Prayer Spaces in Schools

I spent today hanging out with my co-Prayer Spaces in Schools team-friends, Tim Abbott and Catherine Clayton, at the SU staff conference in Northampton. We were there to host a workshop...

Tim brought a bunch of the prayer stations that he uses regularly in Colchester, and he'd also pinched a couple from Rach/Orison... spread around the room were sand trays, a huge bowl of water and some stones, a gazebo frame with 'sorry' cards hanging from it, mini MP3s with music and meditations recorded on them, magna-doodles, even a bubble-tube... all to help the workshop-ers pray, and to experience a little of what a Prayer Space in School is like.

I reckon about 35 people turned up for the workshop, which Tim led brilliantly. We told stories, Catherine showed a fantastic short film from the first Prayer Space she'd hosted in a primary school near Oxford - the kids' reflections at the end were beautiful, raw, honest... And then there were loads of great questions too, especially after the workshop-ers had spent some time exploring the prayer stations themsevles for 20 minutes or so.

I have high hopes. If these 30 SU workers go back to their villages and towns and cities and build this simple idea - creating space for children and young people to not only talk *about* God, but to talk *with* God - who knows what might happen?

If you haven't checked out the Prayer Spaces in Schools website, go have a look now. We're putting new content on every couple of days. And please register with the site. Registering (here) means you can download any of the prayer station pdfs and educational materials. :)

Anyway, here's a few pics from today...