Assembling round the Crib
Five acts of collective worship based around key figures in a Nativity crib
These acts of collective worship use a crib to create an interesting, focused approach to the Christmas story. You can use. or adapt, them to:
· introduce the story in its simplest form to very young children
· consider what the characters might have been thinking or feeling
· unpick key theological ideas e.g. incarnation, salvation
· highlight central values such as wisdom, hope or compassion
· make connections to the pupils’ own daily lives
· draw attention to topical issues e.g. homelessness or the plight of refugees.
Background
A Nativity or Christmas Crib normally consists of the figures of Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus. It may also include an angel, shepherds, wise men and a variety of sheep, oxen and camels! The crib is set out so that the focus is on the infant Jesus indicating his unique role as God’s Son. The use of local materials and settings reflects the Christian belief in incarnation, God taking on human form and becoming ‘Emmanuel’ (which means ‘God with us’).
Cribs are normally traced back to a nativity scene produced by St Francis of Assisi in 1223 for the villagers of Greccio, Italy. He wanted to place the emphasis of Christmas on the worship of Christ rather than on secular materialism and gift-giving. Staged in a cave, St. Francis' nativity scene was a living one with humans and animals cast in the Biblical roles.
Pictures of cribs are readily available over the internet with a quick “Google” and cribs themselves can be bought in Christian bookshops and from charities such as Tear Fund or The Leprosy Mission. We also hope that you are using these materials because you are participating in the East Anglian BIG Crib Exhibition – see http://www.stir-up.org.uk/Cribs.htm For further information on cribs, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nativity_scene
Choosing your crib
You obviously need a crib for these acts of collective worship:
Your crib-figures made by the pupils for the exhibition would be best
OR smaller crib figures that children can see
OR good quality pictures where you can zoom into the day’s character
OR a ‘living nativity’ where children dress up and create the scene daily!
Creating an appropriate setting and atmosphere
· Ensure your crib scene can be seen by all pupils; staging may help. Try to create a suitable backdrop so the figures stand out clearly.
· Consider using lighting, possibly to focus on the particular character whose story is being told that day. Creating a darker room with drawn curtains and spots / candles might look good.
· Use projectors to show other pictures of nativity characters.
· Play Christmas music or songs to come into act of collective worship and sing a carol or other Christmas song as the children leave.
Preparing the way
· The story of St Francis would make a good story to tell children the week before you tackle acts of collective worship based round the figures of the crib. A good version can be found in The Lion Storyteller Christmas Book (Bob Hartman, Lion, 0 7459 4684 4): Francis’ Christmas Pageant. The same book contains another lovely story introducing cribs: Brother Froilan’s Carvings.
Thinking about delivery
· Try using a variety of people to deliver these acts of collective worship: members of local churches, teaching staff, different classes.
· If your crib does not have all the figures, use art work or pupils dressed up to represent the figures you do not have.
· Although the acts of collective worship below use specific resources, many other excellent resources are available e.g. try building the worship around some of the songs from ‘Nursery Rhyme Nativities’.
· The acts of collective worship contain several options and require you to make choices about suitability. They also take a particular angle. You may wish to place the emphasis elsewhere.
Selecting story resources
In this pack we have used only the following Bible story books, but there are many other excellent story Bibles which can be used:
The Lion Storyteller Bible – Bob Hartman (Lion - 0 7459 2921 4) – Found in many schools this storybook will give you two stories for the series: The First Christmas and The Wise Men’s Visit.
The Lion Storyteller Christmas Book – Bob Hartman (Lion - 0 7459 4684 4) - This breaks the story into smaller sections and gives you a story per day, plus Christmas legends / folk-tales from across the world.
The Jesse Tree – Geraldine McCaughrean (Lion - 0 7459 4577 5) - Beginning with ‘Mary’ each chapter contains part of the Christmas story. Use these sections rather than the whole chapter.
Father and Son – Geraldine McCaughrean (Hodder - 0 340 88208 5) - A story for a slightly older audience in which Joseph ponders what it might be like to bring up God’s Son.
Jesus’ Christmas Party – Nicholas Allan (Red Fox – 0-09-989120-4) - A hilarious retelling of the birth of Jesus through the eyes of the innkeeper – not a character often introduced in a crib scene – but maybe he should be considered as an extra for one act of collective worship!
Finding songs and music
This is a good series of acts of collective worship for using traditional carols – try learning and teaching one or two verses of some well-known carols. Or think about this as the perfect place to sing some of the songs from your Christmas play if it is a Nativity-based musical such as ‘Off to Bethlehem’. You may also have some of the following books available:
· Songs for Every Christmas – Mark and Helen Johnson (Out of the Ark music) 1-901980-05-7 for book and CD Found in many schools, these songs are much used and much loved
· Christmas Carols (Out of the Ark Essentials) Book and CD – 20 traditional Christmas carols
· Off to Bethlehem - Mark and Helen Johnson (Out of the Ark music) book and CD - 9 songs telling the nativity story that can be put together to make your own nativity play
· Nursery Rhyme Nativities – Brian Ogden (Barnabas / BRF)
Finding good pictures
Pictures of the nativity scene ranging from ancient masterpieces to modern canvases or sculptures are readily available. Simply entering variations on ‘Christmas crib’ will give good and plentiful results but try the following:
· http://www.cruzblanca.org/hermanoleon/byn/rc/ev1.htm if you need black and white clip art
· Try http://www.jesusmafa.com/anglais/pageminip2.htm for posters in an African style
You may also want to use pictures drawn by children in your school – maybe in the style of a particular artist.
