for Sunday, July 4 (Proper 9)

Do What You Can
Luke 10:5–11

The main point I draw from the Gospel reading is that, whether or not the citizens of a town are receptive to the mission, they are to be told “The realm of grace has come near” (vv 9b, 11b; bks). The only difference between one town or household and another is their willingness to accept the grace offered to them. The tools of the mission are the same in every case, suited to the task. Whether the mission succeeds is more about the targets than the message, medium, or messenger.

If you choose to talk about the message rather than the tools, you can play a game of “telephone,” perhaps using the very phrase from the reading.

Props: The greater variety and mystery of tools you can offer for consideration, the richer your discussion will be, but keep them pretty simple to understand, like a darning egg. You could start with something ­familiar, like a hammer, and then go to tools that are more mysterious.

You might also consider gathering some tools that look the same but do quite different things, such as a collection of scissors or punches for scrapbooking. A similar point is made by a collection of similar tools for different special purposes, such as the scissors shown here.

Musical ideas: Why not go back and enjoy “If I Had a Hammer” (Pete Seeger and Lee Hays, 1949 etc.)?

for Sunday, June 27 (Proper 8)

Love Yourself

Galatians 5:13–14 also (1, 15–25); 2Kings 2:1–2, 6–14 or 1Kings 19:15–16, 19–21; Psalm 77:1–2, 11–20 or Psalm 16; Luke 9:51–62

The first clause of the “Great Commandment” is second nature, but we tend to neglect the second, on which the first depends for its parameters. Love in both directions is mostly intuitive for children, but it certainly helps them to receive love as a starting point.

Any Valentines Day craft is appropriate to this Sunday’s practice. But remember to encourage both receiving love from others and (especially grownups) loving oneself.

See how long the whole group can bear to look at each other looking as sad as they can, before someone breaks into giggling and it catches. Andrew Newberg (How God Changes Your Brain, 2009 Ballantine) says, however, that laughing isn’t as effective as smiling. See his discussion of the “eighth best way to exercise your brain” (pp.151–152).

You might even do an agape feast and discuss the four different words for love in Greek. Ask participants to suggest other English words that mean “love” to them.

Props: Valentines (old and new), candies, and all things heart-shaped. If you have live access to the Internet, see http://spontaneoussmiley.com, especially the “gallery” where new-found smiles are submitted every day.

Musical ideas: “What Went Right Today” by Joan ­Buzick includes 4 American Sign Language signs to remember and use (Wx2, R, T, day) (2006 Buz-Land Presentations). A story book and other materials are available at the Buz-Land Web site.

for Sunday, June 20 (Proper 7)

Ready or Not

Isaiah 65:1–2 (3–9) Other lections: 1Kings 19:1–4 (5–7) 8–15a; Psalm 42 and 43 or Psalm 22:19–28; Galatians 3:23–29; Luke 8:26–39

The single Hebrew word that says “Here I am” throughout the Bible is a lot of fun to teach and learn: hiNENnee. You can turn it into a noncompetitive game something like “Marco Polo”:

Clear your space of obstacles and ask participants to scatter throughout it, close their eyes (no need to worry about complete shielding), and turn around three times. While they keep their eyes closed, invite them to move around until they touch another person. When they do, each should say “hinennee,” and then quietly tell each other something that is important in their lives. Pairs stay together until they can identify each other. Then they can step apart, turn three times again, and go to look for another partner.

If you have older participants or those who aren’t comfortable moving around with eyes closed, help them to find spots in the midst of the game where they can sit and wait to be stumbled upon.

After the game runs its course, you can ask participants to share some of what they learned about and from each other.

Musical ideas: Anything about light, vision, or call, from “This Little Light of Mine” to “Be Thou My Vision.” See the Timbrels Web site for a back-translation of Spanish words to “Open My Eyes” that updates the language and emphasizes light.

for Sunday, June 13 (Proper 6)

Inside Out

Galatians 2:15–21 (Christ lives in you, and you live in Christ); other lections: 1Kings 21:1–10 (11–14) 15–21a or 2Samuel 11:26–12:10, 13–15; Psalm 5:1–8 or Psalm 32; Luke 7:36–8:3

You may find yourself counting on the children to not catch a word of this reading, especially the “Jews vs. Gentiles” implications. But the last verses, about living in Christ, provide a rich jumping-off. Don’t feel too compelled to explain the metaphors to young participants; they have rich interior lives that they’re unafraid of considering.

