Planning All Age Worship

What is All Age (Intergenerational) Worship?

Intergenerational (or all-age) worship takes seriously the idea that people of all ages worship together in the body of Christ. Worshippers, young, old and in-between can also be involved in planning worship, inviting people to worship, and leading worship.

 

Planning Intergenerational Worship

Every Christian worship service can be considered an intergenerational worship service in the sense that the worshippers represent (or actually include) the whole body of Christ with its youngest and oldest members.

In this downloadable workshop we will be looking at intergenerational worship as worship that intentionally involves people of all ages in an encounter with God through a range of acts of worship, eg hearing and reflecting on God's word, responding to God with praise and/or confession, receiving forgiveness, giving offerings.

Intergenerational worship is different from 'children's worship' in which, commonly, adults prepare 'something for children'. In worship that is truly intergenerational, young and old worship together. Children, youth, young adults, middle-aged adults and older adults can also take part in planning for, inviting to and leading worship.

Where congregations have such ministry teams: intergenerational worship can be planned through cooperation of the worship team and the children's/family ministry team. Click here to down load this Planning Intergenerational Worship Guide:  Planning Intergenerational Worship (68.5 kB)  

 

Exploring Children's Involvement in Church

The presence of children in a worshipping congregation is a source of joy for the present and hope for the future. It may also provide opportunities to reshape worship practices and attitudes for the benefit of all worshippers.    

Help! There's a child in my church! is a study paper to help congregations, worship planners, children's ministry leaders and parents explore the involvement of children in congregational worship.  There's a child in my church (163.88 kB) 

Christmas Services

Time for Christmas - an intergenerational Christmas worship resource  

'There's no time like the present and no present like your time.' 
The Uniting Church's 2009 postcard promotion reminds us of two important aspects of Christmas: time and gifts. In today's world these can be contentious issues. We experience pressures about how we use our time and how we select (and pay for) gifts. 
The love can get lost. 
Here's a resource to help you plan a Christmas worship experience in which people can take some time out from the season's busy-ness and competitiveness and focus on Jesus, God's love in human flesh. 
Jesus, the greatest present of all time. 
There's no time like Christmas!

Download this resource for All-Age Worship produced by the Resource Centre for Children's and Family Ministry here:  Time For Christmas (335.86 kB) 

 

Adorable — an intergenerational worship resource for Christmas.

Have you looked at the calendar for Christmas 2010? Christmas Eve is on Friday, Christmas Day on Saturday, and the following day is the Sunday after Christmas. Three days of worship in a row — or do you skip one of them? Or do you do something different for one of them?
Adorable is a simple worship service that can be adapted to an informal café setting on one of these occasions. The premise is that although all babies are adorable, only one baby was truly adore-able — worthy of being adored because he was God as well as a human being. The story of the birth of the adore-able Son of God is linked with the verses of the familiar carol 'O come, let us adore him'. The resource includes some general notes plus a complete worship order/script which you can use as is or adapt to your needs.
Adorable (280.16 kB)

Four Gifts of Christmas - An intergenerational worship service for Advent or Christmas

CHRISTMAS and GIFTS seem to go together in everyone's mind. Here is planning resource for a service that celebrates four gifts of Christmas joy, hope, love and peace with people of all generations.  Four Gifts of Christmas (508.13 kB)

 

Three Christmas Trees - An intergenerational worship service for Advent or Christmas

If one Christmas tree is good, three Christmas trees must be even better. Here is a resource for planning an interactive worship celebration. It is built around three trees that point us to three aspects of the Good News of Christmas: Why the Christmas baby was born; Who the Christmas baby is and What the Christmas Baby does for us.

Download: Three Christmas Trees (371.23 kB)

Merry Christmas, world.

May your world be full of peace this Christmas. Here is a selection of resources for all-age worship on the theme of peace. The document contains a reflection on 'what is peace'; a list of Bible verses about peace, a list of quotations about peace, a discussion of 'I heard the Bells on Christmas Day' (a song about Christmas peace), some peace symbols, a peace prayer, a script for telling the Christmas story, and a sample worship plan using some of these resources and more.

