Top 5s A tentative beginning to 2011

Although I have a few days holidays left I am beginning to think about 2011 and beyond and enjoy blogging and gearing up for things. I also wrenched my left knee last week so I am doing plenty of lounge surfing and TV catch ups... so this is a good diversion... In 2011 I plan to include a sporadic post of Top 5s to encapsulate resource ideas, thoughts, leadership or some other musing around ministry with young people, culture & context, mission or whatever comes along... kicking off today as I was reminded of an article in our Youth Unit 'MESH' magazine about 'Resources which can change the world' e.g. a pair of rolled up socks for instance.... the article talks about games they can facilitate

TOP 5 Worship Ideas

1. Worship should reflect the missional context, culture and presence of the participants so a Top 5 list will always need to be tested by those parameters rather than just being a list you steal

2. Engaging responses through: grafitti wall; post it notes; taking symbolic cards; dropping a pinch of sparkler powder in a bowl of lit metho soaked clay based kitty litter [be very careful as metho causes severe burns and requires risk assessment and planning alongside competent supervision and practices]; choosing a red or blue jelly bean; taking an orange card and blue card for 2 different responses to remember; creative writing; photo reflections; artwork etc etc

3. Newspaper Prayers with clippings or full copies asking individuals, pairs or groups:

- what's the story?

- what's the story behind the story or what questions does it ask?

- therefore what should we pray for/about?

- how might we act locally to make a difference globally in light of these issues?

4. Brown paper lunch bags, a handful of sand and tealight candles. Making sure they are clear of the bag, these make great instant outdoor lanterns or worship space ambience creators. They can light a path or mark a journey as well.

5. Playback Theatre has been on my wishlist for worship and Bible Study with groups for years. Recently we made time for it twice at our national youth event by selecting a troupe of punters as 'players' who at session end were given 2 minutes to design a skit which demonstrated what they had learnt or experienced in that time.... worked really well and created an immediacy and participation

Perhaps I'll include a resource/book/website idea outside the 5

'The Art of Curating Worship: Reshaping the role of the worship leader' Mark Pierson is a must read I will blog about seperately another day soon... read about it here at this great new website