I traveled to England, where much of the Emerging church movement was, well, emerging, to see what I could learn and take back to my little community in Northern California. A dozen or so twenty somethings sat in the ancient pews, in subdued lighting, our feet on marble flooring and surrounded by stained glass. We were asked to come forward and in a gesture of confession and recognition of God’s redemptive powers, put on the safety goggles, pick up the sledge hammer and smash a ceramic plate. Right there on the marble chancel! Someone thought to place a few wooly blankets underneath the plates of course. 

The sound of the smashing plates was loud and jarring but I was immediately drawn in with all of my senses and my spirit. How was God at work in this? And how soon could I put on the goggles and take a swing? 

Since then, most of us have seen innovative prayer stations using everything from alka seltzer tablets to coffee filters. Some churches use them regularly in worship and retreats. 

Psalm 141 tells us that our prayers are like sweet incense rising up to God, I can’t imagine the form of our prayers matter much to God. The ways we can connect with God are limitless, and God eagerly awaits our prayers. Prayer stations can help us engage with God’s word, quiet our minds to hear God, give us ways to pray for others and join our prayers with others that are meaningful, memorable and Spirit filled.

I invite you to find the Spirituality Center at APCE’s annual event this year in St. Louis. The planning team has found an incredible space for the Spirituality Center this year. It is warm and inviting and even offers access to an outdoor space. Thirsty for joy? Thirsty for justice? Thirsty for life? Thirsty for kindness? You will find ways to be quenched and renewed in the space we are creating. It will be peaceful (no smashing plates, sorry), engaging, invigorating to the senses and full of ideas for you to take home. The center will be open during workshops, more times to be added soon. 

Many years ago, I attended a large youth ministry conference. Early in the week I headed to the hotel bar and started a conversation with the bartender. I imagine hotel bartenders see a wide range of conference folk. He asked me if my conference was the type where most people skipped the workshops and hung out in the bar and the pool. I think his assumption was that most work conferences are pretty boring and people would rather do anything than sit and listen to talking heads. 

An APCE conference is anything but boring or sleep inducing. It can be overwhelming though. For some it will be the abundance of meeting new people and seeing dear friends. Even an extrovert like me needs alone time during APCE. It may be that your brain gets overloaded with so many new ideas, books to buy and cool stuff to try out. And then there’s life outside the walls of a conference center. 

Life is hard right now. Listing a few examples makes me want to put my head on the keyboard and cry for a minute. You get it. We all need some time with God to just …. be.  I pray you will find this kind of time and space at the Spirituality Center this January. That time I spent in England searching out emerging ways to worship God inspired me to create spaces for prayer. Sometimes it is a whole room, other times just a spot on a nightstand where we are reminded that God longs to be with us in prayer. Currently, I serve as the director of CROSS Missions in Charlotte. When we host youth groups for a week of service we end the week with worship. The worship space is lined with prayer stations, several of them created by the youth themselves. The quiet beauty of the space gets me to slow down, open my heart and listen for God. Every time I am renewed.