sustain:if:able kiwi

stencilling the Spirit in the world

intro to the service blurb
stenciling is a way of art.
it involves making your own design on a piece of card.
this design is cut out with a craft knife.

chalk is applied to the cut our area.
thus you leave behind your design mark.
(note – chalk washes off in water)

which got me thinking
about the Spirit is in our world,
in us, through us, around us.

tonite we reflect upon this Spirit.
what does it mean for the Spirit to leave, to stencil, a mark on our city?

you are invited tonite during the service
to make a stencil,
your image of the spirit.

you will need a pencil, a card, a sharp knife. some guidelines are available.

and this was (some of) the outcome… poetry, Scripture, story, communion … and then a piece of chalk as a benediction …

broken worship

Text: [So spacious is Jesus, so roomy, that everything of God finds its proper place without crowding … all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe get properly fixed together in vibrant harmonies. The Message, Colossians 1]

Backlight a cross: Give everyone a broken tile : Invite them to name brokenness – theirs, a friends, the earths : Ask them to place (skilful use of double-sided tape) their broken tile on the backlit cross.

hot text seat

So if you have a “hot text” slot, you need a hot text chair. Saw a bright red version of this, marketted down, at freedom furniture. Could this appear on Sunday, as a visual way of introducing :hot text?

spiritual friends

in Colossians 1, Epaphras is noted as a good friend of the church.

on the way into church this morning, everyone got given a piece of green paper (colour of growth), with a question printed on it “who has been a good spiritual friend for you?”.

at the front of the church we had made people chains – about 180 “people” lined the steps of the stage.

people were invited to write on the paper the name of someone who had been a good spiritual friend. Moby’s Everloving, off the Play album, was on. the kids collected up the pieces of paper and stuck them on the white people chains … it was a neat visual picture, a sea of white people and green friends, over 140 “good spiritual friends” were honoured at Opawa today.

this week I will send thankyou letters to names i recognise, honouring their gifts in our midst.