“Home Church”
This morning, the children begged to stay at home and run “Home Church.” They wanted to create a worship experience that was intimate and meaningful. We had done this once before when we were unable to attend. Mom was against it this morning, since she really wanted to attend church. The children were fervent and committed in their intention to make this truly a “church” experience…
They quickly worked together to organize a service that spoke to each of us. There was quiet music playing in the background throughout the entire 40-minute service. We started with a Call to Worship and a reading of The Word. The text was Genesis – with a focus on God creating the Seasons. We then moved to a set of experiential “stations” – chosen by a roll of a dice. The first station was communion. Reading the words of the Last Supper from Luke, Marus then offered each of us the bread and juice. The second station brought us to a small table with four glass 
dishes. In them were: snow (Winter), dry leaves (Fall), grass (Summer) and a crocus blossom (Spring). Ania led this station and asked us to
Anointing oil
remember a time during each season when we had experienced God-moments. After each person had shared some beautiful and powerful memories, we moved on to station three. Here Kasia used the dice again to let the Spirit guide us to a reading. The roll of the dice determined that it would be New Testament, Romans, Chapter 2. Kasia read and then we each discussed what that reading meant to us. We were reminded that while God is kind, God is not soft. Next we moved to a station with two glass jars with white crystals, and Ania talked about salt and sugar. They represented the good and the bad in life. We were invited to try one of them and share why we took the amount that we did and what the taste reminded us of. After each of us shared our sweet moments in life (some took less because they believe that there should be enough in the world for everyone, some took more because they believe that God wants us to be happy and our love to be abundant)– we realized (and Ania confirmed) that neither was salt. She reminded us that while bad things do happen, God wants our happiness. Finally, Marus brought out a dish of oil and we shared with him our prayers for our lives. He anointed us, saying: “God loves you.” At the end of a very moving service of worship, we help hands and sang “Turn To Me.”
While we were not physically in community with our Faith brothers and sisters this morning, God reminded me through our children that God’s message can be heard and community experienced in many different ways. I’m glad that the Spirit moved in such wonderful ways this morning.
Donna M Denette
