{"id":5568,"date":"2012-06-22T16:38:47","date_gmt":"2012-06-22T15:38:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/archive.richardlittledale.co.uk\/?p=5568"},"modified":"2012-06-22T16:38:47","modified_gmt":"2012-06-22T15:38:47","slug":"of-fleas-and-festivals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/176.32.230.12\/richardlittledale.co.uk\/2012\/06\/22\/of-fleas-and-festivals\/","title":{"rendered":"Of fleas and festivals"},"content":{"rendered":"

A review of Sandra Millar’s ‘Worship\u00a0together’ and ‘Festivals together’<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The tale is told of two fleas buzzing\u00a0hungrily\u00a0over the acres of exposed flesh on a\u00a0naturist\u00a0beach. ‘I know just what to do<\/em>‘, said one to the other ‘but I don’t know where to start’.<\/em><\/p>\n

With all-age\u00a0worship, or multi-generational worship<\/em>, as Sandra Millar helpfully calls it -the problem is often the other way around. We know exactly where to start – with the next family service or festival looming\u00a0towards\u00a0us on a fixed date. The trouble is – we don’t know what to do. We are\u00a0uncomfortably\u00a0aware of the polar opposites of bored children on the one hand or bored adults on the other. We are all too aware of the alternative attractions outside church. Millar herself lists some of them, with everyone from Disney and Pixar to her local rugby club cited as examples of\u00a0multi-generational activities. Personally, I am less certain that I can concur when she describes ‘a visit to the ballet The Nutcracker or a performance of Handel’s Messiah’<\/em> as\u00a0activities\u00a0which ‘speak across generations’.<\/em><\/p>\n

That said, she proceeds in\u00a0Worship\u00a0Together<\/em> to five extremely helpful chapters on the elements of multi-generational worship. These are:<\/p>\n