Week 7 - moving on

Week 7 and fewer children were in the Quench cafe and The Station as they have returned to school. I'm still reflecting upon why people, on the whole, are reluctant to look at the prayer stations.

Perhaps, as someone suggested to me, the reason there was a better response from the children over the past two weeks is because it becomes more difficult for us to be open to God as we get older. Children have fewer inhibitions and therefore may be more responsive to an encounter with him through the different prayer activities.

I'm wondering whether next week we should put the prayer stations in the church itself. Due to the location of the vestry, anyone going into The Station can be seen by people passing by to go into the cafe and this may make people feel uncomfortable. If the stations were in the church those choosing to go into The Station wouldn't be seen but at the same time would have to overcome the obstacle of going into the church itself, a place which is unfamiliar to many.

I'm also pondering whether we could be brave enough (for at least one week) to have The Station in the cafe area itself. This could go either way, with a positive reaction from those who don't want to go into the vestry/church and maybe a negative one from those who view Quench purely as a community initiative and not a Christian one.

At the end of the day, I want people to experience more of God in ways that they feel comfortable, and hope that the prayer stations achieve this, but they have to be located in a safe space so that they can be easily accessed.

This week there were three prayer stations, Doodle prayers, where people could focus upon a person or situation and as they 'doodled' they were encouraged to pray for that individual. The second was a picture of a hand upon which individuals were asked to sign their name, a reminder that God has our names engraved on his hand and will never forget us. The final prayer station again encouraged creativity through Play Doh as people were asked to give thanks for different aspects of creation.

In Genesis chapter 28, following a dream, it says that Jacob became frightened and said, “This is a fearsome place! It must be the house of God and the ladder to heaven.” God is in every place, but for many people being in the 'church' could be described as a 'fearsome place'. I want people to experience God where they are, without fear. But how? .........