Many of you have heard me speak about raising up a #dancingarmy and encouraging people to #dancealittlelouder. The reality of this happening has snowballed, and it is awesome to see how God is using such a simple concept to gather people, to gather movers and dancers whose whole heart is simply to worship, praise, prayer, live life and more through Jesus. If you’ve not joined us yet for a Prayer Dance Bite can I encourage you to do so. Let’s step out and live our journey of faith through movement, however big or small that might be.
During this crazy time that we are living in at the moment. It can send many of us into a spin with an unclear way out. In another one of my late night/ early morning awake times with my son, my head was in a spin about the latest news of the more intentional lockdown we were about to enter. So many people would be feeling so many different things. What was God saying in amongst it all?? PEACE. PEACE, BE STILL.
I knew that I had to dance to that. That myself, and many others needed to know that God says, Peace Be Still… Let your Faith arise. Jesus is the one that calms the storms with 3 strong words, He is the one that will bring us comfort, strength, peace and protection over the coming months. We need to choose to let our faith arise and lean into all that He has available for us.
As I shared with others my passion for moving to this song, they wanted to also dance, before I knew it, there was indeed a dancing army, proclaiming God’s word, safety, protection and peace. That’s what this video is. A culmination of 8 dancers stepping out to move in prayer for all. God moves mountains, he changes water into wine, he raises people from the dead, he heals the sick. He stands by us no matter what, walks with us during our darkest hours, and carries when it gets too much.
Remember this ripple I keep talking about? How a ripple can change the atmosphere. For just by one starting, others will follow. Let’s make this ripple shake and move the heavens. Let’s be bold in our conversations, our prayers, our movements. Let’s shake the heavens and show people how great our God is.
Join me, #dancealittlelouder. Be a #dancingarmy.
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Wow. What a period of unknown we are entering into. I’m sure each of us have many different feelings at the moment. One thing for sure, is that we need to stand firm on our foundation – God’s word and Jesus. It has struck me that we need to be active with our dance ministry in this period of change moving forward, God has been speaking to me about raising a worship dance army.
That my heart cannot be held by circumstance. For my eyes are locked on the God who sees the end. So when this world around me cries out, “Who can stand?” I know That I will not be moved for my feet are planted in You.
Lyrics from Firm Foundation, Selah
I want to share with you four ways that you can choose develop your dance ministry during this time of change. Ways that you as an individual can grow and develop your dance ministry, or ways you can do it for your group.
1. We are called for such a time as this.
During some of the many hours I am up with my son, I had quite an intense time of searching with God. There are many things on my mind at the moment, but the biggest one is that God is calling us dancers and movers to step up. Step up and move, dance, declare God’s glory, peace, power and love across all that is going on.
The words from the song Firm Foundation have washed over me during the past week, speaking affirmation, encouragement and joy into a situation that looks quite bleak! We share our faith through dance and movement, demonstrating our faith, deeds and action.
Part of my response to this conversation with God involved embracing the lovely March weather. Heading to the beach, because that was where God said I should dance, and putting movement to this song.
So the first way to develop your dance ministry is by being willing to respond to Gods call.
Moving forward as a dancing army
Last year I shared about the golden whirlwind picture I was given, where essentially there were little tornadoes above each person’s head. As dancers and movers moved the little tornadoes gathered together into a big one.
All those little ripples merged together to create a change in the atmosphere that was unprecedented (you can read more about it here). I had already begun to see this picture start to come to fruition at the beginning of the year. But going forward our ability to move and dance as one will be even more important.
God is leading me to encourage a Dancing Army. By this I mean, making the choice to use our dance and movement to cause an even greater shift in the atmosphere. We have this magnificent opportunity to demonstrate worship and faith in different way going forward. Your dance ministry can help this grow by being bold and stepping out, building a dancing army. Choosing to simply be Jesus with your movement and encouraging others.