Young participants are also less likely than older ones to be concerned about the vulnerability of exposing their interiors. This is a great moment for learning from their innocence; take care not to allow older participants to squelch it.

Props: Any lined or reversible item of clothing or bedding will help you make the point. In fact, bedding layers or a duvet may be more demonstrative than clothing. If you have something with a nice lining but that is not obviously reversible, consider wearing it inside out, at least at the start. You could even announce that this week will be “inside-out day” and invite everyone to wear something with its insides showing.

Musical ideas: “Somos el Barco” (words and music by Lorre Wyatt; 1984) uses another metaphor to make the same point, and has the great advantage of blending Spanish and English.

for Sunday, June 6 (Proper 5)

Just Enough

1Kings 17:8–16 (the widow of Zarephath)
other readings: Psalm 146, Galatians 1:11–24, Luke 7:11–17

This is a great oppor-tunity to talk about sharing and to tell stories about sharing a special treat. Allow participants to preach to each other one to one, and then maybe to tell each other’s stories to the whole group.

Props: Look for an unusual item to be packed in single servings (my favorite irony is the prunes marketed as candy-like). Or maybe more to the point, bring the same food item packed in single serving — a little packet of carrot sticks, say — and in different multiserving packages — a pound of baby carrots and a two-pound bag of full-size carrots, or a bunch with greens intact. Be wary, however, of anything commonly allergenic.

Especially if you’re using the Reynolds song, consider giving each participant a penny or two and seeing where they wind up.

Musical ideas: Malvina Reynolds’s “Magic Penny” (1955) makes a great focus for this service. You can teach it, sing it, dance it, and preach it.

for Trinity Sunday (May 30)

Names

Proverbs 8:1–4, 22–31 (Wisdom calls)
Psalm 8
Revelation 5:1–5 (2b “we boast in ... the glory of God”; 5b God’s love poured into our hearts)
John 16:12–15 (13 “‘When the Spirit of truth comes, ...’”)

The opportunities for playing with names are almost limitless. Encourage silliness as well as reverence and the concept of names reflecting relationship.

• Invite participants to share the names, titles, and nicknames used in their families and friend circles. Pet names can be an especially rich source of relationship, but be prepared for the affection-bearing putdown. It’s probably best not to allow participants to reveal the pet names of those not present, especially for young children to reveal what they’ve heard their parents call each other.
• Ask participants to share the secret names they call themselves, even if each only whispers it to one other person. Such names can found special bonds.
• The Hebrew name for Dame Wisdom is Hokhma. You can talk about how unwieldy that is compared to Sophia.

Musical ideas: “Tell Me Your Name” by Carolyn McDade (1998; on her CD “We Are the Land We Sing”)
“The Name Game” from the 1960s (“Banana fanna fo fanna,” etc.)

For starters

Megachurches ... praise bands ... “emergent church.” There seems to be a lot of experimentation going on these days, but most Worship practices still pretty much follow familiar patterns and use the language developed by adults over the millennia. They’re carefully scripted by professional theologians and designed like a school lesson plan, to make a predictable change in the feelings and the thinking, and if you’re lucky, the lives of a more-or-less passive audience. They may teach, preach, soothe, or arouse, but none of them are designed for very much listening, especially to the children.

Timbrels Worship is meant to reverse that direction. We have the Revised Common Lectionary to walk us through most of the Bible over three years. That’s a place to start. But what if that was the only thing firmly planned for a community gathered to worship? What if the person responsible for facilitating the gathering came with some ideas for music, prayers, and activities, even some props, according to what reading the Lections in advance made her/im think about? And what if, when the Scriptures were read, the grown-up, heard-it-before-and-thought-it-through community stayed quiet and asked the children first what songs or games or dances or stories they thought of? That will be participant-driven, minimally structured, Timbrels Worship.

Yes, this kind of Worship service will be hard to control, and the outcomes will be impossible to predict. It will not satisfy the needs of everyone in a community. It is not meant to replace the scripted Worship service. It is meant to complement that Worship practice, and over time to enrich it by engaging the community, and especially its children, in expressing their faith experiences together. In particular, it is meant to let the children show the grownups what they already, intuitively understand about God, instead of letting the grownups mark out the acceptable boundaries for a faith journey. It is meant for shared exploration. It is meant to let the Holy Spirit write the script, and maybe to write it in crayon.