Taketime certainly played its part at 3Generate, the Methodist Children and Youth Assembly, this year. The event took place at the NEC Birmingham 30 September to 1 October, with over 1,000 young people from across Britain coming together to share in fun, fellowship and to hear the word of God.
In the ‘Chapel and Garden’ area was a venue called Elijah’s Cave, where people were invited to listen to God’s still, small voice. Here they could put on a pair of headphones and listen to a Taketime meditation. As you can see in the picture, the cave was actually a beautiful yurt and it really felt like a sacred space in the middle of a big, exciting event.
One of the organisers told me that a group had brought a young lad with them to 3Generate who doesn’t go to church. Apparently, he just wandered into Elijah’s Cave and did a Taketime meditation, then ran back to the group saying, “I was talking to Jesus – come and see!”
In addition to Elijah’s Cave there was a Taketime seminar on the Sunday morning for Children’s and Youth Workers, where people could find out more. This resulted in a few people deciding they would train as Taketime Practitioners.
On both the Saturday and the Sunday there was an event called the Big Worship which included a specially written Taketime meditation, in place of the Gospel reading. It was wonderful to feel the huge crowd becoming silent as children, young people, youth workers and volunteers spoke to and listened to Jesus!
