Opening

Activity time: 10 minutes

Materials for Activity

  • Chalice, candle and lighter, or LED battery-operated candle
  • Stand or table space for the chalice
  • Decorative covering for chalice stand
  • Newsprint, markers, and tape

Preparation for Activity

  • Prepare a welcoming space, including comfortable seating arranged in a circle around a small table with a chalice at its center.

Description of Activity

Bring participants together and welcome them. Invite a volunteer to light the chalice as you share a favorite children's chalice lighting used by your congregation.

Introduce the program using these or similar words:

Welcome to this group. We are going to be sharing some stories from the Hebrew scriptures. These stories are from a long ago time and a far away place, but the people in them face some of the same problems that we do in our own day. We are going to learn about the people and stories of the Hebrew scriptures by acting them out, by playing music, by doing art, by thinking and talking about some important topics-like courage and fear-the themes of today's story. Before we go any further, though, let's meet one another.

Invite participants to go around the circle and say their names and one thing they know about the Bible, or one question they have about the Bible. Record their questions and ideas on newsprint. Point out any responses that are relevant to this workshop, such as fear, courage, violence, God.