Contents Introduction.....................5.......................6 Happy!.........................6 An all-age party outline by Vicki Warwick activities.......................9 Valentine s Day..................10 Showing love: Sending a special card to God..10 A Key Stage 1 assembly by Heather Butler Love, love me do........................11 A Key Stage 3 assembly by Dot Lee Valentine s Day party.....................12 A party outline by Sarah Mayers True romance...........................13 A Valentine drama by In Yer Face Theatre Co True valentine..........................14 An all-age service Shrove Tuesday.................16 Pancake party..........................16 A party outline by Sarah Mayers Lent...........................18 Lent starter............................18 All-age materials based on Matthew 4:1 11 Lent countdown.........................20 An Easter calendar from Christian Aid Mothering Sunday...............23 A family coat of arms!....................23 A family event by John Hattam Celebrate Mothering Sunday...............24 An all-age service by Catherine Hammond All together............................27 An all-age service by Grace Paterson Craft ideas.............................29 Card ideas.............................31 A creative prayer idea....................33 Hannah...............................34 Two retold Bible stories from 1 Samuel 1 Ascension......................35 Returning King..........................35 All-age materials by Steve Tilley Pentecost......................38 Peter s story...........................38 An all-age service by Catherine Hammond Act two...............................40 Drama by David Shailer Creative prayer ideas.....................41 Craft ideas.............................42 Sports event....................44 Talk sport..............................44 A selection of short sport talks by Matt Taylor Father s Day....................46 Big boys toys..........................46 A social event for dads and children by Mark Chester Father of the world......................47 A creative prayer idea by Judith Merrell Good gifts.............................48 An all-age service by Tim Carr Jairus and his daughter...................50 A retold Bible story from Mark 5 Back to school..................51 Into the unknown!.......................51 An all-age service by Ruth Wills Harvest........................54 A harvest of talent.......................54 An all-age social event by Helen Franklin The art of thanksgiving...................56 An all-age service by Peter Graystone of Christian Aid Celebrate harvest.......................58 An all-age service by Michael Lush Harvest Prayer..........................61 A creative prayer idea by Judith Merrell Bureaucracy inaction.....................62 Drama by Mark Niel Craft ideas.............................64 Harvest thanksgiving.....................65 A Key Stage 1 assembly by Esther Bailey Contents
Introduction Helen Franklin Plans for the summer holiday club were under way when the organisers went to the Church Mission Committee. We re running the holiday club in August; what are you going to do after it to help families to get involved in church? What they did was to organise a series of social events on Saturday evenings that allowed the families whose children had come to the club to have ongoing contact with church people at regular intervals throughout the year. During the holiday club, someone videoed the events and edited the film down to a watchable length; a couple of weeks later this was shown at an evening event for families. As well as the video, they served food, reminded the children of the Bible input from the week, sang some of the songs, and at the end of the evening were able to say, It s our Harvest Supper in five weeks time; tickets are on sale tonight. At the Harvest Supper they invited families to come to the bonfire in November and at that occasion they were told about the Christmas party, and so on, all throughout the year, up to the next holiday club. The Mission Committee did their job well! Events such as these are a great way to build friendships between the church family and the families of children who attend holiday clubs or other events, but are otherwise unconnected with the church. The emphasis needs to be on building relationships that are about genuine friendship, but of course we want these relationships to become, as one evangelist put it, bridges strong enough for Jesus to walk across. The aim of Celebrations Sorted is to offer you ideas for using the key seasonal events during the year to connect with the children, young people and families in your local community. You ll find ideas for assemblies, crafts, prayers, talks and for friendship-building social events. The events will stand on their own in helping families who are otherwise unconnected with church to begin to feel that they have friends there and that it is a community where they are welcome and to which they can belong. But there will usually come a time in a relationship where it is right to talk about Jesus, as well as to show him through love and care. So along with the social events are outlines for all-age services on that same theme. This can be advertised at the social event: Tomorrow morning we ll be celebrating again when we meet at 10.30; everyone s welcome