Activity time: 10 minutes Preparation for Activity Choose closing song(s), chant(s), or reading(s) from options provided under "Description of Activity" or from those regularly used in your congregation. As needed, write the words on newsprint, and post....

Activity time: 10 minutes Materials for Activity Tool of the Day - a level Chalice and candle Safety matches and long fireplace matches Small dish for spent matches Candle snuffer Council candles (a tea light or votive candle for each participant, or some to share if group is very large) One tea...

Activity time: 10 minutes Materials for Activity Tool of the Day - a flashlight Chalice and candle Safety matches and long fireplace matches Small dish for spent matches Candle snuffer Council candles (a tea light or votive candle for each participant, or some to share if group is very large) One...

Activity time: 10 minutes Materials for Activity Tool of the Day - a glove Chalice and candle Safety matches and long fireplace matches Small dish for spent matches Candle snuffer Council candles (a tea light or votive candle for each participant, or some to share if group is very large) One tea...

Activity time: 12 minutes Materials for Activity Tool of the Day - water in a water bottle Chalice and candle Safety matches and long fireplace matches Small dish for spent matches Candle snuffer Council candles (a tea light or votive candle for each participant, or some to share if group is very...

Activity time: 10 minutes Materials for Activity Tool of the Day - a paintbrush Chalice and candle Safety matches and long fireplace matches Small dish for spent matches Candle snuffer Council candles (a tea light or votive candle for each participant, or some to share if group is very large) One...

Activity time: 10 minutes Materials for Activity Story, "Henry David Thoreau and the Still, Small Voice" Preparation for Activity Read the story and prepare to share it with the group. Read the discussion questions. Choose those that will best help the children share their interpretations of the...

Activity time: 10 minutes Materials for Activity Tool of the Day - a compass A copy of Leader Resource 2, Harry Potter's Moral Compass Chalice and candle Safety matches and long fireplace matches Small dish for spent matches Candle snuffer Council candles (a tea light or votive candle for each...

Activity time: 10 minutes Materials for Activity Tool of the Day - saddlebags, bicycle panniers or a rucksack, or an image of saddlebags Participant lists of their own convictions Chalice and candle Safety matches and long fireplace matches Small dish for spent matches Candle snuffer Council cand...

Ricardo and his grandparents arrived at Camp Taylor for the congregation's weekend retreat. This was Ricardo's third year at the retreat and he had been looking forward to this weekend for months. He helped bring the bags to their cabin....

From The Power of Now (Novato: New World Library, 2004). A beggar had been sitting by the side of a road for over thirty years. One day a stranger walked by. "Spare some change?" mumbled the beggar, mechanically holding out his old baseball cap. "I have nothing to give you," said the stranger....

Once the great Sufi holy man and wise fool Nasreddin Hodja was walking down the street when a group of women came running up to him. Obviously distressed, they cried out to him, “Help us, Hodja! Help us.”...

Activity time: 10 minutes Materials for Activity Ball of yarn Optional: Scissors, including left-handed scissors Description of Activity In addition to building community through sharing information about important events in participants' lives, this version of sharing joys and concerns uses a...

Activity time: 10 minutes Materials for Activity A gong, bell, or other musical noisemaker Preparation for Activity Read the guided meditation aloud several times so you become comfortable with the words and the pauses. Description of Activity A brief guided meditation sparks participants’...

Activity time: 10 minutes Materials for Activity Ball of yarn Optional: Scissors, including left-handed scissors Description of Activity In addition to building community through sharing information about important events in participants' lives, this version of sharing joys and concerns uses a...

Activity time: 10 minutes Materials for Activity Ball of yarn Optional: Scissors, including left-handed scissors Description of Activity In addition to building community through sharing information about important events in participants' lives, this version of sharing joys and concerns uses a...

Activity time: 15 minutes Materials for Activity Hemp or silk cord Beads, large enough to string on hemp or silk cord Shallow containers for all participants to contain their beads Scissors Optional: Quiet music, and music player Preparation for Activity Cut hemp or silk cord into 18-inch...

Activity time: 5 minutes Preparation for Activity Familiarize yourself with the meditation below so you understand the timing and will be ready to leave sufficient pauses for participants to fully experience meditation. Arrange to use a space that has a clean, preferably carpeted, floor where...

Activity time: 5 minutes Preparation for Activity Locate a space, preferably outdoors, where participants can walk briskly and safely, in a loose cluster, without touching one another. Description of Activity Begin the mediation in a space where there is room for the participants to move briskly...

Activity time: 10 minutes Materials for Activity Ball of yarn Optional: Scissors, including left-handed scissors Description of Activity In addition to building community through sharing information about important events in participants' lives, this version of sharing joys and concerns uses a...