Ideas for communities

A luncheon club in a Lincolnshire village invited those who wanted to stay behind after the lunch for a short time of spiritual nourishment. (“Don’t feel uncomfortable if you have to get away,” they said)

• They gathered round a table,
• lit a candle,
• played some music,
• read a gospel story about Jesus,
• had a short period of silence to pray to God as they understood God (or to have positive thoughts for a person or situation), and
• finished with a blessing.
• 10-15 minutes max.

Why not add Soulspace (or something like it) to an existing outreach activity among people who do not normally attend your church - eg a coffee morning, a food larder, a bereavement group?

• Go to: cofe.io/soulspace, which contains all the resources you need.
• A few clicks and you are ready to go!

Bubble Church

• Mainly for families with children under 7.
• 30 minutes of action songs, a Bible story and the chance to watch puppets perform something that explains a little about the Christian faith.
• Coffee, croissants and children’s refreshments before or after.
• Consult: bubblechurch.org 

Forest Church

• For those wanting deeper connection with God, nature and other people.
• In the Summer meet outside in a churchyard, garden, park etc.
• Activities encourage use of all our senses - eg walk through nature, stopping every-so-often to comment on what you see, feel, hear and smell; thank God for these experiences; reflect on the spiritual significance of what’s around you and turn it into prayer; read a relevant Bible passage (eg Psalm 19. 1-4).
• In Winter, meet inside a building and explore Christian spirituality through themes from nature - the season of the year, what animals and plants are doing at this time of year,  plant seeds or arrange stones in a particular shape, use photographs of nature to inspire prayers, explore ecological themes like climate change.
• Read Bruce Stanley, Forest Church: A Field Guide to a Spiritual Connection with Nature.

Lego Church

• For those who enjoy Lego.
• Needs lots of Lego bricks.
• Welcome and News (“Anyone want to share something they’ve been doing since we last met?”).
• Read or tell a Bible story.
• Invite groups to model an aspect of the story.
• Optional extra: for those not into Lego, invite them to act out the story, or to draw/paint it, or to discuss it in groups (“If the story happened today, what would it look like?” “What’s the story saying to you?”).
• Share what the groups have made/done.
• Ask what the story is saying to people.
• Prayer.
• Refreshments - eg bring-and-share.

Messy Church

• For families and for churches with the creative resources to do something more elaborate than Legov Church.
• Craft activities on a Biblical theme.
• Bible story.
• Prayer.
• Shared meal.
• Consult: messychurch.brf.org.uk

Add Bed-time Church to any of the above

• Every Tuesday evening (say) host by Zoom “Bed-time story with Aunty Jane or Uncle John.”
• Welcome and News (“Has anything exciting happened since we last met?”)
• Read or tell a Bible story.
• Ask for people’s thoughts about the story (eg “If you had been one of the disciples, what would you have thought?”)
• Invite several people to answer “If Jesus was here now, what would you say to him?. Invite everyone to say “Amen.”
• Everyone gives a “Good night” wave.
• Max. 15 minutes.

You have a church building and the custom of meeting for worship on Sunday. So why not start Breakfast Church on Sunday morning?

• Provide tea and coffee, pastries, refreshments for children, maybe some board games and other activities for the children, newspapers for adults. Create a cafe experience for 20-25 minutes.
• Then use Soulspace (cofe.io/soulspace) to welcome people, light a candle, play some music, read a passage from Scripture, have a short silence to “pray to God as you understand God or have positive thoughts for a person or situation”, and conclude with a blessing (10-15 minutes).
• Soulspace contains all the resources you need in just a few clicks. It also has suggestions for how to deepen the worship with discussion questions that are suitable for all ages.
• Or else use other worship resources - they are plenty on the Web!

You could do Tea-time Church in a similar way, perhaps ending up with a bring-and-share meal.