Dance a little Louder
The song Raise a Hallelujah has a line in it ‘sing a little louder’ where every bit of me wants to do more than the words give. God is calling us to move more, to dance strong, dance it loud and dance it from the heart. Now is our time as dancers to step out into all God has made us to be. To pray, to move, to go deeper with God.
Part of this requires gathering with other dancers and as we become more of a dancing army – our dance, our song – is getting louder.
Dance ministry is hard work, it requires dedication and always choosing to put Gods pathway first. It also requires stepping out to encourage others and be in the gap when others can’t. Dancing louder with more vibrancy, declaring Gods heart and putting his word front and centre.
Create an online dance ministry community
Community brings cohesion, the opportunity to join together and move as one consistently. You cannot beat face to face dance ministry. However, you must adapt to the circumstances around you, which is why at UC Grace we are launching Prayer Dance Bites. Short 20 minute gatherings online 2-3 times a week, to read and respond to scripture. All ages welcome.
How could you create community online to encourage others with your dance ministry. Choose to get people moving and dancing their prayer. Creating fellowship, catch up and time together.
Want to join us online?
There are several different ways that you can join UC Grace online.
Prayer Dance Bitesprovide the opportunity to connect scripture and pray through weekly sessions via zoom. Further information is available here.
Scripture Promptsbring you scripture right into your inbox once a week. They offer 3 ways to engage with scripture in a way that you might not normally. For more information head here.
God encourages us in those moments we need it most, even if
we haven’t recognised that we need it. Whilst I was away at Rivercamp, there
were several things that struck me.
The first being we all dance and move with the same heart.
The second that a whirlwind is created as each of us moves in someway.
Let me share some more.
Part of my journey with UC Grace has been overcoming
people’s perceptions of what I do and my heart behind it, as well believing and
trusting that I was good enough to do it, and there was a need for it. It
hasn’t been easy, at the Going Deeper weekend in July I shared some of this.
That in the beginning of UC Grace I judged my ‘success’ on the number of people
that came to my events and if I didn’t have many, I wasn’t good enough and doing
it right.
Yet I knew the foremost reason that I was doing UC Grace was
because it was about the hearts of those that came. The hearts that God needed
to work with, take on a journey and grow. That’s what my heart needed to do, in
order to recognise the gift God had grown inside me. A passion to share,
motivate and grow others in movement and dance with Gods word as central.
During my time at Rivercamp I noticed a group of people that
always congregated near a space at the side at the front, and claimed the space
so to speak, and as the meeting got underway I realised they were movers and
dancers of varying degrees of ability. As I began to watch them, a wrestle began
in my spirit. A wrestle to watch, receive and bless what I was seeing, but at
the same time resentment, longing, and feeling put out and it was unfair! Lots
of emotions that had crept up and I didn’t know where to go with. Except I did,
but only because of the journey I had been through with UC Grace.
Let me unpack this.
When I am in an environment where my emotions seem to be
getting the better of me, or, better put, the Devil is trying to windle his way
in. I check myself. I take a pause, a visible breath. The negativity that I was
experiencing was pulling up my insecurities, ones that I had defeated. But there,
in that present moment, in a new situation they were trying to come to the
surface again. I just kept saying to myself, ‘they have a heart to move too,’ ‘they
are worshipping God their way.’
In those moments in the worship, where I was desperate just
to be lost in it and dance myself, I had to deal with this before I moved forward.
I had to deal with the elephant! So, I began a conversation with God, asking
what I have got to learn here, what did I need to deal with, recognise, bless,
repent. Tough going!
As I relaxed into his presence, he encouraged me that it
wasn’t about me being ‘left out’ or ‘not included’, it was about opening up
opportunities for others to experience God.
The essence of UC Grace….
As UC Grace has grown, part of my battle has been addressing
how UC Grace is seen, or what it is. It’s only been the past few years that I’ve
acknowledged that it is a business. I say this here because it is through that acknowledgment
that God presented me with opportunities for UC Grace to grow and develop.
