A Christmas Cracker Of Events, Happenings And Special Services So That Christmas Is Never Mis-spent

Worship in church can be very challenging, especially with young people. This book contains a range of services ideas designed especially for, but not only, young people.
Many of those who lead worship in churches, schools, youth centres, etc, need to become very focussed on young people around Christmas time, but even when they think creatively, they have neither time nor the resources to implement their ideas.
This book offers a wide 'off the peg' range of services/addresses for Advent and Christmas, through which we believe it possible to create a sense of wonder, awe and excitement. We hope that as worship leaders explore what follows, they will feel stimulated to dip into the contents offered and then create their own events and special services.
As readers explore man's relationship with God, they will be led along paths that are as varied as the individual characteristics of those people. Each and every path leads to moments of personal discovery, and with these come satisfaction, great humour and joy.
This book shares some of these awesome discoveries.
The ideas that follow are an attempt to demonstrate how different congregations have explored the God/Man relationship and we hope the reader will be hugely stimulated and want to become creative in their own way; this is the main purpose for this book.
The book is divided into 3 parts:
Section 1 is an event which can fill the 'Sermon Slot' in a family service or a school assembly whether it is a Eucharist or another form of worship.
Section 2 is made up of a number of complete services, each of which stands in its own right.
Section 3 contains some ideas for embellishing both Sections 1 & 2. These can also be used as standalone pieces or interwoven with other themes created by the reader.

Robert Parker is a retired priest of the Church of England.
Throughout his years as a minister he worked extensively with young people and during that time created each of these services as part of his work. Often he was the spiritual leader of a congregation of 300+ young people, together with their leaders and parents.
During his ministry he worked in Sheffield, at Cheltenham College, in Harrow and in Westminster, and was also Rector of St Mary Yate, one of the largest parishes in England. Here he led a ministry team of six, and was responsible for the building of the new church of St Nicolas, and also for the re-modelling of the parish church. The church itself then took on a seven day a week 'ministry' serving the people of the town in a whole variety of ways.