Thank you for the many fine articles and helpful suggestions in RW 12. You may be interested to know how I put Richard Coleman's article, "Beyond Moralism," into practice at Faith CRC.
I was to do a children's message on a phrase from the Lord's Prayer: "Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." One approach that came to mind was to get the children to talk about ways in which they can do God's will: obey their parents, be kind to others, etc.
I said, "Pastor Jim is going to talk about what Christ means when he said, 'Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.' Who lives in heaven with God? A child answered, "Angels." I continued, "Angels praise God perfectly in heaven. Do we praise and serve God perfectly on earth?" Some children thought we did! I explained that we don't praise perfectly now, but that someday we will. Someday the whole earth will be full of God's praise. I asked the group to join me in making a sound-picture of how God's praise is growing throughout the earth—how it will continue to grow until God's will is finally done on earth as it is in heaven. I then taught the children Psalter Hymnal #639 (Taize "Alleluia"), phrase by phrase.
I told the children that we would sing this song as we moved down the center aisle, and as we reached each row, the people could join us, singing softly. Then as we moved back up the aisle, everyone would sing louder and louder. When we reached the front, we would sing the hymn all together once again, and then I would give the cutoff.
The song had much the effect that I had hoped it would. The sound grew throughout the procession, reaching its loudest point during our final "Alleluia" at the front of the church. I heard many positive comments from the congregation after the service.
Dorothy Frisch
Fridley, MN