A crib service

[please bear with me as I come to grips with a new photo editor!] 

Today our congregation held a Christmas carol service. It was broadly inspired by the traditional Anglican service of lessons and carols, but having had an Advent lessons and carols service already earlier in December, Vandriver designed this one around the Christmas story itself. And I, thinking of Berryman's "Children's Liturgy for Christmas Eve" (and of English "crib" services), asked for a table at the back of the chapel to be set up with a purple underlay on it.

Earlier in the week, and again before the service, I explained to children my plan to carry Holy Family figures from "the Advent table" to the altar during our congregational carols. I said they'd be welcome to help me if they wanted.

At first nobody wanted to help. This was something entirely new to them, so I was prepared for the possibility that they might find the idea overwhelming. During our opening hymn I myself brought a sheep and the cow / ox to the altar. 

But during the second carol, after the reading of the Annunciation to Joseph, I was joined, not for the procession down the aisle but at the altar, by the oldest child present (aged 7). Together we placed Mary and Joseph on the altar.

After the reading of Mary's visit to Elizabeth I carried the donkey to the altar, and after the reading of the birth of Jesus, the same child and I brought forward the manger and infant Christ. Next I brought the second sheep and the shepherd. After the reading about the presentation of Jesus in the temple, "seethroughfaith" and I carried the Baptismal dove (in this case representing one of two doves presented as a sacrifice) and a candle (a light to lighten the Gentiles) up to the altar. 

Then it was time for the Christmas Gospel - John 1:1-14. Following this, the child was ready to carry up the figure of the Risen Christ, unbound by time or space. 

We did not have a reading about the magi, since they will arrive "late" (as Berryman has it), which is to say next week. But still, during the closing music, the child and I fetched the magi figures, the last standing on the Advent table. As we walked forward I offered one to another child, who had up until now gently declined any offers to participate. 

This time, it was accepted. 

On the other hand, the child below (aged only 4) continued to decline to join in. Which was also fine! We happened to leave church together so I was able to give this child a little hug and say, I don't really mind whether you carry things up to the front with us or not. The important thing to me is that you were here! 

After all, as I said to the child's mother as we walked along, we don't force all adult congregants to read Scripture or lead intercessions. Why should children be required to take public roles in the service? 

And as we approached the crosswalk, that child (the 4-year-old) took my hand.

Christmas greetings, wherever and however you are

In my last post I left out one Wondering question. Yes, I did ask all four. And the third was the only one that got answered. (Often it can be the other way around!) 

I wonder which part of the Advent lesson we could leave out, and still have all the story we need?

One of the adults suggested we could leave out the journey to Bethlehem. I nodded and asked whether Mary and Joseph had really had to go to Bethlehem. This gave one child the opportunity to raise their hand very high, volunteering an answer, which was, Yes because they had to write their names in the book. Ok, there was a census. But mightn't it have been even better if there hadn't been any census?

pointing (like the prophet's hand) to the space for "the journey to Bethlehem"

One the adults now pointed out that although Mary might not have been very happy about travelling so close to her due date, perhaps Joseph did want to go. A fair point, I suggested. It was his ancestral homeland. There are people in this congregation who would like to be celebrating Christmas in their ancestral homelands. 

Given that one of the families present had just cancelled a trip "home" due to illness, this was pretty close to the bone. One child (from a different family) matter-of-factly explained that their non-Finnish parent had a trip planned, although it was still some months away. 

It felt good to me to get some of that acknowledged. 

So some of us are travelling and wish we weren't, while others are not travelling and wish we were. Some are glad to be at home and some are glad to be far away. Some are lonely, some are seeking a moment's peace. Some are at work, some are at war. 

Our faith is that Jesus is with us in all our circumstances: Emmanuel. 

May you be aware of his presence this Christmas.

Fourth Advent

After three weeks of Advent observed in three different countries, today I was back in Finland. As I did on Second Advent, I presented the Godly Play lesson to the whole congregation. I encouraged adults to move further forward for this, and on the floor in front of me I had a familiar group of four children. 

It's a long post today. It's a long lesson! Berryman says, "Do not minimize or rush the story," but realistically speaking it is often going to be the case that one has to shorten it a little, especially the parts you've told before. This can be done, however, without rushing and without trivializing them. 

So I reviewed the season of Advent, with its purple color (seen on our altar / focal shelf but not on our pulpit fall, which is always black), and the need to get ready to enter or come close to a Mystery. I reviewed the prophets, who we remember on First Advent, and the Holy Family on the Road to Bethlehem from Second Advent. Then I told the story of the shepherds watching over their flocks by night, who were blinded by a dazzling light. 

Once again, I am grateful to a mother who took an amazing number of photos with my ipad during the telling. And now, I notice how much detritus there is about us in the photo. The children were "playing and praying" both before and after this lesson. In fact, some found it very difficult to tear themselves away from what they were working on when I asked them to come listen. 

Looking through the pictures, though, it was striking how much of the time all of the children were really intent upon the story. One child lay down, but was watching and listening.

Did you notice in the first photos that the candles were already lit? That was one of the first things that happened in the service today. Not only that, but the candles were introduced according to the readings in the Revised Common Lectionary, which is a very different system from the one that Godly Play follows. The Godly Play ordering was used in American Protestant liturgical churches for decades, long before they adopted the RCL. (The RCL's system surely has long roots elsewhere.)