Over the few days after that initial encounter in the tent
at Rivercamp, I thought about it more, the impact of my reaction to what I had
felt, and asked God to reveal more about it.
I had the most amazing picture.
This is the reason for this post, but I wanted you to understand
a few things before I shared it. Every dancer and movers journey is different. You
will experience some negativity at some point on your journey about dancing and
moving, the key is how you deal with it when you are presented with it.
My heart is to release and equip others with their faith
through dance and movement. Jesus will always be the number one person I go to
for decisions, reasons and conversations, and that includes business ones. UC
Grace is a business, it’s a business God has blessed with growth over a very
big journey, the picture God gave me, not only encouraged me in my journey with
UC Grace, but the journey of Christian dance organisations, businesses, and
individuals. Whether they are moving now, will be movers, or will simply just
experience the soaking of the Holy Spirit through someone moving around them.
So the picture…
During one of the last worship times at Rivercamp, the tent
had come to a very hushed quiet, what I began to see were small whirlwinds over
the tops of groups of people. As these whirlwinds began to move around the place,
gold started to be threaded through them.
All the whirlwinds then converged into one. Into a tornado. A
tornado of GLORY, filled with gold. As it moved it changed the atmosphere,
transforming those it moved over. The more it moved the more different colours
came into it. The more it moved it was clear that it was the interaction of
what was inside the tornado that was causing the shift in the atmosphere.
As the image faded away, it was an ah ha moment. A moment
where I recognised why God had to reiterate to me before about how precious
each person’s movement was, and how each individuals movements when converged
with others creates something far more powerful than we can ever fathom. It creates
a movement in the heavens that transforms those around it.
This is something that I knew, but sometimes you can loose
sight of it, when you’re tired and been giving out lots.
There is however more.
My friend told me about a picture an artist had in a tent, that I needed to go and look at. This is it… what do you see?
Two things were brought to my attention. The whirlwind
effect of colours spiralling with the reaction to the environment around it. But
also, how it fits in with the UC Grace logo. The lady that painted this is Helen
Yousaf a prophetic artist and an amazing worship leader.
I was just astounded (again) at how God brings everything together. Are you a dancer? Are you ready to change the atmosphere that you move in? Are you ready to take your whirlwind where God tells you? Get in touch as I would love to hear from you.
Want to be kept up to date with all things UC Grace? Head here.
Having strength in your arms is important, it helps improve
your posture which means your back is strong, resistance training your arms has
shown that it reduces the risk of musculoskeletal injuries or at least reduce
their severity. But proper form is important.
Strong muscles will enhance your workout. Once
you start concentrating on your upper body, other exercises will seem easier.
Working your arms can help protect your bones.
Every year your bones loose more strength, but the good news is, the more you
work them, the more you help to maintain healthy bones and build density.
Working your arms, gives you that feel good
factor, the satisfaction that you’ve worked something hard and will reap the
rewards. It will help your exercise mindset going forward.
Exercises to try –
If you can do the 2 exercises 2 – 3 times a day. You will
start to feel a noticeable difference in your arm strength.
Forearm pulse: Connect your forearms
together from your elbow all the way up to your fingertips, palms together. Push
the forms arms together to create tension. Pulse your arms up and down,
maintaining contact with no gaps and pressure. Do this for 30 seconds/ pulses.
Ensure your shoulders stay down and your core is still scooped in.
Press ups: You probably thought you might
get away with out these, but no such luck. A few things to remember about press
ups. The further your feet are away the harder it, which means the lower your
arms/ centre of gravity the harder it is too. So bear this in mind when you
choose the level you want to do the press ups at. Place your hands just wider
than your shoulders. Keep your shoulders down and tummy scooped. Make sure your
body is in a straight line, so your bottom is tucked in. inhale on the way
down. Exhale on the way up. Aim for 10 reps.
The quadriceps are one of your power house muscles in your
body (alongside your core), that really need to be strong and stable. The
muscle groups in your legs work together to ensure that your balance and
stability are in the right place when your body needs it, as well ensuring your
knee flexes and extends as needed.
