My name is Anne Clague and I have been a member of Kerith Community Church in Bracknell for 20 years. I came to know Jesus as a child and since I was 15, wherever I have lived, in every church where I have worshipped, I have been involved in the children’s ministries. I am passionate about children knowing and following Jesus. 

In November, I was excited to be asked to join the brand new Prayer Spaces venture in Kerith Bracknell.

A team of four of us found some really helpful ideas and info from the website and we gathered a lot of ‘stuff’!  Three Headteachers in local schools who we had contacts with, kindly welcomed us in to their schools to lead what we called ‘Discovery Workshops’.

We were able to turn the hall or large teaching rooms into spaces which, quite importantly, don’t feel like a classroom.

We set up activities around the room for children (and adults) to engage with. Classes of Year 2 and  Key Stage 2 children (ages 7-11) have been brought by their teachers into the room for around 40 minutes at a time. The multi-sensory activities provide opportunities for the children to become aware of God and the possibility of communicating with Him, as well as encouraging them to think about their personal situations and emotions. 

We offered children the chance to say ‘Sorry’, ‘Please’ and ‘Thank you’ to God. We encouraged them to put the ‘Big Questions’ that were troubling them into words, as well as pondering themes such as forgiveness, peace, worries, loss, community and situations in the wider world.

We set up the space and then run the sessions across the afternoon or day before dismantling it all again. Despite the amount of work on the day and in preparation, it has been thoroughly worthwhile. 

We set an expectation of quietness and slowness within the Prayer Spaces before the children enter and have been overwhelmed by their responses. The way in which they have conducted themselves and involved themselves in the activities has been incredible.

The feedback we have received has been amazing and affirmative. Here are some of the comments from one of the schools:

Children’s quotes:

‘I loved the tents because of the little lights that you could touch, and they made me feel peaceful’

‘Thank you for teaching me how to deal with my emotions and help me deal with my worries.’

‘It was calm, there was not lots of noise, I could focus.’

One of the Headteachers commented:

‘It was lovely to see, as well, how you guided the children so that they got the best out of the sessions. I was speaking with some teachers and they all agreed on how peaceful and relaxing it felt. A governor said to me that her son went home talking about the workshop and explaining all the different activities that he was able to engage in.’

The third ‘Prayer Spaces’ we were asked to do was for a school where a 9 year-old child had died from cancer. We went in to run activities for the afternoon of her funeral. As a team, we felt enormously privileged and blessed to be trusted to bring God into the midst of such an emotionally harrowing and difficult situation. We certainly felt the Holy Spirit’s presence there.

We are still quite new to this. It is quite hard work, but really enjoyable to do and hugely rewarding. 

Our team is growing-it is exciting that other people have heard what we are doing and are capturing the vision, too. 

We are thrilled to have been asked back to two of the schools and we are planning completely different activities this time round. 

God is certainly ‘working His purpose out’ as the old hymn states. We stand amazed at the way that he has put us together as a team and opened the doors. We are just trying to be obedient to his call and to walk through those doors. We are using the gifts He has given us to make Him accessible to children who would never have those opportunities to reach out to Him otherwise. 

Now we just wait to see what He wants to do.