THE MAGIC NECKLACE:
A Participation Story
| Minister | There was
once a very strong Needle who was so wise that God gave
him a special thread to use. It was strong and beautiful
but quite invisible. "What shall I do with it?" thought the Needle, for he knew that God wanted him to share it with other people. He looked out over the world and saw millions of different coloured beads scattered all over the place. I know, said the Needle, "I will make a necklace." He looked over and saw some dark blue beads. (look into the congregation and beckon to Leaders...wait until they are at front of church before speaking again.) |
| Leaders | LEADERS come up to the front of church and face congregation. |
| Minister | "Would you like to be the first beads on this necklace? It’s people like you that we need to start the Magic necklace" |
| Leaders | "We have to be first because we are the
leaders who volunteer our time. Without us no girls can
join." (after saying above move to the right to make room for the next group who will come up at the front of the church....each time a new group finishes you keep moving to the right until you have gone all the way around the walls of the church to eventually form a circle around the congregation holding hands) |
| Minister | Waits for
the Leaders to move to the right then says: "The needle then saw some lighter blue beads coming towards him." |
| Guides | Come to
the front of the church and face the congregation and say "Can we join? We like fun and challenge." |
| Minister | "Please join us said the needle." |
| Guides | (after the Minister says above move, to the right where the leaders are, to make room for the next group who will come up at the front of the church....each time a new group finishes you keep moving to the right until you have gone all the way around the walls of the church to eventually form a circle around the congregation, holding hands) |
| Minister | After Guides have moved to the right say: "Then not only blue but a number of younger orange beads began to arrive." |
| Brownies | Brownies come up to the front of church and chosen Brownies say: "What about us? We like fun and adventure. Can we please join?" |
| Minister | "Of course you can said the Needle. The Blue Beads were so happy to have the orange beads join them. |
| Brownies | (after the Minister says above move, to the right where the Guides are, to make room for the next group who will come up at the front of the church....each time a new group finishes you keep moving to the right until you have gone all the way around the walls of the church to eventually form a circle around the congregation, holding hands) |
| Minister | After
Brownies have moved to the right say: After some time some lovely green beads began to arrive. |
| Pathfinders | Come up to
the front of the church and face the congregation "How about us? We are Pathfinders and we like fun and opportunities!" |
| Minister | The needle said, of course you can, we are all friends here. |
| Pathfinders | (after the Minister says above move, to the right where the Brownies are, to make room for the next group who will come up at the front of the church....each time a new group finishes you keep moving to the right until you have gone all the way around the walls of the church to eventually form a circle around the congregation, holding hands) |
| Minister | After the
Pathfinders have moved to the right say: Just then some pink beads jumped up and joined in the others on the necklace. |
| Sparks | Come up to
the front of the church Chosen Spark(s) say "Can we join, we like fun and friendship!" |
| Minister | Of course there is always room for more. |
| Sparks | (after the Minister says above move, to the right where the Pathfinders are, to make room for the next group who will come up at the front of the church....each time a new group finishes you keep moving to the right until you have gone all the way around the walls of the church to eventually form a circle around the congregation, holding hands) |
| Minister | After Sparks have moved to the right say: Just when the needle thought he was finished a group of red beads tapped him on the shoulder and said: |
| Rangers | Come up to
the front of the church, face the congregation and say: "We are Rangers and we have fun and look wide for independence." |
| Minister | "That’s great said the needle. You are more then welcome to join the necklace." |
| Rangers | (after the Minister says above move, to the right where the Sparks are, to make room for the next group who will come up at the front of the church....each time a new group finishes you keep moving to the right until you have gone all the way around the walls of the church to eventually form a circle around the congregation, holding hands) |
| Minister | Soon some more dark beads came along. |
| Jr. Leaders | Come up to the front of the church and say: Can we join? We want to learn leadership skills. |
| Minister | Of course you can. We need you here so you may be our future leaders. |
| Jr. Leaders | (after the Minister says above move, to the right where the Rangers are, to make room for the next group who will come up at the front of the church....each time a new group finishes you keep moving to the right until you have gone all the way around the walls of the church to eventually form a circle around the congregation, holding hands) |
| Minister | Soon some wise beads arrived. They had once been many colours and had developed into a beautiful shade of purple. They too wanted to still be part of the magic necklace. |
| Trefoil | Come up to the front of the church and face the congregation: Can we join? We want to help wherever we are needed. |
| Minister | "Please
join in with us. Your wisdom is always valued. The necklace grew so large that it spread all around the world. The beads took great care of the magic thread for they knew that no one but they themselves could break it. |
| Guide Representative: | Maybe you
have guessed that the needle in our story was Robert
Baden Powell. The magic thread is the Guiding and
Scouting that he started and the beads represent girls
and women from Sparks right through to the Trefoil Guild.
The magic of Guiding holds us all together. We all break
the chain sometimes, it is difficult not to but we can
join the thread together again if we use the safety
chain. What is the safety chain you might ask? It is the
Promise that we all make. Would all the Sparks in the congregation now stand and say their Promise: |
| Sparks | "I promise to share and be a friend" |
| Guide Rep | Would all the Brownies in the congregation now stand and say their promise. |
| Brownies | I promise to do my best to be true to myself, my God and Canada. I will help other people and keep the Brownie Law. |
| Guide Rep | Would all the Guides, Pathfinders, Rangers, Jr. Leaders, Leaders and Trefoil Guild members now stand and make their Guide Promise. |
| Others | I promise to do my best to be true to myself, my God and Canada. I will help others and accept the Guiding Law. |
| Minister | Thank you all for being part of this beautiful magic necklace. You may be seated. |