Having strong quads will aid the stability
needed for the knee joints, which can inherently be unstable and depend on
ligaments and muscles to protect them from injury.
The inner thigh muscles also provide internal
rotation, which counterbalances the external rotation from your outer thighs and
glutes.
Like any major muscle groups they require care
and maintenance, stretching in particular is important as no stretching can
lead to a shortened thigh muscle which in turn means your knee won’t be able to
flex effectively.
Exercises to try –
If you can do the 2 exercises 2 – 3 times a day. You will
start to feel a noticeable difference in your quad strength.
Squats – super easy to integrate into
your day when you’re brushing your teeth, making a cup of tea, cooking tea and
more! You need to have you feet hip or shoulder width apart and a straight
back. Remember to scoop in your core and engage it. You want to bend your
knees, ensuring your knees stay behind your toes, and your chest stays higher
than your hips. You have the choice to do normal squats down and up, or add in
a pulse at the bottom before you come up. Aim for 15 reps.
Standing leg raises: Standing up tall
with your tummy scooped in. Raise your leg up in front of you so it is slightly
bent and then lower back down, let your big toe tap the ground but nothing else
and lift leg back up. If you need to hold onto something to keep your balance,
rest your hand lightly on a chair. The lifting of the leg must come from the
thigh not the knee. Aim for 15 reps on each leg.
Our core can be something that we obsess about, what it
looks like, how strong it is and the exercises that we do. During my time as a
dance teacher and Buggyfit trainer I have seen many different exercises to work
the core.
My conclusion, simpler is the better and
conventional is not always best. What I mean by this is that sit ups and burpees
are not the answer, they don’t target our inner core.
Our core is a complicated part of our body, and
many different things impact it. What we forget is that our body is made up of many
different layers. Conventional exercises focus on building strength in the upper
layers, whilst inner core work goes deep down.
Training these muscles is essential for
stability, joint control through motion and ensuring all those inner muscle
work together to propel you forward in the best way.
Exercises to try –
If you can do the 2 exercises 2 – 3 times a day. You will
start to feel a noticeable difference in your core strength.
Box scoop: Kneeling on all fours ensure
your knees are directly below your hips and your wrists are below your
shoulders, have your back in neutral alignment. Relax your tummy, it’s really
important that you really let it all go! Otherwise the exercise won’t work
effectively. Inhale and let your tummy fill with air, as you exhale slowly
scoop your in and up. You want to begin from the top of your pubic bone and
finish at your belly button. Your aim is to create a C scoop as you draw your
tummy in. Take 4 counts to exhale and 4 counts to inhale. You need to have
control through both directions. 5 reps. This can also be done standing up, but
by doing it on your hands and knees, you work against gravity more, so your
muscles work harder!
Candlestick Dipper: This will work your transverse
abdominus and your obliques. Kneel on the ground, with one leg out to the side.
Ensure your back in straight and your hip is stacked above your knee for the
one you’re kneeling on. For the one out to side, keep the toe facing forward
and the heel to the back. Option A is to raise your arms out to the side at
shoulder height, maintaining a straight line with your body tilt to the side
away from the foot that it out. Touch the floor with your fingertips. The
further away you touch the harder it is. Option B join your fingertips together
above your head. Maintain contact with your fingers as you lean to the side and
then bring yourself back up. It’s important to keep yourself aligned for both
these options and don’t allow your bum to out backwards and you reach forward
with you arms. For those who have a weak core or less than 5 months postpartum,
only do option A!
Summer months is always a time when we naturally pick up the pace and move more, whether that’s through day trips out or just because the weather is nicer, we are outside more. I’m someone who needs to go outside and move everyday whatever the weather. But the reality of moving in a specific way apart from day to day tasks can be daunting, we might all think about it lots, but the actual doing of it, can take some extra focus.
