Tim Abbott

Sanctum at Colchester Royal Grammar School - Wednesday

Fewer numbers; greater depth. We're contiuing to see students engaging seriously with Sanctum in lessons and, in answer to our prayers, numbers at break and lunch time have consistently been 8-10. In amongst the deep conversations about life and faith there's also been loads of humour. Yesterday one boy wrote on the Big Question activity; "Why did you make me so damn sexy?!" which turned into a discussion with his mates responding in terms of how God made us and how he sees all of us.

Today I chatted with Alan over the 'character' activity. He'd chosen as his top three attributes, "Love", "Joy", and "Strength". Alan saw strength as something that's more than just physical but also mental which led on to a conversation about whether it's possible to have spiritual strength. His conclusion was that he really hoped to have a strong faith as he grew up.

Later Stu, a Year 13 who has only one A level exam left, came in during a year 8 lesson simply to spend time at the prayer wall leaving a prayer for a friend who's going through a difficult time.

We've also had some of the secretarial staff popping in and taking part. With two days still to go I'm excited to see how this week concludes. If there's one thing that's proved true, it's all about the individuals.

 

 

 

 

 

(Names have been changed)

Sanctum at Colchester Royal Grammar School - Monday

The summer season of Sanctum kicked off on Monday at Colchester Royal Grammar School, our third annual visit here.

A few weeks ago we prayed about this visit of Sanctum. Although we probably shouldn't be surprised by these things, all three of us felt God was saying exactly the same thing about our approach this time, "It's not about the numbers." This has two practical implications. The first is that we've chosen activities that have a particularly personal application. The second is that we're limiting the maximum number in the room at break and lunch times to 10 and not recording the number of students visiting.

As a result there's a very different feel to the room. People have really engaged with it and we've already had some good conversations with quite a few students. One of the surprise successes, in terms of activities that young people report to be meaningful and helpful, is the prayer beads. Take a glass bead, hold it as you pray, then add it to others in a bowl.

Young people being thankful

One of the joys of running Sanctum, once we get around to it, is writing up all the responses from the young people for each of the different activities.

A couple of days ago I was typing up the responses to the "Thankful" activity, where students write a few words on a post it note about the things they're thankful for. Among the 400 or so post-its there was an overwhelming number saying "friends and family" or variations thereof including quite a few expressing gratitude for grandparents. Then there were the others, not just for pets, football or x-boxes, but inspiring, honest and hearfelt mini prayers of thanks. Here are some of them.

• God for creating the beauty of the world
• for having that one friend who makes me feel wanted
• I am thankful for you in my life. You are well nice and proper thoughtful
• I am thankful that I have food, water and a roof over my head. Also that my family love me
• to be unique and to be a twin
• I am thankful that the 5 year release time is coming up for my sister since she had leukaemia
• I’m thankful for everything, even the bad. Thank you for letting me live
• that I’m not in somewhere like Haiti or anything and that I’m not poor
• I am thankful for my mum who made meI have life and I’m glad it’s how I want it to be
• I am thankful for my amazing life family pets and friends
• I’m grateful for having all the people I love most around me
• I am thankful for nature and all good things
• memory and forgiveness
• God for creating us

Sanctum at Thurstable - Mon & Tues

This week we're in Thurstable School, Tiptree running Sanctum there for the second year. This is our thirteenth Sanctum which you'd think would mean we've got it pretty much sussed by now...

We're back in the same room that we had last year, a former Youth Club that's part of the school site next to the dining room and which would normally be the Year 7 break and lunchtime area (more on this later!) We've decided to go for fewer activities, just nine, but to put more effort into theming the room. This has included suspending netting from the ceiling using magnets to hold it to the light fittings. Improvisation is definitely a key skill for a Prayer Space in School practitioner! We've also added our own lighting which has helped transform the space into a much softer venue, including curios like the orange ribbon and battery led lights in the glass bowl shown above.

Our timetable is pretty intense. From Monday breaktime to Friday lunchtime we have just two lessons off and given that we're open to visitors at break and lunchtime this makes for a long day. In compensation the Thurstable school lunches (which are being provided for us) must rate as some of the best in the country as they employ their own chef and source most of their ingredients locally.

