Activity time: 10 minutes

Materials for Activity

• A copy of the story, “A Lamp in Every Corner”

Preparation for Activity

• Read the story and prepare to read or tell it to the group.

Description of Activity

This story tells how a community transformed itself, building a church with the efforts of many individuals, and ultimately lighting the new building with glowing flames from candles held by all the people who contributed.

Read the story aloud. Then, ask:

• Suppose you were Zora, with one small job to do to build the church. How would it feel to see the whole community inside the finished building, illuminated by the shared light of everyone’s individual lamp?
• What strikes you as a miracle in this story? (You might suggest, finishing the church building, the transition from no church to a complete building, the way each person’s lamp helped create enough light for everyone.)

Invite the group to think about their own congregation. Have they ever sat in the sanctuary or chapel by themselves, or walked through a common space such as the social hall when no one else was around? What does it feel like, to be alone there? How is it different to be there in a group? What kind of awe might you feel in this space by yourself? What kind of awe does being together inspire?