Throughout August I want to offer some real quick ways to
integrate movement into your everyday that will allow a daily habit to be
created. I’ll also provide some extra info about why we might want to support
or exercise that part of the body.
Week one: Ankle | 5th August
Why start with the ankles? Ankles are one of our main joins
that take the stress and strain of our whole body as we go about our day. They
help keep us stable, work our core and pivot with changes of direction and
motion as needed. Here’s some other key facts to remember about ankles –
A major function is proprioception, when neutral
transmitters in and around the joint respond to signals from the brain that
enable you to identify where the ankle is and how well balanced you are on it.
Improving the flexibility of your ankle will
significantly help with your strength, squat and reduce injury.
The ankle is a hinge joint and works on one
plane of motion – dorsiflexion and plantarflexion. Plantarflexion is the
movement downwards – pointing your toes like a ballet dancer. Dorsiflexion is
the movement up, when your toes go towards the sky whilst your heel is on the
ground.
Strong dorsiflexion means the front of the shin
can move forward during a movement, which helps with crucial body alignment and
application of force.
Exercises to try –
If you can do the 2 exercises 2 – 3 times a day. You will
start to feel a noticeable difference in your ankle strength.
Flexion
and extension of ankle: sitting on the floor extend your legs out in front
of you, alternately flex your foot to the ceiling and then point it down to the
ground. Push to the point that you feel a stretch. Aim for 10 reps flexing, 10
reps extending. This can also be done on a chair/sofa. What ever you choose,
ensure you’re sat up straight and your shoulders are down.
Heel
raises: ensure you are standing up straight, place your feet hip width
apart and take a slight bend. This is the position that you will hold during
the exercise. Keep your knees and rest of body still, lift up your as far as
you can, pushing the top of your foot forward. Lower back down. Do 10 reps.
This can also be done on a step, by dropping heels below the top of the step
and then raising them up.
What a fantastic day we had learning from each other. The
day was split up into 3/4 sections, in each section there was a talk and
discussion, an exercise in pairs to put into action what was discussed and then
a time of delivery – so practising what they had just planned. Everyone had
such different ideas, it was great to spark off each other and encourage those
that felt a little shy.
Section 1 – warm up
and ice breakers
This is a really important part of the workshop which I chatted about in the blog post 6 Essentials when planning a dance worship workshop. The challenge here was introducing a theme and working out how to devise a warm up based around a theme. The topic of water came up as a common one, but some participants soon realised that they weren’t sure which bit of water to focus on.
Water is a good example of a topic that has so much
possibility for a workshop. It’s a key feature in the Bible, creation and our
journey of faith. Ideas for inclusion in a warm up included –
Ice – freeze/ still movements leading to melting
and then adding travelling motion in.
River – how the water flows in and around rocks,
some of the children being rocks and others being the water that passed around
them.
Waves – the crashing sound, being tall and
small. Rolling on the ground and stretching wide. Spinning a partner out and
then having them roll back in along their partners arm.
All the above areas of water can be expanded and padded out
loads after the initial warm up. Remember the warm up is an opportunity to have
fun, get everyone moving and introduce a small part of the theme.
SAMSUNG CSC
Section 2 – Planning an
under 5s workshop. We looked at Psalm 18.28-33 for this section.
“You, Lord, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light. With your help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall. As for God, his way is perfect: The Lord’s word is flawless; he shields all who take refuge in him. For who is God besides the Lord? And who is the Rock except our God? It is God who arms me with strength and keeps my way secure. He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he causes me to stand on the heights.”
The sets of verses above provide some awesome imagery with
which to design workshops and themes. We used this passage as a starting point
thinking about a workshop for under 5s. Just a few things that came out of our initial
discussion was:
Standing on a rock – strength
Light
Battle – warfare
Refuge
Like a travelling song
Perfection
Scaling a wall
Participants worked in pairs and looked at one section of the workshop plan (Read more about the 6 essentials when planning a dance worship workshop here) putting together an outline of movements, before then teaching it to the rest of the group.