then too! (Perhaps explain a little of what they might expect.) These should continue to run whether or not anyone new ever comes to them; you can be sure that the week that you don t do it, someone will come! We are easily downhearted if something doesn t work straight away, yet it can take a long time for a family to move from social event to coming on Sunday too. But if they get used to hearing about the services then they will probably feel more inclined to accept the invitation as time goes by, and a general invitation can be followed up by an individual one from a friendly family. The whole church needs to have a vision for what can be achieved, so they enter into them by praying for them, by coming to them and by making friends with new people who come. It might help to remind the congregation how it feels to go somewhere new, especially where you don t know what the behaviour code is. Going to church can be a daunting experience, even for a social event. Be ready to accept people as they are; they need to feel that they belong straight away. Believing and behaving (ie in Christian ways) can come later! You may not be happy about the way they live, about the language they use, about their marital status or other issues, but those are for Jesus to deal with when a relationship with him is developing. Although we want to make the most of opportunities to talk about Jesus, it is fine to have events that are very low-key in what is said about him. (You may even have some that don t even have any Christian content other than the people who are there!) If people are invited to a social event then that is what they expect to get. A couple of the event outlines include an optional something to make people think but these are relevant and very short. Where they go in the evening is often crucial; you may want people to remember what is said but at the end is not always the best place. You want them to go home feeling good about it all and happy to come back again. This good feeling is often generated by people feeling safe and at home, so think carefully about how you end an evening. Language is so important! Remember to keep it free from church or Christian jargon, both at a social event and during a service. Explain what you want people to do (stand, sit, join in, listen) even if everyone there seems to know what what to do. It will help the whole church to become more user-friendly for those who rarely use it! Got the idea? Then get going: everyone s welcome! Introduction 5
Happy! An all-age party outline by Vicki Warwick Introduction This is a great way to celebrate the beginning of the new year with people of all ages, including those who don t regularly go to church. The first sections have some ideas for God bits. These are designed to be low-key and easily accessible to people who aren t familiar or comfortable with church. First choose how you intend to use these ideas, then build the party aspects listed below around these. Don t be afraid of them even if you are inviting many non-churched people. We all have a need in our lives for spiritual activities, and it is the role of the church to help people grow in this area. It will help people to take part in these activities if they see others participating. You will need to start this off perhaps with five or six people who are part of the organising group for your party adding their own thanks, sorry and hopes before people arrive. It may also be good to prime or encourage people in your church who you know will feel comfortable taking part to do so during the party to break the ice. Make sure you keep it exciting by doing the usual party things including giving people invitations, decorating the room or building you are using, and having food, drinks and music available all evening. You might want to invite someone to be the DJ, or even invite a local band to play a few sets during the evening. Invitations can be easily designed and printed onto good quality card, if you cannot afford to print them professionally. Make sure you include the date, venue location, time and an email and phone number to call for more information about the party. Encourage church members to take handfuls of invites to give to friends, family, neighbours and people they meet at the bus stop! You d be amazed how many people appreciate a personal invite to a party for new year, as it is a time when many can be alone. As you decide what activities you will include in your party, it is worth thinking about budget and whether you want to sell tickets or hold a free event. If you want your event to be free, it s useful to identify people in your fellowship who may be interested in taking responsibility for organising certain aspects of the party, eg food, decorations, music. God bits Thanks to God Have a big board where people can thank God for good things from the past year. You might like to put the following verse on the wall: Every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father... (James 1:17) and put the words Thank you, God in huge block letters, cut out from coloured paper, on which people can write people, places, words, new things, old things enjoyed, holidays, trips, and anything else good from this year they would like to thank God for. Encourage everyone who comes in to put something on it, making sure there are some things