The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me to…proclaim good news to the poor…bind up the broken-hearted…proclaim freedom for the captives…provide for those who grieve…They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendour. [Paraphrase Isaiah 61:1-3 (NIV)]
What’s your favourite season? Do you enjoy the summer sunshine with a gentle breeze, or do you prefer autumnal colours, watching leaves drift off trees? Perhaps you’re a snow lover, or maybe you enjoy watching nature unfurl in spring after a time of hibernation?
Sometimes, it feels like our faith goes through different seasons. It can be easy to praise God in times of spiritual growth and abundance, but what sustains your faith in times of doubt and darkness? What does it look like to be ‘oaks of righteousness’ in every season?
This was the Bible passage and theme that anchored the July FLOURISH gatherings at St. John’s Church Hackney, that welcomed secondary and primary schools from across the country, representing their FLOURISH worshipping communities in school settings. Each day was packed with worship, keynote talks, workshops and creative prayer stations, designed to inspire and equip the student leaders, with many elements of the day led by children and young people themselves. A special shout-out to the students from All Saints Marple, Stockport for hosting and leading worship for the primary day and for Efe, for her incredible ‘oaks of righteousness’ spoken word at the secondary school gathering.
Sophie, Jane and Aike had the pleasure of delivering the ‘Autumn’ workshop, a season of surrender and transition, for the secondary day, teaching the groups how to use ‘dwelling in the word’ to explore what the first disciples gave up and gained, when they chose to leave their fishing nets to follow Jesus (Luke 5:1-11). In small groups we wondered about the things that can stop us from following Jesus and the hardest things to walk away from, before prayerfully writing a personal response on fish-shaped card, which we placed in a fishing net, as an act of surrender to God. We then finished with some stretching, asking if there is anywhere that God might like to stretch and call us into something new, inviting the young people to catch an idea, word or picture that might pop into the mind.
It was really inspiring to see all – young people and teachers alike – really engaging in the process. In each workshop, they pulled out the themes of trust and courage in the face of change and uncertainty, with Jesus’ words ‘Don’t be afraid’, resonating powerfully for us that day as they had for the disciples then. Sophie
At the primary school’s day, Jane supported Rev Claire from Holy Trinity and the children from Combe Down Primary School to deliver their ‘Summer’ workshop on growing in prayer, based on activities that they have developed in their ‘secret prayer garden’ in their school.
What a treat to take a back seat and simply affirm and resource the very clear vision from the children as to what they wanted to share in their workshop. I hope we did them justice. The punch bag and cuddly bananas were a particular highlight! Jane
It was also a great opportunity to connect with students and teachers that have started a Messy Church as their FLOURISH worshipping community, hear their stories and pass on copies of Get Messy! Vol. 4, to support their ministry.
As the day ended, leaders of all ages were invited to reflect on the season of growth they may be travelling through. Are we acorns, seedlings, saplings, young trees or mature oaks? For some who have served in ministry for many years, this may be a season of shedding acorns, preparing and nurturing the next generation of ‘righteous oaks’.
I wonder…?
What season of leadership are you in?
Which children and young people can you encourage to grow as ‘righteous oaks’?
Aike Kennett-Brown
Messy Church Ministry lead
We’re currently recruiting for Cohort 2 of our Messy Momentum project. If you have a group of older children in your Messy Church and would like to trial one of our six approaches for one year, have a look at our webpage for more information:
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