We had a really encouraging time at the Fresh Expressions Rural Conference 2019. The theme was "What do you see", and there was a focus on seeking God for his direction regarding rural ministry and mission. We loved all the innovative, adventurous projects people are engaging in across the rural context, and met some great people (as well as catching up with old friends).

Here are a list of links to resources we used:

Monday Opening Worship

We began the opening worship with the second Whole Life Worship Journey Pack video. You can view and download that here.

We sang Be Thou My Vision, then into a version of Open The Eyes Of My Heart (moving between an E and a Bm chord) and interspersed this with the Open Up prayer.

We then sang an Alleluia from Nigera, followed by Build My Life.

Monday Night Worship

We used material from our Worship in the Wilderness Church Service Pack. This began with the Blessed Be Your Name introduction liturgy, into that Matt and Beth Redman song. We then sang You Lead Us Through The Wilderness. 

Sam referred to the Edwina Gateley interview on Nomad Podcast. We used the video of We Have Come for a moment of honesty before God.

We closed with the Tiny Seeds prayer.

Tuesday Morning Worship

We started with the In the Beginning prayer, into To God Be the Glory.

After a silent confession we sang The Lord is Gracious as an absolution.

We sang God Our Father, leading into prayer for world and local situations. We closed with an a capella singing of Spirit of the Living God (Armstrong).

Tuesday Afternoon

To begin an afternoon of discernment, we sang We Come To Hear Your Word, followed by this simple prayer:

Open our eyes to see the coming of your Kingdom.
Open our ears to hear the whispers of your word.
Open our hearts to know the challenge of your calling.
Open our minds to grasp our part in your plan.

We then sang Speak O Lord. Tim Lea led us in this prayer by St Brendan:

Help me to journey beyond the familiar
and into the unknown.
Give me the faith to leave old ways
and break fresh ground with You.

Christ of the mysteries, I trust You
to be stronger than each storm within me.
I will trust in the darkness and know
that my times, even now, are in Your hand.
Tune my spirit to the music of heaven,
and somehow, make my obedience count for You.

Tuesday Workshops

We led an Outdoor Worship session based on our book and our experiences with Park Church. Use the search function on this site or click here for lots of outdoor ideas.

We then led an "Engaging in Creative Prayer" workshop. Here are some of the links to the resources we recommended:

Praying with songs and sound 

Praying with pictures

Praying with words

Praying with posture 

Praying with stations

Thy Kingdom Come resources

PAUSE/PRAY podcast

Tuesday Night Prayer

Sara led a reflective service outdoors, with two Taize chants: Bless The Lord and In The Lord I'll Be Ever Thankful (El Senor). She also led an examen reflective exercise.

Wednesday Morning Worship

We sang 10,000 Reasons and Holy, Holy, Holy, leading into the Psalm 67 interactive prayer and praise reading.

We closed the time with Unbroken Praise and Martin Leckebusch's Be the God of All My Sundays (to the tune of Ode to Joy). The text of that hymn is hard to find online, but we printed it (with permission) in Whole Life Worship.

Wednesday Closing Communion

We wanted to focus on the resurrected Jesus in the final session, so we began with the Recognising You poem and PowerPoint. This was followed by singing Christ Was Raised.

After George Lings had spoken we moved into an Emmaus Communion that we wrote for the event. This began with the song Jesus You Call Us.

You can get the PowerPoint and script for the Emmaus Communion here. It includes space for discussion, silent reflection on disappointments, a Confession of Faith based on the passage, and an invitation to share bread and wine with the expectation of our eyes being opened to the presence of Jesus among us. You can adapt it and add to it as fits your context.

We closed singing the South African Send Me Jesus and We are Called to Be God's People (to the tune of Here Is Love).