I’m pretty passionate about All Age Worship – you’ll find some stuff on the baptism and Holy Communion resources pages that are specifically for children, but the documents on this page are about some of the thinking behind them.
Not sure how well the weird diagrams come across when you just read them off the page, but they’re offered here in case they’re any use!
Here’s a paper I wrote on improvisation and interactivity in all age preaching – about doing theology together in an embodied way, and trusting the congregation and God to come up with something more profound than if we, as preachers, assume that we already have the answer. You can read it here: Improvisation and Enacting Theology in All Age Worship
Here are some tips for planning and leading All Age worship, which I put together for a seminar at Westcott House, Cambridge:
Westcott House – Planning All Age Worship
Westcott House – Planning All Age Worship – mind map
Here is a set of Eucharistic texts adapted to be accessible to younger children and families to sing to the tune Kum ba yah:
kum_ba_yah_communion_music
Meanwhile, here are some short prefaces for use with Additional Eucharistic Prayer Two:
CANDLEMAS
You give us Jesus,
the light of the world,
to gather up the hopes and fears
of all the years,
and to make all your promises come true.
THINKING DAY
(This is a Brownie thing, for those who were wondering what it’s got to do with the church year – it’s towards the end of February, and might come up for a church parade service)
You give us opportunities
to learn and share, and grow
in kindness and humanity,
united with our sisters [and brothers]
across the world.
ST GEORGE’S DAY
You give us saints
to walk ahead of us
on the path of faith;
You give us courage and hope
for difficult times,
and the sign of the cross
to show that we are yours.
PENTECOST
You send your Spirit
to be our breath of life,
to fill our words and actions
with your amazing love,
and to make us a blessing for all the world.
TRINITY SUNDAY
You are deeper and broader and higher
than we can understand:
yet you welcome us
to sit at your table
and to share the wonderful mystery of your love.
more coming soon…. if you have an occasion that requires a preface and you don’t feel confident about writing your own, let me know and I’ll see what I can do.
If you’ve written one, and you’re happy to share, please do post it in a comment and I’ll happy to archive it here so others can benefit.
reverendally.org 