Chapel Resources
Sharing ideas for what has worked and what might work in our chapel services.
Across our schools in Aotearoa New Zealand and Polynesia, we hold more than 100 chapel services a week, 40 weeks a year. That’s at least 4000 creative, age-appropriate service ideas being generated every year just by our group of schools. It makes sense to share them with each other, for all our sakes! This page has been set up so that anything from single, seed ideas to full liturgies can be sent into the Schools’ Office, in any form from rough notes to detailed instructions or powerpoints, and we will put them up in a usable fashion for others to share.
These are 24 “tiny poems” of 3-5 lines each, set on a photo or illustration and perfect for putting up on a powerpoint. Each poem suggests a way of understanding what Advent is. Some examples: Since we are not at school right up to Christmas, using one each day for 24 days would mean starting…
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With the proliferation of commercial Christmas jingles in our shops, it’s good to have some home-grown and thoughtful Christmas songs to use in chapel. Here’s one written by Josh Jones the Christmas after the Christchurch mosque shootings, pointing towards the hope and peace promised by Christmas. Here’s what he has to say about it: “The…
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We all know that even something as straightforward as Christmas can be hard to explain to our students in Christian terms. Since Advent is much less familiar for them, that can make it both harder and easier for them to understand. It’s a new term for most, so they’re learning from scratch, but it is…
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One of the distinctive things about Anglican liturgies is that we repeat responses and prayers from one service to the next. Praying at all is foreign to many of our students but even those who are from another denomination may find this practice strange. In this video, the Archbishop of Canterbury tells a story of…
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Bosco has various alternative thanksgiving prayers up on his “Liturgy” website (which is always worth having a look at). This link takes you to one written in simplified language and with only one response, which is used more often than the regular responses (thus, hopefully, keeping their minds more engaged!). Does anyone else have (authorised)…
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This is a powerful short animated film, more powerful because there are no words. It explores what it means to include another, and what it means to move into their world rather than expecting them to conform to yours. It’s probably better for secondary than primary, but could be the basis for some profound conversations.…
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This is a great easy-to use website for Assembly and/or Chapel Services. Each topic has a clear aim, outline and resources. To view an assembly outline, browse the lists under each tab, and click on any title that interests you.’Church School’ assemblies are targeted at Church schools and are more overtly Christian in content. Have…
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I quite often get requests for service outlines for occasional services such as the commissioning of a principal or chaplain. There is no official service, and each school and each diocese is likely to want to add their own flavour to such services. However, it can be helpful to have some ideas to get started.…
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Many of you will know this blogsite already. It was created in 2012 by the educational wing of the Anglican Church of Southern Queensland, and it has collected a wealth of ideas for chapel and RE over the years. Hopefully in seven years this site will have as rich a selection! There’s a search bar…
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Bosco has various alternative thanksgiving prayers up on his “Liturgy” website (which is always worth…
Read More We all know that even something as straightforward as Christmas can be hard to explain…
Read More With the proliferation of commercial Christmas jingles in our shops, it’s good to have some…
Read More I quite often get requests for service outlines for occasional services such as the commissioning…
Read More One of the distinctive things about Anglican liturgies is that we repeat responses and prayers…
Read More This is a powerful short animated film, more powerful because there are no words. It…
Read More