One thing we're struggling with this time is the slightly 'hyper' behaviour of the Year 7's, many of whom seem to think the aim is to get round all the activities as quickly as possible but then run out of things to do and struggle to work out what it is they've just done. One issue is that this being their break time social space  they're used to letting off steam here and though our theming of the venue often produces "wow" comments it's still a space they feel they own. We're managing break and lunchtime numbers very tightly, a maximum of 15 at any time, which seems to be controlling the randomness and noise and allowing those in Sanctum to engage with it appropriately. Lessons are being handled by splitting groups into 2 and having half visit for each half of the lesson. Having 30 students in at once for an hour would be a fascinating social/educational experiement but I fear for what would happen and whether they'd get anything meaningful from the experience.

The Year 8's and Year 9's, on the other hand, have been amazing. Both groups remember last year very positively and are delighted to be back and to try the new activities. Some comment that they miss the 'quiet tent' with the bean bags, but we decided, for the first time in 12 Sanctum's, to leave this out as last year it had been a constant source of noise and crowd control issues. Instead we're encouraging them to see the whole room as a quiet space which many seem to be able to connect with.

Feedback from classes post-visit is coming in and is proving to be very positive. Once again the "Forgiveness" activity is coming up as the most popular and most helpful, followed by the Identity activity. Being forgiven and knowing how God sees you. Could you come away having discovered anything better?

Prayer Spaces in Schools workshop - Bristol

A couple of Saturdays ago I was in Bristol leading a one day workshop on running Prayer Spaces in Schools. Also on the team was Catherine, from Oxford, Joe from Gloucester and Jo from Cheddar. We each told a few stories about prayer spaces we've run which illustrated the variety of approaches possible. I love the thematic approach thet Joe takes with the prayer spaces he runs, diving deep into gospel stories as a source of inspiration for prayer activities. (photo - Joe sharing news from Gloucester)

We had an amazing buch of youth and schools workers taking part and towards the end we challenged them to look at how they might put all this into practice. As a result we identified about 5 groups that were planning to run a Prayer Space in their school and were keen to make a start! The range of people and resources available in Bristol along with the excellent networking that's taking place (and which brought people together for the day) bodes well for the future. If they do go for it I can easily see Bristol becoming a regional hub for Prayer Spaces in Schools. My thanks to Jane and Lorna for their warm welcome and spplendid organisation and to Catherine, Joe and Jo all of whom contributed stories and wisdom in abundance.

Joe's posted his own thoughts about the day here.

Tomorrow and Wednesday I'm in Oxford working again with Catherine to run a two day workshop for CYM/Oxford Youth Works on setting up and running Prayer Spaces.

Prayer Spaces in Schools workshops

Prayer Spaces in Schools, Scotland, launched last weekend at the St. Mirren Football Club. About 60 youth schools, Alpha and SU workers enjoyed the surroundings of the Director's suite, hosted by Debbie Meehan, leader of 24-7 Prayer in Scotland. I was there with Phil and Catherine from the Prayer Spaces in Schools team to share some stories, offer practical wisdom and run a demo of some of the activities that we've used in a school prayer space.

Compared to the normal car load of resources we cart around, I managed to take 9 prayer stations in a suitcase on the plane, though Debbie did provide a bowl, stones, trays and sand. The idea of developing a "Prayer Room in a Suitcase" is very tempting! It proved to be a brilliant and inspiring day. There is a real buzz of mission activity in Scotland led by some very talented, creative and Godly people.

 

This Saturday, 5th, I'm off to Oxford to take part in the "Transform" one day event for Christians in Education in Oxford where I'll be helping to run a seminar on Prayer Spaces in Schools. More details here.

 

Then on Saturday 12th I'm leading a half day training event in Bristol for youth & children's workers, local church volunteers, and teachers. I'll be working with school prayer space practitioners Catherine, from Oxford, Joe from Gloucester and Jo from Cheddar so there will be loads of stories, examples and wisdom to draw on and I'm really looking forward to meeting up with lots of people and the whole experience of learning from one another. It's from 10 - 1:15 at Woodlands Church. For more info download the flyer (pdf)

Sanctum at Colchester Sixth Form College - Friday

Sanctum finished at the Sixth Form College on Friday. The overwhelming response has been positive with comments like "Very helpful. Really makes you think about life" and "Gave a good insight into who I am and who I want to be" as well as quite a few "inspirational", "beautiful" and "amazing!"

