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Stations of Thanksgiving Worship Service Idea

The General Idea
For a special Thanksgiving service, set up flipchart stations around the sanctuary. Have a slide projected that instructs parishioners as they enter the sanctuary to think of something or someone they are thankful for and why they are thankful. They should then go write it on a flipchart.  During the service, these will be read.

Materials Needed
· Flipchart stands
· Flipchart pages
· Flipchart markers

Set Up
Set up several “Thanksgiving” stations around the sanctuary with a flipchart stands where people can write on a blank flipchart page. You might want to write something like “I am thankful for . . .” at the top of the page.

Also, prior to the service, assign one person per station to monitor the station, make sure the flipchart pages are collected, and that person can then share the responses for their station later during the service.

Instructions
Either in the five minutes leading up to the service or during a five-minute interval during the service, have “thanksgiving” music playing. Instruct the congregation that they will have 5-minutes to walk up to one of the “Thanksgiving stations” and write something they are thankful to God for. These ideas will be collected at shared at some point in the service.

Tips for this Activity
For those who are physically unable to get around, instruct the congregation that if anyone is near them who cannot walk up to the station, the neighbor of that person should ask them for their item of thanksgiving and write it on the page for them.
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