The theme was inspired by the Christmas 2011 prepared by UCSA's promotional postcard.

Merry Christmas, world 2011 (404kb)

Easter Services

Good Friday and Easter focus the church’s attention on two essential aspects of our faith, ‘Christ died for our sins, just as Scripture said he would. He was buried. He was raised from the dead on the third day, just as Scripture said he would be.  (1 Corinthians 15:3,4)

This resource is designed to help congregations plan an intentionally intergenerational experience in which people of all ages together can wonder at these things, celebrate them and worship the God behind them.

The worship notes and sample service are based on the Uniting Church (SA) 2010 Easter postcard campaign.

What's so good about Good Friday (282.92 kB)

Easter Explorer

This worship service is a celebration of the Good News of Jesus' resurrection. It provides an opportunity for people to explore what they believe and it encourages interaction between children and older people. The service can be used in large or small congregations, and can be easily adapted for home use.

Easter Explorer (277.41 kB)

Love Lives

Easter is about Love. Easter is about Life.

The Love Lives! packet contains an assortment of special intergenerational elements that you can incorporate into your regular service order or a special celebration format to celebrate that Love Lives at Easter!

Download the notes in PDF format:  Love lives (104.64 kB)

See also 'Living in God's Fatherly Love' in the Family resources section.

Our Good Shepherd - An Intergenerational Service

The fourth Sunday of the Easter Season is sometimes referred to as Good Shepherd Sunday. The Lectionary Bible readings for that Sunday have to do with the image of Jesus as our Good Shepherd.

This worship service takes up the Good Shepherd theme and can be used on the Fourth Sunday of Easter or at another time when you want to use the Shepherd theme. Click here to down load this service:  Our Good Shepherd (92 kB)

Hungry For More

This is the question asked on the Uniting Church SA's promotional postcard for Easter 2011. Here is an all-age worship resource developed from the same question. The resource contains both general notes and a fully-scripted sample service that can be adapted for use by large or small congregations.
 Hungry For More Easter 2011 (415.13 kB)

Love is . . .

This resource for intergenerational Easter worship complements the 2012 Easter postcard theme 'Love is Pain'. The resource provides some general notes about all-age worship plus song, visual and activity suggestions.

A complete sample worship service (incorporating the Easter lectionary readings) takes worshipers from the concept that' Love is pain' to 'Love is forgiveness', ending with' Love is joy!'

Love is... (600kb)

Special Occasion

Starting School in Australia

Intergenerational worship for the beginning of the school year
Milestone events are great opportunities for churches to connect in a significant way with people in their congregation and community.
The start of a school year is a milestone in the life of school-aged children - especially those starting school for the first time - and their families.
Here is a resource that congregations - large and small - can use in an Australia Day context to connect with children who are starting school.
Resource: Starting School in Australia (342.15 kB) (in pdf format);  Starting School in Australia (336 kB) (in Word format).

 

Starting Out

Milestones like marriage and death are times when Australians tend to connect with churches.

One way churches can build bridges with their communities is to serve people well on these occasions. Another way of connecting with people is to provide services for people relating to other milestones.

Starting Out is an intergenerational worship service for children and parents at the 'start of school/first day of school' milestone.

This document contains general notes about planning a celebration of the starting school milestone plus a complete service order which can be used as written or can be a starting point for planning your own milestone observation.  starting Out (294 kB)

 

Start of School

This is a worship service designed to be used at the beginning of a school year. Click here to download this service: Start of School (324.55 kB)

 

Rock and Stones - New school year

'A mighty rock and five smooth stones' is a celebration of Australia Day and the start of a new school year. The resource for planning a special intergenerational worship service includes general notes about all-age worship planning and a model worship service. It also introduces the 'Faith Five' approach to family worship at home.