Over 225 students took part - this we know from a count up of all those who did the dressing up activity at the beginning and had a photo taken. These are now displayed on the Chaplaincy notice board:

Quite a few students came back to talk more or to do activities again and some popped in for a look without going for the whole "Journey of Life" thing.

So what have we learned?

Chaplaincy and Sanctum. The link with Chaplaincy, in the person of Kathryn who works for us, has been of immense value. Not only has her presence in the college beforehand created a positive expectation around Sanctum, but also Sanctum has enlarged her role and students' awareness of her. Each of these two aspects of our work have been enhanced and supportet by the other.

Space isn't an issue! The limited space on the concourse meant we had to consider carefully what activities we would include. Focussing around just six activities and linking them to the theme "Jouney of life" created a very unified message and an obvious path or flow to the experience. It helped that, unlike in school, we didn't have vast numbers arriving simultaneously although we did have two lesson groups of 15 which was just about the maximum capacity for Sanctum.

Other space. One of the big surprises was how many people used the quiet room which had been beautifully themed but was otherwise left for people to engage with in their own way. It helped that a number of Christians from the college helped set up the room and then made use of it throughout the week.

This was the first time the Christian students had identified the room as somewhere they could pray (it's available at any time, but is rather dull and unattractive!) and it's clear that others also ventured into the quiet room, even if some of their contributions were less than respectful. Some editorial intervention had taken place throughout the week to ensure that what was expressed was appropriate to the context of the room. There was such a strong feeling about the room remaining available in its 'prayer room' format that we extended this part of Sanctum for another week.

An obvious 'journey'. Providing an obvious starting point (the photo and the named luggage tag) and a clear end point (choosing three from the 21 character values) gave us a much stronger opportunity to talk to students about their lives, their hopes and the idea of a God who is there for them. The team, and Kathryn in particular, had some amazing and in depth conversations with students.
The flip side of all this is that once they'd had their conversation about character and completed their luggage tag it pretty much felt like they'd "done" Sanctum and didn't need to return. Some did though, and others came back with friends who they'd persuaded to do it.

The value of personal conversations. The final activity, selecting three character values that you hope to be known by in several years time, provided an awesome opportunity to talk in more depth with students. In many ways this was the most significant aspect of the week. In schools, when dealing with larger numbers, this degree of one to one conversation is much harder to provide for, but this is something we'd like to try to offer in the future.

The presence of Snactum was warmly welcomed by staff up to and including the Principal and we expect to be able to repeat this next year. This was our third year here and it felt as though we'd finally discovered the best way of running Sanctum in the college. And that's one of the fascinating challenges with Prayer Spaces in Schools, no two are the same and there's always something new to learn because each is a partnership between the school (college) and the team delivering it.

Sanctum at Colchester Sixth Form College - Thursday

As well as another few dozen first time visits we've had quite a few people returning today to continue their 'journey', which is pretty much what we would expect at this stage in the week. Some students have been bringing friends with them who they think should experience Sanctum and we've also had a few people who came back just to chat in greater depth. There have also been a number of staff who stopped off on their way past to read the student's responses and do one or two of the activities themselves. Being in a public space that is also a through route has been an immense benefit.

Here are some quotes from students today:

• "Like holding up a mirror to your inner self"
• "We greatly appreciate the experience offered! We loved it." (a lovely couple!)
• "We really enjoyed finding our inner-self. Thank you. : ) "
• "Really enjoyed it and really helped me open up from the inside. However, it did bring up some things I couldn't let go."

We're so glad that the format this year creates an opportunity to chat to students like the one leaving the last comment. This is just one example of many today that demonstrate the huge benefit of running Sanctum where it connects with the work of Kathryn, the Chaplain.

Finally, here are some photos of our two prop box friends enjoying Sanctum activities during a quiet moment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Squishy, the octopus, checking out the mirrors activity and Aslan listening to the forgiveness audio track.

Sanctum at Colchester Sixth Form College - Tuesday and Wednesday

The level of enthusiasm and involvement from students and staff continues.

On Tuesday we had lesson visits from two "Theory of Knowledge" groups from the College IB course. Both groups were moving from discussion about scientific knowledge to an exploration of the role that faith may play in understanding and knowledge. We had a great morning with these groups, talking about faith in general, our faith in particular, and introducing them to Sanctum. Kathryn, our Chaplain at the college, also shared her story of how she became a Christian from a very sceptical background and the experience of God that completely changed her life. These groups were a real privilege to connect with and some of the students subsequently came back to spend more time at Sanctum

As with Monday, the prayer space in the college quiet room continued to fill with prayers on all four walls. There is already a strong movement to keep it open in its current form beyond this week, such is the enthusiasm for a constant prayer space within the college.