I was not too bothered either by the fact that the candles were introduced with different symbolism or that they were already lit. I just mentioned once or twice, without making a very big deal about it, that there are different systems in use. And after telling the stories and placing the figures onto my underlay, I lifted down the candles one by one, and placed them by the figures. 

Today I used the Sacred Story questions for Wondering. I wonder which part of the Advent story you like best. You can say out loud if you want, but you don't have to. Nobody has to answer. Nobody did answer. 

I wonder what part of the Advent story you think is the most important. Thoughtful looks, but no words. 

I wonder where you are in the Advent story. Or where you are in terms of getting ready for the Mystery of Christmas. Are you ready for Christmas? Maybe you feel like the wise men - like you'll probably be late! Maybe you feel like you're shivering in the cold night air, trying to stay awake to keep the sheep safe... or maybe you can hear the song of the angels. 

I'm afraid I got rather long-winded. A budding preacher, that's what I am! 

Sometimes there are women who feel a lot like Mary during Advent, because they too are expecting a baby! You might feel like the prophets, that you know what is important but you fear that people aren't listening, and that it's going to take years and years and years before what's supposed to happen does happen. I wonder where you are on the road to Bethlehem.

And then once again I asked the children to snuff out the candles change the light. I liked doing it this way, although it occurs to me that it might be a bad precedent to do it this way too often. I might not be able to go back to doing it myself. [I also realized, and said, that the service leader would probably want to re-light them for the rest of the service, once we'd gone back to "playing and praying".]

And then I began to put things away. Even without taking the Holy Family back up to the altar (in case a child wanted to work with it), there was a lot to put away. It took time. 

But look. Although one child has (understandably) turned away, at least two children watched intently right through to the very end. 

Third Advent

(I'm posting this from Stockholm Arlanda airport, and having a little trouble with editing. One photo is missing and the font keeps changing. I probably won't manage to fix those things before Tuesday!)

Today I was in Madrid, on my way back from a conference in Andalucia to Finland. Vandriver found me a hotel right around the corner from St George's Anglican Church. Although I had not found time to let anyone know I'd be coming, I recognized a fellow ordinand and he asked on my behalf if I could sit in and observe the Godly Play circle. While he was off asking, I watched a liitle boy supervise the priest's preparations for the service.

The GP team graciously allowed me to join them, even though it was an awkward Sunday. Understandably but disappointingly, their usual Godly Play room had been taken over with preparations for the Christmas Bazaar. Fortunately, they have a second, much smaller room, which they tend to use for older children. It contains a second Holy Family, and materials for enrichment lessons. So we crowded into there. We were at least 15, three adults and a dozen children. [Godly Play strongly advise against having more than two adults in the room, so I tried to minimize the adult-ness of my presence by sitting on the floor (even though I was offered a low chair), and keeping quiet.]

Their Storyteller presented the Holy Family, and then the children worked on a couple of crafts. It was simply too difficult to manage a feast, but they closed by singing and signing "Go now in peace".

Imagine a photo of a crowded room here.

(I admit I did stand up for that second picture, but by then everyone was absorbed in their work.)

There were some potentially frustrating moments. (We all have those!) The story got interrupted several times, and it was hard to maintain an atmosphere of listening with wonder. When Storyteller invited all the children to help put the figures back where they belonged, even though she did this in an orderly fashion, working around the circle, one by one, these figures got knocked over when three boys at once tried to help put Mary away. 

There were also some sweet moments. When the Storyteller introduced Mary, the mother, one child clapped quietly. 

There's a line in the script about many nativity sets being too fragile for children to be allowed to play with, but reassuring children that this one is for their use. The Storyteller said that line towards the end of her telling, shortly before the Wondering. Almost right away, a child asked to hold the Risen Christ figure. 

Thank you very much, St George's!

Second Advent

We had a Service of the Word yesterday (no Holy Communion), and the whole congregation got a "sermon" suitable for children. I laid the altar to look similar to a focal shelf. (The underlay is in fact a chalice veil!)

And I told the first two sections of the Godly Play Advent lesson. I encouraged everyone to move closer to the front for this, and almost everyone did. Only one adult chose to sit on the floor, though. 

All our (Finnish Lutheran) lectionary readings had themes of Waiting &/or Getting Ready, so we wanted this lesson to lead into a meditative time of singing the Taizé chant, "Wait for the Lord". For that reason, I swapped the order of the script a little, talking about the need to get ready for the Mystery of Christmas after I had presented the two plaques. 

It took three tries to "change the light" of the second candle. This child found it hard to WAIT long enough for the flame to die beneath the snuffer. 

(Many thanks to his mother, for taking most of these photographs!)

I've added some old Christmas cards to the art supplies we have on hand. (Several of them were donated to our cause by congregants last winter!) 

Happy New [liturgical] Year!

We visited my parents' church today. They had purple and pink Advent candles in the Sunday School / Fellowship group session, and red ones in the worship service. The "baby boomers" in the Sunday School group debated whether to light the candles in a circular pattern (which is what I had assumed was the only way), or in the shape of a cross. As you can see (because the pink candle will be third), the cross pattern was the one chosen.

As a Finnish resident, I was pleased that we happened to sing a Hosanna song. The song, "Hoosianna", is mandatory and loved for First Advent all across Finland. 

One of our PowerPoint slides reminded me of one of Sheila's art projects, 

and we even had a geography lesson!