on there when people arrive so no one has to be first. You could even give people Postit notes and a marker pen as they arrive and let them know they can write whatever they want to thank God for and stick it onto the Thank you, God letters. Encourage people, including children, to decorate the display by providing pens, glitter, paper streamers and the like. You might want to formally dedicate this thanks together to God at some point in the evening. You could do this by reading out some of the things people have written and singing a song of thanks, such as I give thanks from the Great Big God CD. For a more secular but celebratory song, you could use Celebrate good times by Kool and the Gang. To keep this time informal, encourage people to ask each other what they have given thanks for. This way people get to thank God as part of their ordinary conversations. Sorry In addition to the good things to thank God for, most people will have not so good things they would like to leave behind. These may be things we regret doing or saying, people we ve hurt, things we ve not done, difficult times at work or school, relationships which have been hard work. You could have a quiet area of the room, or a separate room where people can sit quietly, thinking about these things. Have quiet music playing in this area, and provide pens, paper and a paper shredder. You could have a big poster with the year written on it in big numbers, or have candles in the shape of the numbers of this year lighted. Encourage people to write the things they would like to leave on pieces of paper provided. They can then spend a few 6
Happy! minutes talking to God about them and shredding them to represent them staying in the past and not coming with them into the new year. Alternatively, you could have a sorry poster. Encourage people to own up or put their hand up to things this year which they regret by adding their hand print or outline to the poster. This keeps the whole thing communal but also discreet. Have the poster displayed with a verse about all of us having done things we shouldn t, such as: All of us were like sheep that had wandered off. We had each gone our own way, but the LORD gave him the punishment we deserved. Isaiah 53:6 Or: All of us have sinned and fallen short of God s glory. But God treats us much better than we deserve, and because of Christ Jesus, he freely accepts us and sets us free from our sins. Romans 3:23,24 Or Don t let sin keep ruling your lives. You are ruled by God s kindness... Romans 6:14 Have a written prayer of repentance for people to use if they choose, such as: God, I m sorry that I made mistakes this year and that I hurt people. I know that I also hurt you. I give you these things and ask that because of Jesus you will forgive me and give me the power to live differently in the coming year. If you want to have a corporate time of being sorry, you could use this prayer: have everyone stand with their hands cupped in front of them imagining all the things they want to leave in the last year in their hands. As you say the prayer, they can offer these to God silently and then spread their fingers to represent God having taken them and their hands now being empty. Hopes and dreams The new year is a great time to think about the year ahead and to have new hope for the good things still to come in our lives. Having thanked God for the good and left the bad behind, partygoers now have a chance to think big and dream about the future. Children are especially good at this so make sure they are included and that the adults are encouraged to follow their example. You could centre this time around the verse: His power at work in us can do far more than we dare ask or imagine. Ephesians 3:20 This is the easiest God bit to do corporately. Get people into groups of three or four and ask them to tell each other what good things they hope will happen this year. These could be personal things, or world things. After three minutes, read the verse again and encourage them to hope and dream, as God is listening to them and he can do more than we ask or imagine. Get them to share again in their groups. Depending on your participants, you might want to do this two or three times, repeating the verse each time. Stop the groups again, and, if appropriate, ask people to share their hope in the form of a prayer, using the verse: God, I know that you can do more than I ask or imagine, and I ask that this year you will Party bits Food Make sure you have an estimate of the number of people who will come so there is enough food. Spare bags of crisps and cartons of drink never go amiss. It s easiest to choose food which isn t messy and can be eaten without cutlery. For example, sausage rolls, crisps, carrot and celery sticks with dips, cherries, chocolates. However, if you start your party earlier for families with young children to join in, you may want more substantial food. Be aware of allergies, avoiding products containing nuts, labelling food and having some food without milk or wheat in it. Of course, have drinks (and cups) available too. Glasses are available to rent free from many large supermarkets with a small fee if you return them dirty. Unless you have a dedicated washing-up team, this may prove an eco-friendly option to throwing away loads of disposable cups. If you choose to serve alcohol, be aware that many non-churchgoers are used to new year being a time of over-drinking. We would recommend that you stick to soft drinks to avoid difficult situations. People hunt A good way to get people circulating is to have a people scavenger hunt. Give everyone a list of people to find, and challenge them to get the 7
