John the Baptist and the Return from Lockdown
There are so many occasions where the sensory story we’ve run on a particular week feels coincidently relevant to my life or to something happening in the wider world. The story of John the Baptist might be my favourite example of this. We ran this story in September 2020 on the first week which we were able to meet after over six months of churches been closed due to covid-19 restrictions. Our mainstream children’s and youth ministries were both studying Mark that term so I searched that gospel for something which might lend itself to being turned into a sensory story. John the Baptist with his honey and locust-based snacks, his itchy clothes and straggly hair and his connection to water seemed to fit the bill. I was so excited to be able to come back to church in person and to be able to share Bible stories with the children and young people in our group once again. We were aware of how difficult the preceding months had been for those with additional needs and their families and i...