This is a great interactive, multi-sensory way of engaging all-ages with the reading.

Before the reading, get the congregation to make each of the different sounds in turn. Then divide the congregation into sections and give each section a different sound to make (doves coo-ing etc). Practise building up the different sounds to form a cacophony of noise and then stopping one by one until you have silence (a bit like a conductor with an orchestra). You could also get them to experiment with going louder and quieter.

Now get them to listen in silence for a moment and ask people to think how shocking Jesus' actions would have been and how he cut through the noise to allow God's voice to be heard.

Sounds:

  • Market stallholders shouting: "Come and buy your doves, lovely fresh doves, two for a pound, buy one get one free",
  • Sheep: baaing
  • Cows: mooing
  • Doves: cooing
  • Money-changers counting coins: "1 x 10 is 10, 2 x 10 is 20, 3 x 10 is 30, ker-ching, ker-ching, ker-ching)

Now read the reading, pausing at the sections in bold for the relevant section of the congregation to make their sounds.


Extract from the reading:

When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

In the temple courts he found market stallholders selling cows, sheep and doves, and money-changers sitting at tables exchanging money.

So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle.

He scattered the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables.

To those who sold doves he said, 'Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father's house into a market!'

His disciples remembered that it is written: 'Zeal for your house will consume me.'...


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