Finding suitable multimedia material
There is plenty of material about but more of it is suitable for use in class than an act of collective worship. However, particularly if you are working with the top end of KS2 you might want to consider using the following in both RE and act of collective worship.
www.paperlesschristmas.org
On this site you can reflect on this presentation of the Christmas story in a fun, funny and thought-provoking way. The 2011 materials were not available at the time of writing – but they have always bee goods far!
Using a structure for the acts of collective worship
These acts of collective worship give ideas for how to set up the act of collective worship or worship ‘space’ and then follow a simple pattern or structure:
· Gathering – an opportunity to greet the children, cover any notices and maybe sing. Singing as children come into act of collective worship is one of the most effective ways of ‘gathering’ the school community.
· Engaging – an activity or something to ‘show and tell’ to prepare the way for the story, interview, new song, visitor, etc
· Responding – a moment to reflect on the act of collective worship so far, including an opportunity to pray. In these acts of collective worship, lighting a candle near the Baby Jesus signals the move into this moment. Introduce the prayer simply – Here is a prayer to listen to. Say amen quietly at the end if you want to make it your own prayer. Amen means ‘I agree’ – it is a word of Hebrew origin, used in Jewish, Muslim and Christian communities.
· Sending – Time to send children out purposefully, not just letting them go for being good. Going out in the same order each day is less confusing and means they can continue singing or thinking about the theme as they leave.
Act of collective worship 1 ~ Mary’s Story
· Mary takes a key place in the story of Christmas as the mother of the infant Jesus. The story of the ‘Annunciation’ by the angel Gabriel, in which the angel brings Mary the news of her impending pregnancy is one of the most famous Christmas stories despite obviously taking place 9 months earlier! It is probable that Mary was only a teenager when the angel Gabriel appeared to her.
· Mary’s story is told in Luke’s Gospel in the New Testament. Read Luke chapters 1 and 2. It is sometimes thought that Luke actually interviewed Mary when collecting stories about Jesus, because his gospel refers to her a lot and seems to have the detail that could only have come from her.
· Down the centuries Mary has been a constant subject for artists whether in the simple picture of Mary holding the baby Jesus, often entitled ‘Madonna and child’, or pictures of her anguish holding the body of Jesus after the crucifixion.
· For many Christians today and throughout the Christian era, Mary has been turned to as a source of help and inspiration as ‘Mother of God’ or, for Orthodox Christians, as ‘Theotokos’, the ‘God-bearer’. One of the most famous Catholic Christian prayers is taken from words in the story of the Annunciation – ‘Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you…’
· Themes of obedience, service and willingness to take on difficult tasks with a joyful heart are part and parcel of the ‘Mary’ story as is the poignancy of knowing that ultimately Mary will see her son die.
· Mary’s relationship with Joseph and the circumstances of Jesus’ birth are often related by Christians to modern day issues such as single motherhood, step-fatherhood, homelessness, prejudice, refugee status and genocide. Each issue highlights the central Christian theme of Jesus as ‘Emmanuel’ or ‘God with us’, identifying with the human condition.
Preparing the space
· Focus spot light on the Mary figure in the crib or display a picture of the Madonna and child.
· Choose 6 children to sit at front as others enter and hold card faces on sticks showing various expressions e.g. happy, sad, angry, excited, bored, worried. If not possible, get the children to mime the relevant faces!
Put on music / singing e.g. Every Christmas (Songs for Every Christmas) Joy to the World, Mary’s Boy Child (Christmas Carols)
Gathering
Choose what is appropriate:
· Encourage children to sing as they arrive.
· Greet everyone. I wonder how you feel today. Look at the faces showing different feelings.
· Point to the crib. Here are the characters of a story. The story is told at Christmas – feelings of excitement for many. Our characters have feelings too– any suggestions. We are going to meet different characters from the nativity story this week.
Engaging
· Today we are going to meet Mary. You could point to ‘Mary’ or a character dressed up as Mary could walk in and either tell the story or be seated ready for an interview later.
· Sometimes we are asked to do a difficult job. Sometimes it is surprising to be asked. Sometimes a bit scary. Sometimes it makes you feel very special. That’s what it was like for Mary on one particular day. We don’t know whether her day started happily – or sadly, whether she was worried about anything, or angry or bored or excited but we do know she was about to be scared.
· Tell the story in your own words, or use one of the storybooks e.g. The Lion Storyteller Christmas Book: A Surprise for Mary p.16-17 or The Jesse Tree: Mary p.72
· Alternatively try ‘hotseating’ Mary. What happened the day you saw the angel? What did he have to say? How did you feel and what did you say?
· Draw out Mary’s willingness to obey and sense that God would be with her.
Responding
Light a candle by the ‘baby’ Jesus. Hold the face masks and put them by the baby at the end of the prayer.
Reflect: Here is Jesus. I wonder what Mary would’ve told you about her baby son. Maybe she would have said my son is sometimes called ‘Emmanuel’ which means God with us. That’s how it was for me. Jesus was with me however I felt ….. Look at faces again.
Prayer: Lord God, we thank you for mothers who love and care for us. We ask you to be with us in good times and bad times. We ask you to help us when we have difficult jobs to do – make us brave and help us trust you. Amen
Sending
· Introduce and then sing: ‘Mary’s Boy Child’ or ‘He walked where I walk’ or ‘The Gift’ (chorus contains the word ‘Emmanuel’.
· Keep music playing as children are dismissed. You may want to go on singing. Do not stop to choose classes sitting up straight!
Act of collective worship 2 ~ Joseph’s Story