Dinner Church/Community meals

• Decide who you want to serve - people who are older, have disabilities, are out of work or homeless, live in the neighborhood etc.
• Meal could be lunch, afternoon tea or in the evening.
• Food could be bought, supplied by church members, or provided via a “Cookery Workshop” (grow people’s cooking skills as they gather in advance to prepare the meal).
• Enjoy the food!
• Add an optional spiritual extra during or after the meal. Use/adapt Soulspace (cofe.io/soulspace) or other resources.
• Watch Steve’s video: godsend.cloud/stories-ch1-steve

• Consult: dinnerchurch.com

Coffee in the Living Room is a joint venture between a local church and a medical practice.

• Around 60 patients gather in the church hall on Thursday mornings refreshments, board games and chat.
• A community nurse is available for advice, and a team offers optional prayer.
• Patients feel better because they are less lonely. So they make fewer visits to the practice.

Choose your focus - eg crafts in general, a particular craft, walking, sports, a book group, photography.

• Gather people who don’t normally attend church who share your interest.
• Get together to agree what you’ll do, how often etc.
• Enjoy your activity!
• Add an optional spiritual extra at the end (or discreetly during the meeting). Use Soulspace (cofe.io/soulspace) or another resource.

Examples:

• A young adult loved cycling. His partner was less into it, but she and some friends arranged food for when they returned. Add in Soulspace and you might have had the beginning of a new worshipping community.
• Christine started a knitting church. Women gathered to knit prayer blankets to give away. A short “thought for the day” gave the women something to think about and proved popular.
• A youth worker hung out with young people in the gym and then in the cafe. As relationships deepened, might “Pizza and Life” have been a next step (see below)?
• Why not start a film club “with a difference” among your neighbors? Watch a video one evening, a week later discuss it over a bring-and-share meal “from an ethical and spiritual standpoint”, and conclude with “spiritual reflection” using Soulspace.
• Read: Barbara Glasson, Mixed-up Blessing, 2006, an account of the first Bread Church, which was still meeting in 2023!

Choose your focus - eg modern slavery, the environment, poverty.

• Use your contacts and social media to reach others who share your concern.
• Get together to share ideas, fix regular meetings and plan some action. Eg a group of men met to clean up their neighborhood. In the pub afterwards they discussed how to “clean up their lives” as fathers, partners and at work.
• As part of these meetings, explore spirituality to resource the group - eg by using or adapting Soulspace (cofe.io/soulspace) or other resources.
• Just Church began with people writing letters on behalf of Amnesty International. These letters were enacted prayers.
• A village ecology group met monthly, planned local initiatives, and concluded with a short Bible reading on a relevant theme and silent prayer.

WAVE Church (‘We’re all valued equally’) is an inspiring example.

See “The Wave Church story” - godsend.cloud/wave-church

Minecraft Church

• Gather young people together with their iPads, laptops etc.
• Provide plenty of snacks!
• Chat together as you all play Minecraft.
• If topics arise with a spiritual dimension (eg anger, jealousy, the need to forgive), invite the young people to model it in Minecraft. (They will have ideas!)
• Conclude with a short period of spiritual headspace. Use/adapt Soulspace (cofe.io/soulspace) or other resources.
• Consult: http://www.minecraftchurch.uk/

“Pizza and Life”

• Gather young people around Pizza.
• Include “Conversation with a difference” - select a topic of interest to the whole group, and talk about it. (Let the young people choose the topic.) Watch the 1 1/2 minute video at: sharingjesus.life/discussing.
• One youth worker set out two tables: one with the name of a popular TV programme (eg Love Island) and another with the name of a celebrity. Teenagers gathered around their preferred table.
• Then ask: “Imagine God or a spiritual guru dropped in. What would they say about the topic?”
• After the meal discuss a gospel story about Jesus, using some of the questions in Soulspace (cofe.io/soulspace).
• Close with prayer (using Soulspace or another resource). Or, take it in turns for each person to describe a high or low spot since they last met. Invite two young people to join you in praying for the person immediately after they have shared.
• Consult: sharingjesus.life/discussing