• Message of Hope
  Ask several people in your group to read aloud the following Bible passages about hope: Psalm 130:7, Psalm 42:5, Isaiah 40:31, Romans 8:24, and Hebrews 11:1. Discuss together how life is more difficult without hope. People feel less worthy. Invite each group member to write a message of hope on a paper heart and decorate it. Give these words of hope to people in your congregation who may feel discouraged.
• It Was Good
  Invite each person in your group to turn to Genesis 1:1–2:3 in their Bible, or make a copy of that passage for each person. Ask them to find the phrase that is said over and again. After identifying it, ask them why the author repeated it several times. Does understanding these words change the way we treat one another? Give each person a length of ribbon and, using a permanent marker, ask them to print the words “it was good” over and again. Tie the ribbons onto one another’s wrists affirming that God created them, and they are good.

• Away from School Care
  Read Doctrine and Covenants 164:6a which inspires us to act in Christ-like love by respectfully helping others with basic needs. Get to know the people you are helping. How can you show the worth of all persons while providing care and assistance for others? Prepare school holiday care kits for students who are homeless or live in poverty and might struggle most during time away from school, such as between school terms, on holidays, or weekends. Gather seasonal clothing, personal care items, healthy food and beverages, certificates for free haircuts or dental care, invitations to events at your church or sponsored by your congregation, and books. Place the items in individual backpacks or reusable bags. Coordinate with schools, homeless shelters, or local government agencies to deliver the care packages.
• Prison Ministries
  Are there children in your neighborhood, town or village who have a parent or family member in prison? Invite the families to worship, dinners, and children’s events at your congregation. Be ready to welcome them.
• Coloring Book Ministry
  Organize a coloring book ministry for homeless or displaced children in your area. Contact the local shelter or safe home to find out how many children to make coloring books for. Use white paper, colored construction paper, a stapler, black medium-tip markers, and plenty of ideas. All ages can work together to create, assemble, and deliver the books. Older children can draw outlines of shapes to color such as a sun, flowers, and animals; Bible stories; or children playing or helping others. Draw a heart on the last page and write “Jesus Loves Me.” Make copies to create books for several children. Younger children can use crayons, paint, or glitter to decorate the construction paper front and back covers. On a blank page at the front (or inside the front cover) write “Made Especially for You” and invite all who helped make the book sign their first names. Assemble and staple the books. Include a new box of crayons with each book. Deliver the books to the shelter or agency.
• Penny Scramble
  To learn how inequitably the world’s wealth and resources are distributed, play a game from SPECTACULAR 2008, “The Penny Scramble.” The distribution of wealth and power usually affects a person’s opportunities to achieve full human rights and live a life with dignity. This object lesson challenges participants to examine the ideas of “fairness” and “responsibility” and reflect on their own actions. Follow the directions.

(Personal Spiritual Practices are those that we do alone, but they can be learned and practiced in an all-ages group setting. Use an all-ages activity to learn these practices together, always encouraging participants to continue practicing individually.)

• What Matters Most to God
  Imagine that—for some reason—you must leave your home suddenly. You have 10 minutes to gather a few things before you must leave. What will you take? Make a list; then write about why each of these items is important to you. Now review your list. What kinds of things did you save—books, electronics, toys, pictures? Are you surprised at what matters most to you? You are of greater worth to God than the most important item on your list is to you. Read what Jesus said about your worth to God, in Matthew 6:26 “Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” YOU matter most to God. Remember that you are of great worth to God. Sit quietly and feel God’s great love for you.

• Drum Circle Event
  Host a drum circle to highlight the equality and worth of all people. Invite the neighborhood surrounding your congregation. Gather various percussion instruments—primitive or modern drums, maracas, gourds, tambourines, wooden sticks, cowbells, kettles or cans. Begin with a prayer highlighting our hope that all people will be recognized as having great value and our excitement in sharing the good news of Jesus Christ. Depending on the number of participants, give each person an instrument or take turns playing them. Those without instruments can clap their hands. The leader will play a rhythm and people can join in. Once the beat is going strong, the leader will shout out “joy” and the group will shout “joy” while keeping the rhythm going (do the same for “hope, love, and peace” after intervals of time). The leader will signal the group to stop, using a previously chosen hand signal. Close by reading Doctrine and Covenants 164:6a. Did the music take your thoughts away from our differences and quarrels? Did every small sound contribute to the overall experience?
• Open or Closed Circles
  Stand in a circle holding hands.
  Point out that the circle is closed.
  Imagine that one person, or several people, are standing outside the circle.
  They don’t feel like they are invited inside the circle.

  This circle symbolizes your community life.
  Why are some people left out?
  Are you afraid because they are different?

  Try to see them as God sees them.
  Think about the enduring principle Worth of All Persons.
  Would you like to invite them into your community?
  Let go of hands to create open doors.
  Invite them in.

  How can you make them feel welcome?
  Thank God for your new friends.
  Thank God for the diversity in your community.

