Children and Families - Scripture Union NZ

Pentecost Sunday is the 23rd of May.  Pentecost Sunday is a great opportunity to get creative, to be joyful and to learn a little church history!    In preparing for an intergenerational service for Pentecost Sunday, I  made a rather inspiring discovery, Holy Spirit Holes! In the ceilings of some cathedrals are these holes, trapdoors actually. During the celebration of Pentecost, live doves and red rose petals were dropped through these holes to swoop and fall on the congregation below.  Imagine the drama of it all!  So, I created a service to explore this idea. There are no live doves involved so don't worry about terrifying your church or the clean up job required for all that bird poo.  All you need is here:  Holy Spirit Holes

  What makes you cry? by Adrian Plass I wept in Winchester Cathedral once It was a winter afternoon After speaking at a lunch in town There was an hour to fill before my train was due to leave Yet again, the beauty of that ancient building Drew me like a child into its echoing embrace I knew it would, I have such scant resistance to cathedrals Particularly this one This time I did two things First of all the lighting of a candle for my father Just because I wanted to Theology is very thin sometimes A candle’s flame is fat and rich with mystery The second thing was climbing to the balcony (they let you do that now) And, as I stood there, leaning on the rail Feeling warm at last and looking down My heart went out to this old, slumberous house of worship Built for God Its stonework soaked with centuries of prayer Tears and passions of belief and doubt Flowing from a million souls “How can you tolerate these days,” I softly aske

  Here are two great resources for exploring Pentecost Sunday!  Church-based Children's Programme: If you are planning to explore the story of Pentecost in your children's programme than this little resource might be just what you are looking for. It includes story ideas, using a bull roarer ( a wooden disk on the end of a string ), eating grapes and much much more! (For more on taonga puoro, Maori musical instruments, click here ). Thanks to Bex Davies for sharing her programme outline with us. You can download it for free from our dropbox by clicking here! All Age Service resource: Pentecost Sunday is a great opportunity to get creative, to be joyful and to learn a little church history! In preparing for an All Age service for Pentecost Sunday, I made a rather inspiring discovery, Holy Spirit Holes! In the ceilings of some cathedrals are these holes, trapdoors actually. During the celebration of Pentecost, live doves and red rose petals were dropped through these h