St. Mary's with St. Peter's

Bury St. Edmunds

*
*
Events Manager - Jackie Crofts: 07561 334695
Church Administrator - Katie Jackson: 01284 754680
Navigate

Leading all age services

An extremely helpful resource can be found at Barnabas in Churches. Some of these ideas are taken from this website.

Confessions

1. Invite people to reflect back over the past week, to write one particular thing that they are ashamed of on a piece of paper. Then ask them to fold over the piece of paper. Say or sing the confession and declare God’s forgiveness. As a mark of that forgiveness, collect papers and burn/shred them at front. Alternatively (and this can be very powerful) nail them to a wooden cross (quoting Colossians 2:13-14)

2. Write a list of sins on a balloon. Pray the confession, and then burst the balloon

3. Make use of those sweets that begin by being bitter but become sweet

4. Write words of sins on stones in washable ink, and then place in water

5. Write words of sins on eggshell and then smash

 

Declaring our faith

1. Use one of the many responsorial creeds

2. Use a song version. A favourite is ‘Do you believe in Father God’

3. Using a festal shout: “Jesus is Lord”

 

Intercessions

1. Show pictures on screen, either from the news, or to stimulate thought and discussion and prayer in groups. Alternatively have them hold symbols of the things that you are praying for (eg. if for rain, one could hold a bowl of water)

2. Say a simple bidding prayer, and then have children light a candle – saying that we are using this as a way of asking God to bring his light into a particular situation

3. Use the song: ‘He’s got the whole world in his hands’, but changing the verses to reflect what you would wish to pray for.

4. Use the song: ‘It’s me, it’s me, it’s me O Lord, standing in the need of prayer’ but again changing the verses

5. Use a globe. Ask children to identify a country that we are about to pray for.

6. Invite people to either write or draw something for which they wish to pray and then bring the pieces of paper forward and hang them on a washing line, pin them to a cross etc

7. Use prayer stations. Have four points in the building. One to pray for the world, one for the mission of the church, one for the local church in the community and one for people in need. Invite people to write up or draw either on a sheet of paper, or on post-its

8. Use a large dice and link a prayer to each number

9. Ask people to stand up and to face in a particular direction, praying for the people or things in the particular direction they are facing. Then turn through 45 degrees to face in the next direction etc. The subjects that we pray for depend on where the church is situated and how it is laid out.