On Wednesday we once again had a steady stream of visitors - we think we're getting about 50 a day. The most accurate way of gauging attendance is by counting the number of people in the photos we take of them at the beginning of their visit, though there are always others who are making a return visit. We take the photos as part of a fancy dress activity introducing them to the idea of a life journey. These photos are printed out and pinned to the Chaplaincy notice board to demonstrate that we're part of a community on a journey together. Obviously these photos are taken with permission of the students (only 4 have said no so far!) and are not for any other use, so I won't be posting them anywhere.

But here's an example, showing our Chapain, Kathryn (unrecognisable as Mickey, or is it Minnie, Mouse!) and our friend Ruth who was helping today. Also, Aslan, who is helping us for the week.

In a first for us, this Sanctum has a definite start and finish point for each visitor. The fancy dress photo is the introduction and writing your name on a luggage tag is the start. Students then circulate among the six activities (the fewest we've had, but limited here by space) before checking in with one of the team again to do the final 'value cards' activity, described on Monday. This is a guided activity and it's defintely giving Sanctum so much more depth in creating opportunities for some amazing conversations and, for some students, a kind of basic life-coaching. It feels as though we've stumbled upon something really powerful and I'm looking forward to developing this in the next Sanctum we run, which is back in a secondary school. 

Sadly, the College has been rocked by the tragic death of a student in an accident on Monday, and today the whole college observed a 2 minute silence. It's been a privilege to be in the college, to be able to share in the grief, and to have team members available, Kathryn in particular, should any student (or member of staff) want to chat, even if briefly. Some have, and a few prayers have appeared in the quiet room prayer space.

Here are some of today's visitor book quotes:

• "I will try to express problems in more comforting ways and look at everyone in a positive light."
• "Really helped me reflect on what's happening. Made me think."
• "Gave a good insight into who I am and who I want to be."
• "Touched me in ways I've never felt."

 

Sanctum at Colchester Sixth Form College - Monday

What an amazing first day. This is the third year that we've run Sanctum at Colchester Sixth Form College but we've never had a response like this. Although we have a much smaller space than previously, the significant difference is that rather than being tucked away in a classroom, we're slap bang in the middle of College life on the concourse. This is what it looks like from the first floor balcony.

This year we've themed Sanctum around the idea of life's journey, with a tag line, "If life's a journey, welcome to check-in." Students 'check in' by writing their name on a luggage tag and then follow the seven activities which focus on our identity, relationships and character. Once they've done these they come back to the activity with the luggage tag to think about the sort of person they want to be in the future, choosing their top three character values from a list of 21 (things like Integrity, Love, Honesty, Compassion and Reliability) and writing these on the back of their tag to take away as a reminder. When things are less hectic and students aren't in a hurry, we've been using a series of cards with these values on them to open up conversations about what's important to them which has led to much openness and reflection on life's priorities.

With the much smaller space this year the capacity of Sanctum is much reduced. But the tradeoff, being in a public space and having a strong theme has meant we had about 75 people through during the day with a near constant stream of visitors, both students and staff. At one point a Philosophy teacher and his class of 15 turned up to try out Sanctum as part of their course on 'religious experience', leading to a brilliant time of discussion afterwards.

At 4:30 we packed away the valuable stuff and before we left, went to have a look in at the other prayer space activity that's tucked away in another part of the college. There is a multi-faith quiet room which, to be honest, is nothing more than a small room which used to have washing machines in it. For the Sanctum week the team, with help from the CU, decked it out with drapes, lights, bean bags and post-it notes. We wanted to leave it set up as a quiet prayer space and allow the students to interact with it entirely in their own way - there's no team member there during the college day.

When we walked in to see how the room had been used it took our breath away. There were honest heartfelt prayers on every wall. In one corner a girl had poured out her feelings in a blizzard of post-it notes - and nearby someone else had written a prayer for the girl. Prayers from the Christian students mingled naturally with the (maybe prayerful) hopes of others. The sense of peace and of God's nearness was tangible; it is a thin place. And all this after just one day.