| These are notes and comments on some of the items which appear in the Family Service script. Links from the script point to these entries; clicking the links in the left hand column of the table takes you back to the corresponding link in the script - or, where more than one link from the script points to the note, back to the first such link.
The comments are typically related to features of the service which are specific to our church or the time of the service, or which for some other reason we think might require alteration for another setting. For references to the internal geography of the church, it might be helpful to inspect the plan. |
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| BEFORE THE SERVICE - | |||
| Properties : | Bicycle : an exercise cycle placed by the altar at the front of the church ( or in some other convenient and conspicuous place ). It was covered by a cloth until used. | ||
| Furniture : | Prayer desk : by the altar, covered with a cloth. | ||
| People : |
Overhead projector person in place.
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| ALPHA. | - or some similar evangelistic outreach programme. A Youth Alpha course was happening in our parish at that time. | ||
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| BALCONY. | Our church has a balcony at the back which is not usually occupied during services. Someone speaking up there cannot be seen from the body of the church, but the voice is very clearly audible. That's the effect we required for the "voice of God". An alternative might be to use a loudspeaker system. | ||
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| BICYCLE | This is used towards the end of the service to mime "The Bike Ride". We used an exercise "bicycle", which solved the problem of keeping it upright and stationary while in use, and worked very well. | ||
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| THE BIKE RIDE | Our original reference attributed this story to Charles Swindoll. In trying to find more information by a WWW search, we found many copies of the story, but no other attribution to Charles Swindoll - or to anyone else. We have therefore followed precedent and assumed that the author is anonymous. | ||
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| BRITOMART. | "The new railway station" and "Britomart" are descriptive and proper names for a new station opened in Auckland shortly before the date of the Family Service. These would obviously have to be changed for another time and place. To see the point of some parts of the script, it helps to know that around the time of the opening there were many stories of trains running late, breaking down, or not appearing at all.
( To be fair, we add that the service at Britomart is now very much better. ) | ||
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| HYMN | We don't know the author or date for "To get a touch from the Lord"; this is our source. | ||
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| MIMERS | In two places in the service - Isaiah's cleansing with the burning coal, and the poem "The Bike Ride" - we have accompanied otherwise uneventful speech with a mimer who mimes the events. This adds variety to the presentation, and in practice works well. | ||
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| PRAYER. | The prayer was printed in the service sheet, and also displayed on the projector screen. | ||
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| PRAYER DESK. | Our prayer desk is a kneeler with an attached support which will hold a book at a convenient height for the person kneeling.
We used this to show Isaiah in an attitude of prayer. We used it because it fits in with our church and our style of service; the important thing is to emphasise the prayer, and any appropriate method will do. | ||
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| SERAPHS. | We did not even try to make our seraphs look like the description in the reading ( six wings, etc. ). They did have white robes. | ||
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| ROUND WINDOW. | The window itself isn't significant; the intention is to indicate a high place above the altar. | ||
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| TESTIMONIES. | There are two testimonies in the service; these are obviously personal, so cannot be scripted. If possible, they should be chosen to match the Bible readings; perhaps someone with fairly "traditional" views for the first, with someone more "charismatic" for the second.
NOTICE that the second testimony ends "with an invitation to meditate silently on the following prayer"; the person giving the testimony should be briefed to include the invitation to meditate - or the invitation could be given to the Leader. | ||
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| TWICE AS LONG .... | Taking 2.5 cubits to the metre, Solomon's temple was around 20×40 metres. St Augustine's is about 10×20, long rather than broad. Our "round window" is high up in the narrow wall at the front. The description should give a rough idea of the size of the temple, and needn't be at all precise.
( NOTE ADDED LATER : These numbers appear to be wrong. 1 Kings 6.2 gives the dimensions as "60 cubits long, 20 cubits wide", or 24m by 8m. That's actually pretty close to St Augustine's, with the area just about right ! ) | ||
