in no particular order are some of my thoughts, observations, resources and words of wisdom.
- working a large prayer room takes a lot of effort and planning. not all spaces need to be this elaborate and grand in scale. i have loaded pictures and write ups of some of the meditation and worship spaces.
- "the cave" prayer station is the hardest place to be. as i have observed this space "the cave" which is just an icon, candle and dark room has had the fewest lasting visitors. youth and leaders alike have entered the space, but they always stay just a short period of time. it is my opinion that because there is little (if any) stimulation that it really is hard to be with just yourself. the longest person in the room was jonathon, two hours, only because he fell asleep.
- i am curious to imagine what youth might take some of this artistic experience and shape this into a passion or a confidence that they can do something they hadn't felt they could before. i know one of our girls who painted a really nice picture has started pricing easels and paints to continue what might be a new passion.
- the labyrinths came from "the labyrinth company" out of maryland. we purchased the reims labyrinth for the event and rented the st.pauls chartres model. in doing some simple research, the youth always identified the octagonal shaped labyrinths as being more interesting. the reims seemed perfect as it gave stops along the way. the rental for the labyrinth is very reasonable, i'd suggest it if you are wishing to introduce or use a labyrinth practice in your ministry.
- may people asked about the music we used. other than the taize' worship cd we used occassionally the main cds we used were from the "relaxation" cd collection at walmart. the ones we used primarily was a native american sounds and an african sounds cd.
- the screens we used for spacing were inspired by a stage set used by the gorillaz. it was a simple concept, clean, easy to construct, and could be used for peaceful settings. obviously we didn't have the lighting or fabric they used, but found that using a colored fabric (cotton or poly) with a clear halogen (higher lumens) shows really well. the white or cream fabric we used with a colored lamp didn't show as well, but it did work. the concept with using the white fabric and colored lights was that we could switch up colors.. something we never even entertained once the space was set up.
- coroplast is my new favorite material. the columns and accordian screens we put together were made of coroplast and plastic sheet of material (depth and structure similar to cardboard) that is used for signs. the 4x8 sheets were about 7-9 bucks each (colored ones a bit more than the white) which was an excellent value. the material is tough enough to be used multiple times for various projects. not something you can say for many materials.
- the "global impact" video we made used images from chris jordan. chris's stuff is amazing. other images we used came from istockphoto. istockphoto is a site one needs to bookmark for images and videos for various projects for worship or for church promotions. the images are cheap for stock photography. it is one of my primary resources when i need content items i don't have time to make myself.
- "the story" is a great idea for youth and adults. all know the scrabble board concept and people love to come back and see how it has grown or just walk around and read the words of others. i can't remember the exact community i was inspired to do this one with, but i have done it for years. i know i saw a picture of something similar at small fire. small fire is a website that host archive pictures of alternative worship experiences at various communities in the uk.
the videos we used for "specto divina" something jonathon has come up with, though i am sorting through a book called visio divina (not quite the same thing, but i like the idea of using imagery in a similar fashion to lectio) came from a collection called "the work of the people." i like the videos because they try to be lectionary based, so there are videos that are usable for the Christian calendar. the particular videos we used were as follows, what we did was put in some black screen and some text to guide the meditations.
- psalm 107
- psalm 34
- the last will be first
- healing of the blind man
- land of the living
- know by love
- jew nor greek
some of the paper stuff we put together.
- Download morning_thur.pdf
- Download midday_thur.pdf
- Download compline_wed.pdf
- Download compline_friday.pdf
- Download evening_prayer_friday.pdf
- Download evening_prayer.pdf
- Download midday_friday.pdf
- Download midday_saturday.pdf
- Download compline_saturday.pdf
i might add to this, but for now i figure this is enough thinking
