Church - picture activity to think about inclusiveness of church

Lucy Moore

This idea is taken from the Children’s Kairos material written for the Diocese of Portsmouth.

On your marks:

The aim of this activity is to think about how it feels to be in church, to come to church for the first time, or to be outside church.

Get set:

You’ll need to draw a picture of an outdoor swimming pool with some people unable to get in past the fence, some happy playing in the water, some sad in the water, with friends, on their own, not daring to jump in, being pushed in, drowning...

Go!

Show the group the picture of different people at the swimming pool. Challenge the group to find:

1. People in the picture who have been loads of times before. How do you know?
2. People who wouldn’t be allowed into the pool. How do you know?
3. People who are at the pool for the first time. How do you know?

Discuss:

Choose from these questions – keep it brief!

• Have you ever felt like those newcomers – a bit nervous/ scared / not sure what you should do?
• What could the swimming pool people do to help those newcomers?
• What about the ones who don’t even know there’s a swimming pool there?
• Look at the people outside the pool area – (the cry-baby, the scruffy boy, the vandal, the lonely girl) – what do each of them need more than anything?
• Do you think there might be people who feel like these people do about church? In what way?

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