Section 3 – Choreographing a dance for 5 – 11 year olds
How many of you have the song ‘My Lighthouse’ in your
church? There are several different actions that have been put to the words of
this song – your church might already use some. So, I thought it offered an
opportunity for participants to choreograph something that they could use
within a workshop or group of children.
Working in groups we looked at the different verses and put
together some movement. You can check out what we did below.
We begun the day by looking at why we want to invest in children, what the Bible says and the reasons that brought the participants to the dance day. As we finished the day we spoke about how we can encourage a conversation of prayer during the workshops by having some creative prayer exercises. That by demonstrating how to dance and make it a conversation with God, you can encourage each child to have ownership of their journey of faith and conversation with God.
Want to be kept up to date with all things UC Grace? Head here.
Planning is essential in all forms of delivery, whether that
is for dance or something different. Throughout nearly 20 years of teaching, I
have tried many ways to layout a dance workshop or session, today you get to
hear the layout I find most useful!
It might be that you want to create a whole session or just
one exercise or series of movements, whatever it is, it is still the same
process. We’ll talk in terms of a ‘session’ but the same applies to an
exercise/ series of movements.
This post is all with reference to leading a Christian based
dance worship workshop of some form. However, all that is shared can be applied
in a normal secular context without faith.
Before we get going though, there are a few things that you need to have decided in order to plan the workshop most effectively –
Who will be your age or population focus?
What is your theme – including the main focus and intended outcome
How long is your session and how will you divide elements within the session
What is the number of participants that will be at the workshop, or what are your maximum numbers?
Each one of the above can impact the workshop in different ways, so take the time to make it specific to what you are wanting to achieve.
So what 6 essential things should I include?
1. Ice breaker
Whether you know the participants well, or they are completely
new faces, you can never start a session cold. An ice breaker allows participants
the opportunity to begin the session recognising that they are in safe space, that
their ‘ability’ won’t be questioned, and that they feel welcomed to see where
the workshop will take them.
This initial opening/ ice breaker will set the tone for the
rest of the workshop, participants will either be hooked and want to go further
or may feel unsure about continuing. Therefore this ‘hook in’ needs to grab
their focus, allow participants to tune in with others and get ready to learn
what is coming.
Here’s a few ideas that are tried and tested, they are all
adaptable for all ages and abilities –
What’s your name and where are you from?
How has your week been? Can you use one word to describe your week?
What brought you to this workshop? What’s one thing that you’d love to learn in this workshop?
Say your name and do an action, everyone else copy, work your way round the group.
Make a freeze shape of how you are feeling about the workshop at the beginning.
Imagine these 5 minutes (because that’s all it usually is) are your welcome speech, the chance to win the vote of everyone and have them wanting more. Have energy, be friendly, encourage discussion.
2. Warm up
This is so important and should NEVER be by-passed. Not only does it prepare our body, but it also ensures we are safe with our movement, our listening and helps us be our best in the session. So, what do I need to do in a warm up?
Raise the heart rate
– it’s important to gradually raise our heart rate and body temperature. This
will decrease injuries and increase the body’s ability to move more
efficiently.
Create a sense of fun
and involvement – look at it as a great opportunity to let them see who you
are, how you teach and to get moving with you.
Include dynamic
stretches – these are stretches that move and encourage the body to go
beyond its normal range of motion, therefore stretching and molding the muscles
to work effectively.
Introduce the theme
– the warm up is fab place to subtly (or not) introduce your theme. Be creative
and be literal, with children a game can be a great place to start.
3. Exploration
Before you rush head long into a sequence or main part of
the workshop, it’s good to lay the foundation of what the session will explore
and provide the chance for participants to learn specific moves which may aid
them later in the workshop.
You may prefer to call this section exercises, as it allows
set themes or movements to be explored that provide focus. For example, if your
theme was God’s Breath, here’s one
thing you could do –
In a space focus on taking 3 deep breaths, filling and emptying your lungs as much as you can. On the next set of 3 breaths, take yourself up on a rise as you breathe in, and lower as you breathe out. On the next set take a step forward as you breathe in and step back as you breathe out.
