Examples of New Worshipping Communities delivered in partnership with schools
Gather
Gather aims to develop a new worshipping community at a time which suits modern day living, showing the whole family that the teachings of God are relevant to everyday life. That learning about God the father and Jesus the son can be fun and engaging.
The worship builds on the links between school and church, offering an opportunity for families to come to worship at a time when parents are already away from home, collecting their child/ren from school and is therefore possibly a more convenient time to worship God.
The school invites families to the local church for the ‘Gather’ services. ‘Gather’ can be led by clergy or laity and will take a maximum of 40 minutes, including participation from the children. Each element of the service (bible reading, prayer, song, lighting candle, blessing etc.) is prefaced with a short explanation of why we do this as part of worship so that parents unfamiliar with the format feel welcomed, comfortable and involved.
More info on suggested format:
Twenty is plenty
A Bromsgrove parish New Worshipping Community called ‘Twenty is plenty’ takes place at Stoke Prior village church. It is a 20 minutes only worship and is specifically aimed at families with children. It is a church school initiative similar to ‘Gather’ but is a different model. The children come to church straight from school. There is music and a brief talk and they always have something creative to do. This NWC is more about familiarising the children with the church environment.
ISingPop NWC
This is actually an example from Gloucestershire but our NWC Enabler Kim Brown recently visited and was inspired by what she saw. Kim would be happy to support churches in Worcester diocese to replicate this format.
One church and school worked together to create a new worshipping community in the school hall, using the familiar songs and dances from ISingPop to help people feel at home.
A team of around 8 people help to set up four activity stations around the room and prepare food that is shared together at the end. Families move around the different stations taking part in craft activities on the theme for the service, as well as singing the songs and trying the dance routines too.