What’s in this month’s Seed Disperser
Featured this month
Who Made God? And Other Tricky Questions
Autumn Rambles
Inspiration this month – Ideas for Holy Week
Spy Wednesday Mystery Event
Good Friday Treasure Hunt
The Son will Rise
Holy Week Email Series
Special offers
Brian K. Smith - Discount and Free Book Offer
On a personal note
Muddling along
Featured this month
Who Made God? And Other Tricky Questions
Launching this month… we are delighted to bring you an updated and revised edition of Who Made God? & Other Tricky Questions written by Brian K. Smith.
We’re also excited to offer this book in both electronic format (PDF) and as a physical book. If you like turning paper pages, we finally have something you might want to buy. Brian has arranged this limited print run, so be in quick if you want to grab a copy for yourself or to give as a gift.
This new edition is illustrated by Gabriella Kiepatski and is now in full colour. Although pitched as a book of theology for children with help for Mum and Dad, we think this book is a great read for all ages.
PDF book version $25.00(NZD) RRP
Physical book version $40.00(NZD) RRP
Autumn Rambles
Autumn Rambles ... Join Caroline (Kereru Publishing) and Janice (The Prayer Bench) as they walk the streets, beaches, woods, and bush and collect their favourite autumn signs & sightings and share their ramblings and memories of Autumn. Look in on the wisdom this season lends them in their journey of faith.
Use their ideas as a starting point for your own meanderings. Take a camera, a sketchbook, a journal or a basket for gathering as you ramble around your place.
Ease into Autumn. Enjoy slowing. Ramble with pleasure and gather your own collection of autumn impressions, images and sensations to guide you on your path.
Ramble on your own or gather a group of friends to join you in your rambling.
Autumn Rambles begins in the Southern Hemisphere on 23 April and lasts unil 2 May. Each day you'll receive a curated digital scrapbook page to inspire your ramble and set you off on your own autumn discoveries. Follow along each day of the 14 days or go at your own pace over an extended period.
Discover more or find out how to subscribe by clicking the button below or send us an email.
Individual subscription $22.00 NZD) RRP
Group subscription $60.00 (NZD) RRP
Inspiration this month
Creative Ideas for Holy Week
Spy Wednesday Mystery Event
We suggest an all-age event you could try in a group setting on the Wednesday of Holy Week. By our definition all-age means children can be included, but this event is not just for children. If you have no children present you’ll find it is enjoyable and inspirational for adults. You can add more complexity into the event if you have teens and adults present.
The Wednesday of Holy Week is also known as Spy Wednesday. On this day in some traditions the story of Judas is remembered. It’s called Spy Wednesday because Judas, focussed on getting money for himself, actively looked for a way to betray to Jesus.
It’s easy for us to hear the story of Judas and dismiss the idea we would act the same. Of course we’d never betray Jesus!
Hold a spy mystery event online or in person.
The mystery to solve is for each person to figure out what they’d be prepared to lose or sacrifice or miss out on, to have money. Conversely, they discover what is more important to them than money.
This is a topical issue for our time as the cost of living skyrockets internationally and people in our communities are suffering. It’s a stark issue for the millions of displaced people in Ukraine who only a few weeks ago were living ordinary lives but have now lost everything. What is our Christian community response to those who are going without? What is our personal response to others in need? What is our attitude to the money we earn, own and aspire to having? How close to behaving like Judas are we really? How much does our faith contribute to our attitude to money?
Good Friday Treasure Hunt
An interactive Bible reading for all ages
We first published this idea in 2020, when Aotearoa New Zealand was experiencing our first Level 4 Lockdown in the Covid pandemic. The idea was widely used, so we thought we’d share it again.
We’ve provided a list of 20 different things to hunt and find as part of a Good Friday treasure hunt. Each item has a Bible reading corresponding to the last few hours before Jesus died.
Find all the items first by looking around your home. Then find the Bible reading associated with each item and read the story of the events leading up to Good Friday. It's up to you whether you find an item and the reading one at a time, or find all the items first and then locate the readings. If you're in a group with others you could take turns to be the hunter or the reader or have a race to be the first one to find each item. We've provided a download of the readings but you might find it fun to look them up one at a time in your own Bible or use the website www.biblegateway.com
If you’re using this activity as a shared worship experience you could share your findings by uploading photos into a facebook group set up for the experience or use Zoom. In your live session introduce each item for people to go and find. Have an audible signal to gather the group together again. Have a volunteer read the relevant Bible Reading.
