St. Philips in the Hills Tucson has an intergenerational service at our regular 9:00 service once a month, including a dramatization of the Gospel story by our youth and a story for the sermon, both of which the kids gather around the altar rail for. We also have a separate service about once a month called Comfy Space, which runs concurrently with the regular 9:00 service, which is even more geared around kids. The link above is to our Comfy Space Facebook page. The theme is: for those who like to wiggle in church, and for those who worship with them.

Doug Spurlin

"Wiggly" and "whole family": were dogs invited? :-)

JC Fisher

Spiritual Moments
by Patricia Nakamura

The elements are ready: The peaceful chapel, music, incense, the Word. The Sacrament on the altar. The congregants arrive one by one, mostly quiet. Some propel electric wheelchairs; some come in manual chairs, gently pushed by helpers. A few walk, holding escorts’ arms.Visitors, relatives, friends, enter in silence.

The atmosphere is calming, soothing. The music this day is Anglican chant, sung by Gloria Dei Cantores. The Word will be next Sunday’s Gospel, about a woman who was healed by Jesus. The celebrant calls attention to the music, a psalm in Anglican chant. He notes the incense: “As the scented smoke rises, so our prayers rise to heaven.”

The congregation is quiet. This is Spiritual Moments, a Eucharist specially designed for residents of the Alzheimer’s/dementia wing at St. John’s on the Lake. The celebrant is the Rev. Donald Hands, chaplain at the facility.

Fr. Hands began the simple service about a year ago, in one of St. John’s elegant parlors. “I wanted to do something for residents in assisted living and in skilled care,” he said. Many of these are unable to attend the Sunday morning Eucharist. Gradually attendance grew. “We decided to move into the chapel. It’s a beautiful space. And it gets them out of their rooms and past the ‘barrier’ of the double doors,” those that separate the skilled nursing wing from the rest of the building. It takes place each Wednesday morning, from 11:00 to about 11:30.

The service is carefully designed to engage all the senses in a “quasi-liturgical format. Our tool kit,” Fr. Hands says, includes incense, holy water, the laying on of hands, the colors in the chapel – Williamsburg blue and white, traditional icons - , bells, familiar hymns, and the soothing sounds of chant or solo cello. “Music is better than preaching,” he declared. “Studies have shown that baroque music is especially calming,” he said, hinting at his background is clinical psychology. The brief homily is an explanation of the Gospel reading. A few moments for meditation are filled with an aria from The Messiah: Come unto Him…and He will give you rest.

Fr. Hands sings two familiar hymns, one at the beginning, another to end, and some in the congregation sing along softly, or hum. The old songs, learned in childhood and sung for years, often linger longest in fading memories.

The Lord’s Prayer evokes murmurs, and soft Amens. Fr. Hands walks down the rows, taking Communion to each person. Some are not able to swallow; he touches the Sacrament to their lips, and sketches a blessing. After aspersion with holy water, the Baptismal blessing, congregants silently file out. Yo-Yo Ma and Bach provide a serene accompaniment. As with chant, the musical line is clear and unadorned.

Fr. Hands thinks about having a hymn sing, the old, beloved hymns. But it is difficult for people to hold hymnals, or loose sheets of paper. Still, some of these are in deepest memory as are few other things. “In dementia,” he said,” all is gradually lost to a dim blur.” Fr. Hands is able to give his patients some times of definition, color, scent, touch, sound; the Sacrament: Spiritual Moments for them to hold.