This very simple exercise can be developed in whatever way you
want to fit in with the participants, and challenge them more if needed. To lengthen
and imprint the impact breath can have on initiating movement, ask them to
close their eyes as they do the movement. This will do several things –
Increase their awareness of their breath and the
size of their movement
Encourage them to work on their balance and
their core
Help them to feel the weight in their movement,
therefore adding another dynamic to how it can be developed.
Don’t overthink the exploration that you want to do.
Provided you know what you want as your intended outcome, this section can be a
real fun section to develop.
4. Sequence
Whilst I have called this section ‘sequence’ I recognise
that not all workshops will have a sequence as such to learn. So, consider this
also the ‘main bit’, the chunk that you really want everyone to
grasp from the workshop.
This could involve learning part of a set sequence, group
work expanding a Bible verse, song verse, the theme, working with a resource,
and so much more!
But what you need to remember, is that whatever you did in
the previous section needs to flow with ease into this one, a seamless transition,
rather than a stilted connection.
5. Development/ free movement
Up until this point, you will have mostly guided, taught or
impressed on participants the best way forward with their movement. This
section allows the participant to start to take some ownership over their
movement style and how they want to develop.
More often than not, this is where I give my participants a very loose task. I do this because I believe by this point in the workshop, they are capable of simulating movements together themselves and working with a partner or bigger group to create something that flows with the theme from the exploration section, to sequence section to this one. It’s also a great chance for me to sit back and see Gods work in progress, which is the most exciting bit of course!
6. Cool down/ reflection
Just like it’s important to begin with a warm up, it’s also
essential to finish with a cool down. This section has two purposes.
The first, to lower heart rates and bring our bodies back to
a place they are normally at, using stretches and breathing to do this.
The second, to reflect on the impact of the session, to pray
together or with someone individually, or take a moment of quiet. You can never
underestimate the impact that a workshop will have on someone. It may not be obvious
on the day, but God always moves, even when it’s not visible.
As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, this outline is a process that I have found works well for me. Each of us are individual and all work differently. Take your time to find out what works for you, practise it and let God lead!
Let me know what are your essentials when you’re planning a worship workshop.
Want to be kept up to date with all things UC Grace? Head here.
Sometimes we just need to stop. Breathe. Pause. Say, ‘God I
need you right now’, ‘please send more of your spirit’, ‘wrap your arms around
me’.
Our new Soak events are designed to provide just that. An opportunity in the month to enter into Gods presence.
Although we all try daily to walk with Jesus beside us, there are always moments where life takes us down a different path, and we get to the end of a day, week, month and realise, those moments that we struggled through, were exactly the moments when God wanted to step into the breach for us.
My heart for the Soak events is a time to actively make the decision to draw deeper with Jesus and dwell in his presence. In 2 Timothy it talks about the need to nourish and support our faith, and it’s the Holy Spirit within us that can help us do that.
We can’t give out, if we are running ourselves on empty,
taking the time to fill us up should be a priority.
What will happen at Soak events?
We’ll spend a short time welcoming each other and doing a warm up movement activity together. As well as reading through some scriptures to focus on during the session.
This will lead into an initial time of free worship, after
which there will then be a creative reflection exercise for people to part take
in if they wish, leading back into free worship.
There will be the opportunity to take part in some prayer movement if people wish, this will be led and guided by the event leader, depending on peoples strengths.
The rest of the evening we’ll see where the Holy Spirit takes us!
You can see our current dates for Soak Nights here.
Do I need to have had
dance experience?
Absolutely not! Part of dancing and moving in your faith is
the recognition that movements are tiny and big, so whatever you do, a foot
tap, or hand raise, is still a movement.
Want to know more and be kept up to date with other events at UC Grace? Head here to sign up.
