Ain't gonna study war no more

On Sunday the youth group at St John's Seven Kings led an All-Age Service (which they had planned and prepared) on the theme of choices regarding war and peace. As part of the service a film was shown of an improvised play acted by our young people which led into discussion of how our faith could inform the choices which needed to be made in the play.

The service began with Shine Jesus Shine and the following prayer: Dear Lord, help us today to think about our choices. Help us to know what is the best way to think. Help us to know the wisdom that you have given us in order that we can do the right thing. Amen.

Scene 1 ‐ The President of Albina asks the Prime Minister of Batavia for aid because of a famine in his country. The Prime Minister refuses because the famine is also affecting his country and the food they have is needed to feed his people. The President pleads that people in his country are starving but the Prime Minister is unmoved.

Scene 2 ‐ The Albina army raids a Batavian food store killing the soldiers guarding the supplies and taking the supplies to Albina. A Batavian phones the Prime Minister to alert him to the raid.

We sang Beauty for Brokeness and then watched Scene 3 ‐ The Prime Minister consults with three officials. The first says, we must take attack Albina and avenge the deaths of our soldiers and the theft of our supplies. The second says, we must protect our people and supplies by sealing the border using our troops and ensure that it is never possible for Albina to steal from us again. The third says, we must send relief aid into Albina and work together with them to gain the aid we need from the international community so that both countries survive the famine.

Discussion: What are the pros and cons of the three choices and which one would you choose?

The first bible reading was Galatians 5:16‐26 and following this people were asked to write their individual confessions on pieces of paper using magic marker pens. These were then placed in bowls of water so that the ink in which the confession was written dissolved.

For intercessions we used the 'Swords into ploughshares' script from Multi‐Sensory Scripture before ending with a Gospel singalong of Down by the riverside and our second bible reading from Isaiah 2:2‐4.

Hilary Musker, our Deanery Youth Adviser, said that the service was very creative and a joy to be part of. A big thank you to our youth group and those groups and individuals who supported them.

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Edwin Starr - War (What Is It Good For?).

CompassionArt & Deanery Youth Service (2)

Hilary, Katharine & Hannah preparing for the service

Cafe Church at the Deanery Youth Service

The Deanery Youth Service

Hannah & Katharine with the healed heart

Hilary, Hannah & Katharine with the healed heart

The Deanery Youth Service

Sticking post-it prayers on the healed heart

Enjoying the biscuits, sweets & strawberries

Huw icing his biscuit

At the altar rail receiving a heart

At the altar rail receiving a heart

At the altar rail receiving a heart

Father Ben & dog after receiving a heart


Games in the hall after the service



Games in the hall after the service

Young people from St John's led a Deanery Youth Service this evening using materials from CompassionArt and thereby raising money for projects addressing poverty. The service that they had prepared and led was greatly appreciated and very creative.

Set up in a Cafe Church style, each table had a section of a broken heart. On each table, people listed on their piece of broken heart things that cause hearts to be broken in our world. Each table then brought their piece of the heart forward and pinned them onto a board to form a complete heart. Each person then wrote a prayer on a heart-shaped post-it and stuck their prayer on the healed heart.

We also iced a biscuit with a heart and ate it, together with love hearts and strawberries, as a sign of taking Jesus’ compassion into our lives. Finally, we knelt at the altar rail holding out your hands and had hearts drawn on our palms as a sign of our willingness to share Jesus’ compassion with others.

We ended with the following prayer:

Christ’s food in our souls, our food shared like his. Christ’s life in our hands, our lives shaped by his. Christ’s love in our hearts, our love warmed through his. Christ’s peace on our path, our path following his. We are sent out to live and work to his praise and glory, in the name of Christ, we go. Amen.

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CompassionArt - There Is Always A Song.