Good Friday Treasure Hunt List of Items
Bottle of Scented Body Wash - Matthew 26:6-13
Silver Coin – Matthew 26:14-16
Water Bottle – Mark 14:13-16
Towel – John 13:3-8
Dinner Plate – Mark 14:17-21
Slice of Bread – Luke 22:19
Glass -Luke 22:17-18,20
Leaf or Twig from a Garden - Mark 14:32-36
Pillow – Mark 14:37-42
Rope – Mark 14:43-48
Official Document – Matthew 26:59-66
Blanket – Mark 14:54 then Matthew 26:69-75
Hand Sanitizer or Soap – Matthew 27:11-24
Purple Item of Clothing or Purple Fabric – Mark 15:16-17
Nails – Luke 23:32-35a
Dice – Luke 23:35b-37
White Paper & Pen or Crayon (Write on it “King of the Jews”) – Luke 23:38-43
Clock or Wristwatch – Matthew 27:45-46
Vinegar – John 19:28-30
Piece of Cloth to Tear – Mark 15:38-39
The Son will Rise
We’ve used these two pieces of music every Easter for nearly twenty years. By reframing these songs we play on the double meaning of the Son rising and sun rising. The first piece, ‘Endless Night’ from the Lion King musical, is a haunting piece of Father and son being separated. It reminds us of the desolation of the final hours before and during Jesus’ crucifixion. ‘The Long Day is Over’ by Norah Jones is a gentle song reminding us of holding onto hope, waiting expectantly at dawn, before the sun rises on Resurrection Sunday.
We suggest using these tracks in the following Musica Divina for personal reflection.
Listen to the track
How do you feel listening to the music?
Listen to the track a second time
Can you hear God’s voice in the music?
Read the lyrics or listen to the track a third time.
Respond to God in a one sentence prayer.
Endless Night
The Long Day is Over
Holy Week Reflections - Email Series
If you’re looking for daily inspiration throughout Holy Week we recommend signing up to this opportunity from The Prayer Bench with daily emails from Palm Sunday to Easter.
From the Prayer Bench website…
Our Holy Week theme is “And Yet.” We reflect on a quote from Elie Weisel, who survived the horror of the Holocaust death camps and wrote several books, including Night. Its wisdom is heartening for this time of upheaval as we linger through the effects of a pandemic, of war in the Ukraine, of violence and racism and other signs of planetary upheaval.
“And yet. These are my two favourite words, applicable to every situation, be it happy or bleak. The sun is rising? And yet it will set. A night of anguish? And yet it too, will pass. The important thing is to shun resignation, to refuse to wallow in sterile fatalism.”
Our reflections and prayers in this Holy Week series invite us into a new consciousness of Love. The daily scripture supports us, dares us, emboldens us. Our prayers steady us for action. We enter in. And yet, give thanks.
Special Offer - Brian K Smith Books
To celebrate the launch of the revised version of Who Made God? And Other Tricky Questions we’re having a special Brian K Smith month. This offer is available for the duration of April.
Purchase three of Brian K Smith’s titles in any format and add either of our Stations books into your cart for free.
Click on the titles below to find them on our webstie
Who Made God? And Other Tricky Questions
Arrow Down Theology with Pictures
Don’t forget to add your free copy of either Stations for Lent and Easter or Stations for Parables of Jesus to your cart. Free book worth $14.99 (NZD)
Enter the discount code BKSMITH at the checkout
On a personal note - Muddling along
We’ve been muddling along during March. This edition of The Seed Disperser started out as our March edition, but unfortunately Caroline’s health in the last month hasn’t been so good and as the calendar has now changed, we’ve made it our April issue. Caroline and Janice were well ahead on writing both Autumn Rambles starting for those in the southern hemisphere later this month, and Stroll for Your Soul starting next month in the northern hemipshere.
We’ve also been working on shifting Taking Flight, our weekly lectionary resource, to Substack. This is great news for subscribers or those wanting to dip in and out of subscribing for shorter periods of Taking Flight. If you’ve always meant to check it out, but haven’t got around to it yet, why not sign up for a month today.
On the journey
Andrew and Caroline