Rock and Stones (144.89 kB) 

 

An Intergenerational Worship Resource for Mothers Day

In Australia, Mothers’ Day is observed on the second Sunday in May. Mothers’ Day is a secular holiday, driven to a large extent by commercial interests. As Christians we are commanded to honour our mothers at all times — including Mothers’ Day.

This worship service for people of all ages and situations is about God’s gift of Mothers. As we honour mothers, we honour God who gives us mothers. The resource includes: general notes about all age worship; ideas for celebrating (and for not celebrating Mothers’ Day; quotes about mums, a sample worship plan, and more.

Marvelous Mums (445.6 kB)

 

Mums and Mums

A resource for planning intergenerational worship for Mothers Day. The service theme comes from the psalm for the day —' I worship you as my mother did' (Psalm 116:16).
This document includes general notes about all age worship and about mums as well as a fully scripted sample service.  Mums and Mums (473.76 kB)

 

No Greater Love

'No Greater Love' is a Mother's Day theme based on the lectionary readings for the sixth Sunday of Easter.

This Mothers Day resource includes general information about planning all-age worship, a meditation on the theme, Mothers day prayers and creed, ideas for children's presentations, presenting the Epistle and Gospel readings and for honouring mothers, Mothers Day humour and a sample worship plan.

No Greater Love: Mothers Day (451kb)

 

An Intergenerational Worship Resource for Fathers Day

The Australian practice of honouring fathers on the first Sunday in September began less than a hundred years ago. The law given to Moses and the people of Israel some 4000 years ago, commanded God’s people to ‘honour your father and your mother’ not just once a year, but at all times. Honouring parents is honouring God who provides parents and families as a way of protecting children and preserving life and order among people. This worship resource is primarily a celebration of God, the heavenly Father, who loves and cares for each one of us. It can be a part of a Fathers Day tribute to fathers. Father's Day Resource (316.48 kB)

King for a Day

Make dad a king for a day. Keep Jesus your king for all days. This resource will help you plan a special intergenerational worship service for Fathers Day. The resource contains both general ideas and a complete sample service.

King for a Day (383kb)

 

Celebrating Grandparents: Services to say 'Thankyou'

By Nick Fawcett
Published by Kevin Mayhew Ltd © 2008
ISBN: 978 1 84417 960 2 paperback
Available from Unichurch Books $24.95

Grandparents play a central role in the life of any church, in fact in some churches the children come with their grandparents rather than their parents. Grandparents also play a vital role in many families whether they come to church or not.

While we may not celebrate "Grandparents' Day here as they do in North America, it is nice to say thankyou and acknowledge them occasionally - or just use then as an excuse for a great family day at church!

From the UK, the book contains five complete but informal worship services that celebrate the part grandparents play in family and church life. The services also aim to help families and the congregation reflect on Christian faith and discipleship.

Each service contains an introduction, prayers, dialogues, quotations, poems, family talks and even quizzes, plus suggestions for readings, hymns and specially-themed hand-made bookmarks to give out. There is room for churches to adapt or include material that suits your individual circumstances.There's also a list of useful websites in the back. 

Baptised to Be

Baptism is worth celebrating. This is a packet of resources for celebrating Baptism in worship. It can be used in connections with the Baptism of an infant, child or adult, with an affirmation of Baptism, or any other service with a Baptism theme.

The resources in the packet include: suggestions for planning worship as an intergenerational team, lists of Baptism symbols, Baptism Bible passages, Baptism songs and quotations about Baptism, a dialogue about Baptism, a story sheet of Philip baptising the man from Ethiopia, and a sample celebration service using a bubble motif.

Download:  Baptised to Be (458.5 kB) 

Children's Week Resource Potatoes 'n' Us

National Children's Week will be observed 18-28 October 2008. Here are ideas for planning an all-age worship event during Children's Week. In response to the United Nations 2008 'Year of the Potato' emphasis, 'Potatoes 'n' Us' 'considers the potato' - what the potato can show us about God and about ourselves.

