A Small Group Worship Program for those with Alzheimer’s Disease created by Nancy Gordon, director, CLH Center for Spirituality, recently received a ‘Best Practices’ award of merit from the National Interfaith Coalition on Aging. Rev. Gordon adapted a well-tested, Montessori-based children’s worship to create a multi-sensory worship experience for people with Alzheimer’s and related dementias. The worship focuses on a biblical story told through the use of wooden figures, where the story, not the storyteller is the focus of attention. The story, which takes the place of the sermon, is told in the context of simple liturgical elements (greetings, blessings, prayers), scripture readings and familiar hymns. The story provides a way for participants to enter a Biblical story and to have an experience with God rather than hearing concepts about God.

You can find a fuller description of this award winning program here.  View a slide show of the program here.

You can find more in-depth information about “Sensing the Sacred” in the links below:

• Basic “hows and whys” of the program
• Script and patterns for “The Good Shepherd”
• Script and patterns for “Jesus and Zacchaeus”
• Script for Advent/Christmas

To sign up for the “Sensing the Sacred” e-newsletter that will alert you to the availability of more stories, training events, and resources go here.

To find out how you can bring this program to those you serve, contact the Director of CLH Center for Spirituality at csadirector@frontporch.net.