Aim: To show how significant people, whom we might describe as "angels", speak to us of God.

• Silver and gold fabrics
• Matches and large candle
• Felt-tipped pens and paper
• Large sheets of paper (wallpaper?)
• Flipchart
• Rublev's "Icon of Hospitality"
• CDs - Quiet, reflective music
• "Angels" by Robbie Williams

Welcome, introductions, explanations

Suggested focal point:  Silver or gold fabrics with large candle and an "Icon of Hospitality" suitably sited.

Gathering music: A piece of quiet, reflective music.

Input:
Use gifts, photographs, prayers, letters etc to tell your own stories of how three or four significant people, whose lives have touched your own life, have caused you to reflect, "I have seen an angel."

• List some of the people whose love or some other quality has given you glimpses of God, and has meant a lot to you. A few might have expressed how they felt about you in words, but others would have said it in the concern they expressed through what they have done for you. Try to name what is distinct about each of the persons you have listed and that have prompted you to say, "I saw an angel!"

• To help this process, draw on a large sheet of paper a series of concentric circles like rings on a tree, representing each five years of your life. As you reflect and review, jot down names, memories etc, before drawing out to create a list of significant people.

Gathering music:   "Angels" by Robbie Williams

• Paint a portrait in words of one of the significant people who have shared your journey of faith. Note what qualities stand out, thinking of examples of times when some of these qualities became apparent. What feelings and images do you associate with this person? Jot them down.

• Is there a way that the person in your portrait helps highlight some aspect of love, and thus of God who is love?

• Are there words or images in Scripture that express the impression this person gives you of God? Note the way the person you have in mind helps fill out the meaning of those words in Scripture. Does God become more real for you because of this connection?

• Take one of the qualities of the person in your portrait above. See whether Jesus is like this in some gospel scene. As you move back and forth between this person and Jesus, see if it gives you greater appreciation of this kind of love, in both Jesus and the person in your portrait.

Session 3
An opportunity, for those who choose to share, to tell stories of times when "I saw an angel!"

• Jot down, using the flipchart, key words and qualities used, as the stories are told, to build up a picture of an "angel."

• Jot down, using the flipchart, key words and qualities used that speak of God.

• Share a short time of reflection after each story, and thank God in the stillness.

Worship:
Bring into the worship the drawings of concentric circles highlighting life stages, and the memories and qualities of significant people. Place in the centre of the room the flipchart data that builds of a picture of an "angel", together with that which speaks of God. Spend the time in stillness, thanking God for the "angels" who touch our lives and speak to us of God. Close with a piece of quiet, reflective music.

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