Potatoes 'n' us (178.63 kB)

 

Olympics

Resource ideas? Crossover is a resource to help congregations plan worship with an Olympics theme. Crossover focuses on some points where Olympic themes cross over with Gospel themes. For a month or so, the Olympics, and political and cultural events surrounding the games, will be big news for people all over the world. Your community's interest in the Olympics provides you with a wonderful opportunity to introduce people to Jesus: to help them encounter the good news in a way that may be meaningful to them.  Download resource here:  Olympic Crossover (287.85 kB)

Summer Sundays

Summer Sundays — an intergenerational approach to worship in January

Looking beyond Christmas, there is the month of January: hot weather, holidays, lazy days, recharge time, break time.
But our 24/7/365 God keeps serving us, and we his people keep worshiping him.

Summer Sundays is an idea for making the most of those quiet times; challenging and serving people who are at loose ends during the down time, and having a great time together as God's people. For Summer Sundays all generations simply come together for an enjoyable event that includes times for learning, playing, eating and celebrating.
Summer Sundays can be developed around your existing lectionary based program or other thematic worship plans. However, there is one completely developed program available: 'Celebrate Jesus'.
Summer Days (161.44 kB)

Celebrate Jesus — a Summer Sundays program for January, 2011.

At Christmas we celebrate the birth of a baby. In this series of five events, we come together as people of all ages to celebrate the life of the man.
The Celebrate Jesus resource is a complete planning guide covering the four Summer Sundays components: learning, playing, eating and celebrating. Events celebrate Jesus, who:

• is always powerful
• always loves us
• always listens to us
• always cares for us
• lives forever.

Celebrate Jesus (703.63 kB)

Misc. Themes

Dad at Heaven

The document has both lots of resources for planning your own worship focusing on the Lord's Prayer and a model worship service organised around the Lord's prayer.  Dad at Heaven (242.5 kB) 

A Meal with Jesus

An intergenerational service centred on Holy Communion. Includes worship notes, music ideas, message and activity ideas. Click here for service details:  A Meal with Jesus (226.95 kB)

 

The Big ASK

The Big ASK can be used in conjunction with the Spring 2006 edition of Faith Family: a Christian resource for families or any time you want to organise a worship service that focuses on prayer. ASK (280.73 kB) 

What's Mine is Yours

This worship service is developed around Jesus' parable about three servants (sometimes called the parable of the talents) and links this with the concept of Christian stewardship. The service can be used any time you are having a stewardship emphasis. Click here to download this worship service:  What's mine is yours (453.5 kB) 

 

So, what's a disciple?

'Disciple' is one of the words Christians use differently from other people. This is a packet of resources for exploring the meaning of 'discipleship' in a worship service.

The resources in the packet include: a list of Disciple Bible verses, a list of Disciple songs, a puppet sketch of Jesus calling his disciples, an interactive sermon 'Disciples make disciples' and a sample worship service.

Download:  So, what's a Disciple? (653.5 kB)

Under the Southern Cross - a worship service for all ages

The United Nations has designated 2009 as The Year of Astronomy — the study of the stars and other objects in the universe. In this service we worship God as Creator of the universe. The most recognizable cluster of stars in the night sky over Australia is the Southern Cross. In this service we worship God who demonstrated his love for us on a cross.

The service can be used in large or small congregations, and can be easily adapted for home use. The document contains a sample service plus many other resources your congregation can use in planning your own service.
Under Southern Cross - PDF (1007.36 kB) Under Southern Cross - doc (386 kB)

Kids, Chemistry and Jesus Christ: Children's Sunday 2011

Children's Week is observed in Australia annually during the fourth week in October. This document will help you plan an all-age Children's Sunday worship service that links with the United Nations International Year of Chemistry. Explore the concepts of 'Better living through chemistry' but even better living through Jesus Christ.

Chemistry (494kb)