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Collective Worship

Tuning the Five Stringed Harp

We need to use all our senses - the five stringed harp- if we are to be really involved in worship.

Here are some suggestions... if you have more which you would like to add, please get in touch.

SIGHT

  1. Are the children facing the right way (is the sun in their eyes? Are they distracted by movement outside?)
  2. A cloth pinned or hung against the wall behind you provides a clear backdrop , or the children could make banners - different for different occasions or times of year.
  3. A table at the front might hold a candle, flowers and something which will be used or referred to during worship - something relating to the story you will be telling perhaps . You don't need to explain why it is there - let the children puzzle about it as they come in.
  4. If you use an OHP for words of songs, you could put a picture on it for the children to look at as they come in . I have also sometimes put a question or a word on it for them to think about, which I then use as a starting point for worship. "If you could be somewhere else right now, where would you be? " for a session on special places, for example. Pictures can also be used during worship, of course, to illustrate a story , or focus reflection. Be careful, especially with smaller children that the pictures don't distract from what you are saying. Use one or two pictures rather than a constantly changing array.
  5. If you are leading the worship, sit still while the children come in. If you sit still and look at them, rather than rushing around doing last minute bits of setting up , or having conversations with other teacher, you will help to create an atmosphere of stillness.

HEARING

  1. Be aware of the acoustics of your worship space. If is basically a sports hall it probably sounds like one - echoing and hard. Curtains soften the sound a bit, but there may be little you can do about this. If you find there is always a background chat during worship it may not be that your children are bad at being quiet but that the surroundings are amplifying the noise to irritating levels. There is no easy answer to this except to try to create an expectation that they will be quiet when others are contributing.
  2. Be aware of background noises...chat from outside the hall, noises from the kitchen. Ask people to respect the fact that this is a special time, and make sure they know when you are involved in worship.
  3. What do the children hear when they come into the worship space. You can use music - live or recorded - or silence, but it needs to be different from the normal noise of school life. I often find that teachers are carrying on conversations with the children in the same tone of voice and volume as in the classroom, so the children don't pick up the message that this is a different time.
    As far as possible be sparing in your speech , create an expectant hush!
  4. If you are using music as the children come and go, what kind will it be? You can tie it in with the theme - a story from China might need Chinese music (this also helps introduce a bit of multicultural experience) , a theme of hope might need hopeful music, like Copland's Appalachian Spring. If the music is chosen by someone else or is just randomly selected, try to liaise to make sure that it is suitable. I remember one school where, every time I went in, they seemed to be playing "The Ride of the Valkyries". I'm not sure how this was supposed to tie in with the worship, and I didn't like to ask!
  5. Sometimes recorded background music is counter productive. There is so much background music around - in supermarkets etc. - that children often just screen it out. They may just talk louder to compete with it! Live music - perhaps a favourite song they can join in with as they come in might be better.
  6. Music in collective worship doesn't just have to mean hymns and songs. I often use a short piece of music during a time for reflection. It needs to be carefully chosen - not too long, and of the right type. I have built up a collection of thematic CDs over the years - exciting music, peaceful music etc. There are many of these in the shops. I try to give the children some imaginative way into listening to them . "Mozart's concerto for flute and harp sounds like a freezing winter day - can you see the icicles as you listen to it."
  7. I have sometimes used a chime bar to lead us into silence. Hit it and listen to the note dying away.

SMELL

  1. What does the space in which you worship smell like? The natural smell of the place is a part of our awareness of it. Perhaps smell could be used to recall and celebrate a day's activities. It is certainly one of the most powerful ways of prompting memories.
  2. What can you smell if you open the windows of the place where you worship? What is the smell of the season - autumn leaves? spring blossom? If all you can smell are traffic fumes, that might prompt some thought and prayer too - not only about pollution, but about where all those people are going to!
  3. If you are going to light a candle, it might as well be a scented candle.
  4. Traditional smells found in churches include flowers and incense. (Both these can be troublesome for asthma and hay fever sufferers - though incense used sparingly is usually ok.)

TASTE

N.B - if you are going to give the children anything to eat, be careful to check that you are aware of any severe allergies.

  1. It is hard to involve all the children in a 'taste' experience, unless you are working with a small group, but it is possible to give some children a taste of something. The story of the feeding of the five thousand and the story of the Last Supper are both much more effective if some bread is actually shared in the telling of them.Many gospel stories involve food and feasting, and some real food handed out as you tell them brings them alive.
  2. Christian worship centres around a shared meal. Sharing food can be a form of worship in itself. How about making a feast together as a class group - some preparing food, some making decorations etc. and telling stories about food, like the Last Supper, or the Great Banquet (Luke 14.16-24)
  3. Thinking about and sharing food leads naturally into thinking and praying for those who are hungry. It is right to celebrate and enjoy food . In both the Old and New Testaments the kingdom and rule of God are characterised by plenty - the land of milk and honey, the crops which will be harvested and enjoyed, the feast in the kingdom of heaven. It is basic to our celebration of the sense of taste that we work to make sure everyone can have a share the good things God gives.

TOUCH

  1. The sense of touch is not just mediated through the hands. We use our whole body to feel. What does it feel like to sit in your worship space? If the children are sitting on the floor how comfortable are they? Adult congregations find that hard pews make concentration difficult. It is no surprise if children fidget on the hard floor.
  2. How hot/cold is the worship space?
  3. Posture and action are a part of our sense of touch - giving a sense of our physicality. Think about the way in which sitting, standing, holding out empty hands, or putting hands together gives a different emphasis and connection when praying.
  4. There may be some element of your worship which lends itself to touch - especially in small groups. Stories about sheep are brought alive by a piece of sheepskin to feel. Bread can be really broken, water touched (churches often have water which has been blessed which people dip their fingers into and cross themselves with) etc.