Begin by handing out lumps of play-dough to each young person. Allow for a time of ‘welcome’ where you can catch up with each other and have a laugh while kneading and shaping the dough. When it feels like each young person is fully present and settled, invite the group to a time of silence.
Ask the young people to consider how they’re coming to God at this time and how they see themselves. Invite the participants to shape their dough into something that symbolises these thoughts. You may want to put on some quiet music to signal the change in activity.
After a few minutes (or as long as your group can stay focused), ask the young people to share their creations and say something about them. This may be best done in groups of no more than five, with someone able to take a lead in each group. Ensure that each person gets to share as little or as much as they would like, without interruptions. At the end of the time of sharing, pray something like this over the group: ‘Father God, thank you that you welcome us as we are today. You see and know each person in this room, and know how we feel. Receive us and meet with us today. In Jesus’ name, Amen.’
Explain that you are going to try something called a ‘centering prayer’, which is all about allowing God to be the main thing in our minds. Ask the group to spend a minute or so in silence to decide on a single word which represents one aspect of God to focus on: it could be something like Jesus, grace, love, the cross etc. If your group feels relaxed with the idea of listening for God’s voice then you could encourage them to ask God for a word.
Next, invite the young people to spend some time focusing on this one word in prayer. It may be helpful for some people to create a symbol of their word out of the play-dough, to keep as a visual aid, but many will find it most helpful simply to keep their eyes closed and focus on their word.
Encourage the young people to notice any distracting thoughts or images that pop into their heads, and not to judge them but simply lay them to one side and return to their word. After a while – still in contemplation – ask the group to think about their emotions and responses to their word – what does the word call them to? What does the word invite them to? Are they experiencing challenges or encouragements? Leave another moment of silence before praying a prayer of blessing over the group.
Now it is time to enter into scripture; we will be focusing on Matthew 5:1-12. Provide a large sheet of paper for each member of the group, no smaller than A3, as well as a selection of good markers, felt-tip pens or crayons (or if mess does not stress you out, paint).
Once everyone has received their materials, are in a good spot for drawing, and has settled down again, ask the young people to put their pens and brushes down for a moment. Explain that you are going to spend some time hearing from and responding to God through a Bible passage, and ask the young people to simply listen the first time you read the excerpt.
Invite silence, and then read Matthew 5:1-12 slowly, out loud.
Leave some more silence, then explain that as you read the text again, everyone is invited to use the art materials if they would like to. Encourage the young people to notice the words, concepts or phrases that stand out to them from the text, and to doodle or draw these, using words, symbols or anything their imagination can muster.
Read the text a second time, leave some silence and then read it through one more time. Invite the young people to notice what they have drawn: what emotions are present? What memories have been evoked? What did the scripture say to them? Ask them to doodle around these questions, perhaps choosing a new colour. After a minute or so, encourage the group to turn their doodles into prayers: have they remembered particular people or places that they can pray for? Have they experienced a sense of gratitude that they can turn into a prayer of thanksgiving? Have they felt challenged by the text to turn to confession or repentance? Allow some time for the group to add their prayers to their piece of paper.
Finally, ask the young people to put their pens or brushes down and to simply rest their eyes on the picture they have made. Encourage them to lay aside all other agendas apart from simply being with God - remembering his presence and his love that we may rest in.
After a time of silence, invite the young people to come back to the smaller groups that they previously shared in. In a similar way, allow everyone to share as much or as little as they would like to, without being interrupted by anyone else in the group. Ensure that there is an atmosphere of respect, as sharing can feel vulnerable. Don’t ask questions of the pictures (for example, ‘what’s that?’ or ‘why did you draw that?’) but allow the person sharing to speak and then respect their silence.
If it has not already come up in the time of sharing, ask each person to look at their picture and discern an action which the text has called them to. It could be something like ‘be a peacemaker’, ‘stand up to evil’, ‘be comforted’ and so on. If you think it’s appropriate, and with the consent of the young people, make a note of these actions to check back on the next time you meet. Finish this time of contemplative prayer with a song or a prayer of blessing or sending out.
