, choosing pictures of their revered people and sticking them on and having more of a dialogue instead of a guided meditation. Alternatively, you could pre-make the saints, either fully, or eg. making the concertina men and cutting out pictures of 'saints' that your participants may choose from, and then leading a meditation from the front. I hope you will adapt this activity for your own setting.

To make your concertina saints, follow these instructions:

1) Cut an A4 piece of paper in half lengthways and attach the two pieces together using sticky tape.

2) Fold the piece of paper in a concertina style, until you have eight sections.

3) Draw an outline of a person on the top section, making sure that the arms go all the way out to the sides.

4) Cut out the person, again making sure to cut all the way out to the sides (otherwise the people won't hold hands!).

5) Think of 7 Christians that you admire or look up to. It could be one of the early Christians or your granny - you decide! Find pictures of these people and print out small head shots of them.

6) Cut out the heads of your saints and stick them on the concertina people, but leave one person empty in the middle.

Use the attached meditation to reflect on your position amongst the saints.