Attendees participate in the Blessed Movements session during Bothell UMC’s House of Grace worship.
House of Grace: A Different Kind of Worship | By Kristin Joyner
Bothell United Methodist Church invited the congregation to experience grace in an exciting and participative worship service to conclude a series of sermons on “Grace”. After gathering in the sanctuary to welcome one another, everyone was released into the “House of Grace”. Several rooms of the church were converted into opportunities to experience grace.
Grace can be experienced by prayer – so the Chapel was a room to explore five different ways of praying. As Taize music played in the background, the softly lit chapel allowed people to remember baptism as they listened to a water fountain. There was an area set aside to gaze at icons, pray with each breath, and other stations with simple self-directed instruction.
There were ways to experience grace by being in service to the community by picking up litter in the neighborhood, working in the community garden and sorting clothes for the Baby Corner. In addition there was a room to experience the scripture in ways such as Lectio Divina. Grace was seen in the people who served Atlantic Street Center, the prison ministries and in sewing shower bags for the residents of Tent City.
This service of worship was a time many will never forget. Not only did the congregation get an opportunity to experience what grace means, they were able to spend meaningful time in service, in prayer and in fellowship in ways they may not have known about, or made time for.
If you would like more information about this worship service,
please contact Bothell United Methodist Church at bumcoffice@bothellumc.org or call (425) 486-7132.
Download the full issue of Channels 55, August 2012 here.