Happy! signature of someone in each category. They can only have someone sign their paper once! You can use your own categories, but here s a few to get you started: Find someone who Has two middle names Is an age which ends in zero Has two brothers Can t swim Has been to France this year Can roll their tongue Can do a headstand Is wearing red Has less hair than their dad Doesn t own a mobile phone Review the year Print off 12 photographs of events from the year, one from each month. Put the photos up around the room with a challenge to see if people can work out which month each event happened. This is something which could be done as people arrive, eat and chat. Make sure you label the photos with a letter and give people paper to write the letters in the correct order. Alternatively, you could use these as a team game, giving each team a set of 12 photos and seeing which team can first put them in order. A new Pass the parcel If you have some idea how many people are coming, you can make a split Pass the parcel. This is where you start with 32 small gifts wrapped. You then wrap these in pairs in the next layer of wrapping, giving you 16 parcels. The next layer should be around those gifts again, but the next layer should group these in pairs again, leaving you with eight parcels (see diagram). These are wrapped singly, then in pairs again, giving four parcels. Repeat this until you have one parcel. When playing, you pass the parcel as normal, stopping and unwrapping one layer when the music stops. However, when there are two parcels inside, you can pass one to your left and one to the right. Starting with 32 gifts and wrapping as described should mean you need to stop the music around ten times, giving 93 opportunities to unwrap a gift! and for the musical games. Here s a few: Musical chairs Sit down on a chair when the music stops. Remove at least one chair each time, more if you have a large group. Musical statues Stand completely still when the music stops. To make this more fun you can call out types of Christmas statues people should be, eg reindeer (hands like antlers), Mary holding Jesus (hold an imaginary baby). Musical islands Stand on a piece of Christmas paper when the music stops. (Ask people to bring their old wrappings!) Fold the paper in half each time so there is less space to stand on. Midnight You may want to have a fake midnight at around ten if you have many young families. Otherwise, you can assume your party climax will be at midnight. Your midnight activity could be one of the corporate ideas mentioned in the God bits. For example, you could have your Hopes and dreams item at this point, ending in a celebration countdown. You could also see who has found the most people in the People hunt game, give a prize then have your countdown to midnight. You might want to use the radio or television to do your countdown. If so, you need to have a big screen and sound system wired up so everyone can see and/or hear. You may find it helps people to tell them what you are going to do on the count of midnight. For example, people could raise their glass in a toast, and say Happy! We look forward to all the good things God has for us in [new year]. Whatever you do, make sure you have fun! Jesus loves a party! 8 Other party games to play While adults may be happy to just chat and eat, children tend to find this boring, so have a range of party games adults and children can play together. Remember to have some suitable (Christmassy!) music to play in the background
activities Creative prayer idea New year blessing Jesus Christ never changes! He is the same yesterday, today and for ever. Hebrews 13:8 You will need small calendar, copies of prayer, card, glitter, sticky shapes, glue, hole punch, ribbon, sticky tape In advance, buy a number of the small calendars that are designed to hang under a photograph or painting. Give the children a copy of the prayer below and encourage them to colour an attractive border or stick glitter and shapes around the edge of the text. Paste the prayer onto a sheet of stiff card and punch two holes in the top so that you can thread a length of ribbon through to make a loop. Fix a calendar under each prayer and encourage the children to give this new year blessing to a special friend or relation. Smiles and prayers This would work well at the end of a s Eve party. You will need sheets of smiley stickers, enough for one sheet per person Give everyone a small sheet of smiley stickers, and encourage them to go round wishing each other Happy! and giving people a sticker as a token of their greeting, or prayers for them in the coming year. If you have a local venue where people gather at new year, for example, the local clock tower, you could get your party to go out and give smiley stickers to people in that gathering, wishing them God s best for the coming year. In this coming year I pray that: God s love will surround you, God s wisdom will guide you, God s word will teach you, And God s ear will hear you. Amen. 9