Respond to the Word

Respond

Stand together (C+YP 15 mins)

You will need: a copy of the Taizé chant, ‘Jesus, remember me’.

• Invite everyone to take their shoes off and stand in a circle with their empty shoes in front of them. Explain that the group will soon move around the circle of shoes, so each person should leave their pair where they are, as they will be able to collect them at the end.
• As the music is played, quietly at first, invite people to think about who has helped them when times were difficult. Who has stood in their shoes?
• Now invite people to take two steps to the left and to look at the shoes now in front of them. What would it be like to stand in these shoes? What support does the owner of the shoes need?
• Raise the music volume a little. All move two steps to the left and face another pair of shoes. They may not instantly recognise whose these are. Whose shoes do we need to stand in? Who needs our support?
• Raise the music volume a little more. All move four steps to the left and face another pair of shoes. Are we able to imagine the shoes of someone far away, and what it must be like to stand in their shoes?
• All move back to their own shoes and join in with the song as they put them on again: Jesus, remember me, when you come into your kingdom.