Additions

Part of the vision of this site is to include ideas from other people who also know something about using worship tools in Christian gatherings. If you know of something that I have missed out or should include

Extra information added after attending a conference called the Battle Belongs to the Lord 2 (1 November 2003)

Outside the teaching sessions some delegates got together and started talking about flags. This proved to be an interesting time of cross fertilisation of ideas. I have added something to just about all the pages about flags and even something to most of the pages on ribbons as a result. One of the ideas that came out of these discussions was one about asking a fishing rod manufacturer about the possibility of adapting fishing rods to make large flag poles. This will take a little time to pursue but progress is being made.

I would like to say thank you to David who shared what he had in terms of actual flags as well as his experience of making and using them with anyone who asked. I and many others learned a lot from him. A number of people had a go using flags for the first time and wanted to know more and he was so patient with them.

When I returned I did a search to support some of the ideas that were discussed at the conference. I found a number of secular sites that could be helpful. Some of these were spiritually neutral and there would be no harm using their resources as long as you were sensible. What did come as a surprise were what I can only call counterfeit activities. I found one site on something called Poi I did a bit of checking and found it had some links to Maori fertility rites. This is definitely not spiritually neutral and in fact many people would see it as spiritually opposite to Christian worship. Bearing this in mind I intend to avoid this idea like the plague and I would encourage others to do the same. I would also recommend that if you have a choice of handles for your twirling flags that you consider what any images on them represent. Designs to be wary of include stars within circle shapes which are often seen as related to anti-Christian spirituality. I found one organisation who supplied flag batons like that and I have deliberately not included a link to their site.

twirling flag batons from British Isles Baton Twirling Association

ribbons from British Isles Baton Twirling Association

made up flags for twirling batons from Majorette supplies (Bear in mind the above comments on spirituality and keep your wits about you when deciding what to order)

Extra links to dancewear sites (18 Oct 2003)

I have not been able to find any British web sites offering dancewear targetted at church dance groups. However, there are a number that deal in ordinary dancewear and these two were recommended to me. Look around on some of the links provided for other topics and you will find that some of these sites also supply dancewear suitable for use in church.

Dance Direct

Dancingwear UK

Extra links to Bona's dance site (22 May 2003)

The emphasis on Bona's site is a bit different to mine as she concentrates on dance in worship. To start with I included some links to her "how to make pages". I have now added some links to her pages in the clothing section.

Mimeistry (22 May 2003)

I came across this organisation some time ago and in fact this was where I got my twirling flag batons from. I did not realise that they still offered them. I have now rectified this omission and added a link to them on the making flags page. They also offer books in symbolic movement and videos to help people learn more about using mime in a Christian context. Therefore a link to their shop page has now been added to the page on the symbolism of movements.

Irene from CrochetUK (14 May 2003)

I mentioned this site on this email list and Irene was kind enough to respond with some comments which I have now included on the clothing pages.