Journeying from Lent to Easter via prayer spaces: reflections and tips
Resources & Research
Four St Luke’s Anglican School students from Bundaberg reflect on what they learnt about the Easter story through their first prayer space experience with the help of their chaplain, The Rev’d Erika Williams
Leading up to Easter last year, St Luke’s Anglican School in Bundaberg and two local parishes had the opportunity to journey through the Lenten and Easter seasons through prayer spaces.
The Rev’d Erika Williams — Chaplain, St Luke’s Anglican School, Bundaberg
Our St Luke’s Anglican School community and The Parishes of Bundaberg and Bundaberg West experienced “prayer spaces” for the first time last year. Our theme was the journey through Lent to Easter, which we explored through eight different prayer spaces.
During their Ethics and Faith classes, students from Prep to Year 11, along with local Anglican parishioners, experienced interactive prayer and reflection with God in our Chapel gatherings over a two-week period. This was an informative, engaging and moving way for everyone to experience the Easter story, and everyone enjoyed the accompanying activities that brought the story alive.
The following were the eight different prayer spaces.
Palm Sunday — Joy station
Jesus entered Jerusalem and shouted “Hosanna”.
Students were asked to write on leaves about what makes them really happy and what they are thankful for.
Last Supper — Friendship station
During the Last Supper, the night before Jesus died, he broke bread with his companions, his disciples, his best friends.
Students were asked to think of their best friends, and those others important to them. So, as they made people out of pipe cleaners they thought and/or prayed for those special people, giving thanks to God for them.
Gethsemane — Big Questions station
After the Last Supper, Jesus went to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray. Jesus prayed a big question to God as he was worried about what was going to happen to him.
Our students were encouraged to write their big questions on sticky notes, which they then hung in our Garden of Gethsemane.
Carrying the Cross — Sensory station
This station was all about worries — that sometimes our worries, fears and problems feel heavy, just like the heavy cross that Jesus carried through the streets to Golgotha.
Students were able to think about their worries, fears and problems and then drop a glass pebble into a tall jar filled with water. It allowed them to actually stop and think about them.
Forgive them — Fizzy Forgiveness station
Jesus on the cross cried out, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”
Students could think for a moment if there was anyone they needed to forgive. The students then took a “bath bomb” tablet in their hand and thought about a person who had hurt them, and then imagined that the tablet contained all that hurt, anger and sadness that they feel about the person, before placing it in water and watching it all dissolve.
Kian and Ayaan, from St Luke’s Anglican School in Bundaberg, participating in the Forgive them — Fizzy Forgiveness station at the Lent to Easter 2024 prayer spaces
The cross — Sorry station
Christians believe that because Jesus died on the cross, they can freely ask God for forgiveness — they can say sorry and know they are forgiven. We all do and say things that are wrong and things that we regret and wish we hadn’t. What have you done or said wrong?
Students are then invited to write a sorry prayer onto a piece of paper and take it to the cross and gently let it go by placing it into a “sorry post box”.
Resurrection — Hopes station
This prayer space relates to Jesus’ resurrection.
Students made flowers, as symbols of hope and life blossoming out of the darkness, to place on the “hope wall”.
“St Luke’s Anglican School students Indie, Grace, Frankie, Helen and Nina making flower symbols of hope and life blossoming out of the darkness to place on the hope wall for the Resurrection — Hopes station” (Bundaberg, Lent 2024)
Be still station
Students were encouraged to be still with God.
This was a place for students to be still, where they could colour in or just be still with God because it isn’t always easy to be still in such a busy world.
St Luke’s Anglican School students Olivia, Ella, Ahnah at the Be Still station: This was a place for students to be still, where they could colour in or just be still (Bundaberg, Lent 2024)
Molly — 2024 Year 1 student, St Luke’s Anglican School, Bundaberg
I really liked the mindful colouring and making the hope flowers because I like making things and the flower made me happy. The fizzy forgiveness station reminds us that Jesus died to forgive us and we can forgive each other — the fizziness is like the magic of forgiveness. In the prayer spaces, we can be with God and do fun things at the same time. If I could create my own prayer space, I would make the Jesus Easter story out of nature so we can really understand the story. I liked learning stuff about God and Jesus and make lots of stuff.
Hayden — 2024 Year 6 student, St Luke’s Anglican School, Bundaberg
I liked the resurrection flowers prayer space because it made me feel calm and peaceful. The prayer spaces that taught me most about the Easter story are the Last Supper one about friendship because we made friends and the sorry station with the mailbox activity. Prayer spaces are special because we encounter God in the peace and get to talk to God in the silence and quiet. If I could create my own prayer space, I would make one in a garden where you can be peaceful and pray.
Prayer spaces are a way to grow disciples of Christianity.
Zahli — 2024 Year 6 student, St Luke’s Anglican School, Bundaberg
The fizzy station with the bath bombs was my favourite space because you could just release and forgive. The prayer space that taught me most about the Easter story was the fizzy station about forgiveness. Through prayer spaces you get to talk to God and tell him anything you want, and God won’t tell anyone. If I could create my own prayer space, I would make a Garden of Gethsemane where you can kneel down and pray and peacefully sit down. I recommend prayer spaces to pray and accept Jesus into your life — he takes away your sins.
Katelyn — 2024 Year 11 student, St Luke’s Anglican School, Bundaberg
My favourite prayer space was the worry station because it was interesting to think about what I am actually worried about. The prayer space that taught me most about the Easter is the forgiveness station because, man, I couldn’t forgive like Jesus. Prayer spaces are a special way to encounter God because they are more personal through the activities because you are thinking about people in your life and thinking about your own life. If I could create my own prayer space the theme would be sleep and it would look like a cloud made with a bunch of pillows and blankets so Jesus can come and visit me during my dreams. I recommend prayer spaces because they provide an opportunity to reflect on your life and your personal growth.
10 top tips for creating your own prayer spaces
- Collaborate with your local Anglican parish to co-host and co-create the prayer spaces, setting up the prayer spaces for at least one to two weeks.
- Consult with the students for prayer space ideas and direction, ensuring you have at least five prayer spaces to keep the students engaged.
- Select an overarching theme that ties in with what students are learning and/or with the liturgical calendar.
- Make the prayer spaces accessible and safe for a range of ages.
- Enable enough room between prayer spaces for students to move about and demarcate the prayer space areas (such as with sheets, dividers or pews).
- Use a plastic sheet or tablecloth for wet prayer spaces and re-use it for future prayer spaces.
- Use different textual mediums and materials, including leaves, pipe cleaners, “bath bombs” and water, cardboard, crepe paper, colouring-in sheets, ice-cream sticks, crayons, marker pens, small tents, etc.
- Explain the prayer spaces to students ahead of the session if required and make any written prayer space instructions simple and clear to minimise spoken prompts so the quiet and reflective space is preserved.
- Take photos of the prayer spaces for both sharing with your community and as a pictorial prompt for the next time.
- Allow the students to provide feedback by asking questions. Older students could write down their reflections following their prayer space sessions.