• Meet Your Partner
  Divide the group into two equal groups. Pair up. Challenge the pairs to learn everything they can about each other in five minutes. Pay special attention to unique gifts and talents, perhaps some that people do not realize they have. Switch partners and interview again for five minutes. Do one or two more times. Then give out adhesive nametags and have each person write the gifts of each person they interviewed on separate nametags. Then encourage them to go to that person, stick the nametag on the person, and express what gift they have seen in that person.

• Balancing Stones
  Create a stone sculpture of different stones to create a balance. Stones can be gathered from a nearby field or park, or can be created using self-drying clay such as Crayola’s Model Magic™. Give each person various colors of the clay and have them roll “stones” in various sizes that they can stack them in a stone sculpture. Ensure that there are enough stones for each person to have at least seven of various sizes and colors. Again, give each person a twig or flat stick on which they can balance stones in the sculpture.

  Make a point (during the discussion and while giving directions) of being connected, rather than loosely disconnected (as stones are in a field), of being formed, rather than being unformed (like the clay before it is shaped). The stone sculpture represents the balance and connection we have when we are connected with Christ and one another.

  Place participants into groups of five to seven persons. Ask each person to write an affirmation of the worth of others in their group. If they have used self-drying clay, each person may etch their affirmation into one of the “rocks” of each person’s sculpture using a pencil or sharp stick. See illustration. Use short affirmations like “loving,” “funny,” or “helpful.” If real stones were used, affirmations can be written on the stones with fine-point permanent markers.

  These sculptures may be taken home with each person as a reminder of their worth in the community of believers.

*As a challenge, the whole group may wish to create a larger stone sculpture to dedicate to the church building, or campgrounds that each person can add an affirmation to with either permanent marker or an etching with a stick. Forming a balanced sculpture references the story of sharing all things “in common” and affirms the worth of all persons as a valued part of the final sculpture.


• Advent Feasting
  Many feast days are celebrated around the Christmas holidays, so host or attend a feast as a family or group. Invite others in your neighborhood, school, congregation, or workplace to your feast, allowing all to share good memories of celebrating Christmas in your faith community or in your family. Learn about feast days celebrated by other faith traditions and if possible, join a feast celebration at a neighboring church. Listen to hear the special meaning the feast has for members of that faith community and reflect on the blessings, gratitude, and generosity that all hold in common.
• Celebrate Each Generation
  Celebrate the worth of every generation in your congregation. First, divide the larger group by generations (by decades or broader categories), having each group hold a poster board on which they can write. Each group will identify the gifts, value, and worth of their generation. For older adults, it might include learning from their lifetime of experience doing many things (baking bread, crocheting, woodworking) and the wisdom of their lifelong discipleship. As these are identified, the group writes them on their poster board. For children, it might include the worth of their energy, their need to learn, their ease at forgiveness. The worth of youth might begin with their questioning of relevance, their skills in electronics or social networks, and what they’re learning new about the world in school. Each generation brings value to the group. When the worth of each group is identified, invite any new revelations or understanding about how the groups can worship, learn, plan, or work together in new ways moving forward. Select one area to pursue together and set a start date.
• Popcorn—Ball
  Play a game that all ages and all abilities can play together. Have people spread out around a room within an arm’s length of each other. Place yarn balls or large wadded pieces of paper around the room, one next to each person. When you say “popcorn,” each person picks up a “ball” and tosses it into the air yelling “POP.” Keep the action going, faster each time. How much does it sound like corn popping? Think of other games that all ages and abilities can play together.
• God Loves You
  Decorate a sheet of paper, and include the phrase “God Loves You.” Have everyone in the group sign their names on the paper. Deliver the paper to a person who is hospitalized or unable to leave their house.
• Inclusive Exercise for All
  Would you like to learn yoga, dance, tai chi, or another fitness or wholeness experience? What about those in congregation who are elderly, disabled, young, shy, or other. Pay particular attention to those who may need adaptive exercises, and invite a skilled leader to teach the entire group. Learn them together. Support one another and invite others to join you. You will have developed a specialized ministry that is uplifts the worth of persons and is highly valued in your community!
  

• Worth of All Persons
  Read Andrew Bolton’s essay, “Worth of All Persons.” How can your congregation help in “restoring our full humanity, so the image of God can shine in each of us”? Does your congregation treat everyone equally? How can your congregation look carefully and conscientiously for people who live without Christ and without peace?
• Would You Like to Be Baptized?
  Talk with children in your congregation who are nearing eight years old or older (and their parents) about the sacraments of baptism and confirmation. Invite them to attend discipleship preparation classes. Use Of Water and Spirit as the teacher’s guide. See the interim teaching aids designed for the new policy on baptism and confirmation. Offer an adult class for youth and adults considering membership.

• Inclusive Language
  Work together as a congregation to use inclusive language in worship and song, avoid stereotypes and gossip, and welcome everyone. Follow guidelines in the Inclusive Language Policy on the church website. How can you reach people who are isolated or alone, but want to be active in the congregation? How does privacy differ from loneliness? How will using inclusive language make a difference in everyone feeling welcome?