Spiritual Practice of the Week: A Gathering Place

Throughout history, people have responded to God’s call by creating beautiful places, where the glory of the space reflects the glory of God. Being in a beautiful space can remind us that God’s beauty is all around us, sustaining us.  Your youth room can reflect the lives and interests of the people in it, and beauty you yearn for. Spend time thinking about the space and how it is set up.  Work to create a simple and beautiful space that youth will be drawn to. The prayer table is meant to be an object of focus and reverence. Create a prayer table with the youth as a way of beginning your year together. Cover a low table with a beautiful piece of cloth and set in the middle of the room or along one of the walls. Your prayer table could include a Christ candle that you light at the beginning of all your gatherings, symbols related to the theme of the current week; or a place for photos of those who need prayers and other items that come out of your worship and prayer gatherings.  This prayer table could also be a place for the beauty of the natural world to be present indoor.(rocks, feathers, flowers in a vase, reminders of the natural world of God’s creation).  Allow youth to create the space with you; their ownership will be much greater if they have input. It’s also important to use the prayer table each time your group meets. Use it even if the only thing you do is to light a candle and bring God to mind. This way, you are engaging in the practice of ritual.   Use the prayer table in the youth room to pull people toward God, one another, and ritual.

© This prayer practice and all of those on the Sunday Morning Blog Post can be found in:  "Go Deep: Spiritual Practices for Youth Ministry" Wood Lake Publishing, available on www.amazon.ca.  Doris is the Youth Minister for the United Church of Canada in British Columbia and the Director of World Pilgrim: Global Education and Awareness Travel.