Unraveled: A worship series for when our plans fall apart
Last spring, we created a customizable worship series called, "Unraveled: Seeking God When Our Plans Fall Apart" about the ways God meets us in the unraveling of our lives to weave us into something new. We knew at the time that it was important, because sometimes our plans unravel into loose threads, and when that happens, we need to know God is near. We never expected a global pandemic.
Now as our churches, our cities, and our world are grappling with a new reality, the Unraveled series is even more relevant than we could have imagined. Why is it the perfect series for this time?
Unraveled addresses the reality of our grief and fear rather than ignoring or diminishing it, and claims that God is present even as our lives feel like they are falling apart.
The Unraveled bundle contains resources that can be used for online or virtual worship and Bible studies, and all resources are digital files you can download immediately after purchase.
Unraveled is a 12-week series, but each week is independent of one another. We expect that you will customize the series, arranging the scriptures into the order and duration that works best for you.
We hope that you'll adapt our resources to best serve your community during this strange and difficult season. All we ask is that you don’t make the original resource files publicly available online for anyone to access and download, and that you include credit wherever it makes sense to do so, such as in worship slides and where worship videos are posted. Keep reading for more details about the resources and how you might adapt them.
NOTE: Each of the following resources are included in our entire Unraveled Bundle. We bundle our resources because they often overlap in use, and because we want to equip you with comprehensive materials for a whole series. Each resource is also available separately. Want to know what scriptures we’ve included in the series? Download our free theme infographic to learn more.
Included resources + ideas for adaptation
Unraveled Study Journal
We have designed this journal, which includes all 12 stories, so that it might be used as a personal devotional or as the curriculum for a group study series. For each of the 12 stories of unraveling, we include:
Original visual art inspired by the text
An artist statement reflecting on how the scripture inspired the art
Prompts for visual meditation to engage the art
Prompts for individual or group reflection on the scripture
A prompt for journaling in response to the scripture
A short closing prayer
The PDF is formatted to be printed double sided and folded in half to create a booklet, but if you can’t print and mail the booklets, not to worry. You can email us and request a version that is formatted to be read on a computer or tablet.
Hint: While the PDF does not have editable text fields, you can use PDF mark-up apps such as Goodnotes, Noteshelf, or Notability to “write” in the journal on a tablet using a stylus.
Unraveled Words for Worship
A collection of 28 liturgies, this resource provides language that brings the Unraveled theme to life. The liturgies include:
Call to Worship and Prayer of Confession inspired by each of the 12 scriptures and the Unraveled theme
Prayer for Illumination inspired by the Unraveled theme
Affirmation of Faith inspired by the Unraveled theme
You are welcome to use or adapt these liturgies (with credit) in live-streamed or pre-recorded worship, and in digital or printed bulletins or worship guides.
Unraveled Intergenerational Art Curriculum + Children’s Message Prompts
This intergenerational project tangibly portrays God’s presence in our moments of unraveling as well as the promise that God hems us in—behind and before. Throughout the worship series, members of your community write prayers on torn strips of fabric that are collected to create beautifully-woven fabric medallions. We also include children’s message prompts + a script (to adapt) for each of the 12 scriptures in the Unraveled series. Here are some ideas for adaptation:
Record the children’s message prompts and incorporate a time into worship for members to write their prayers on the fabric strips.
Create a pick up/drop off box at your church. Maintaining safe distance, members can pick up torn strips of fabric then drop them back off once they have written their prayers on them.
Ask members to consider using strips of fabric from their home. It could be especially meaningful to use scraps left over from making masks.
Appoint a project leader to weave the dropped off strips into the fabric medallion and share photos of the progress.
This project could become a visible way of staying connected while we are apart. It could become a beautiful piece of art to hang in your worship space when gathering in person is once again safe.
Unraveled Branding Bundle
The branding bundle provides everything you need to effectively share the Unraveled theme with your community, especially in online communications. We hope that you will create and customize your own graphics in the exact dimensions you need using these materials:
Unraveled logo in black, white, and color with files for print and projection
4 ready-to-customize graphics (with logo incorporated) to use as projection slides in worship, or social media graphics online
4 background images (featuring photography by Lisle Gwynn Garrity) for you to crop and customize for different dimensions
Branding Guide PDF with short written statement about the logo, info about color options & font pairings, and advice on how to utilize the graphics online and in print
Unraveled Sermon Planning Guide + Grid
We encourage you to use our 17-page guide as a starting point for your text study each week. This is also a great resource for teaching Sunday School or small groups, as the guiding questions included for each week are great for group discussion! You might post one of the guiding questions on your social media or email newsletter during the week to start people thinking about the coming Sunday’s topic or to continue the discussion after worship and throughout the week.
Unraveled Visual Art Series
We created 12 visuals inspired by the scriptures and stories in our Unraveled worship series. The download includes files formatted for print and web/projection, as well as artist statements for each visual, plus a visio divina bible study guide. You are welcome to include these images in pre-recorded or live-streamed worship, or post a photo of the images (please don’t post the original high-res files) on social media or send them in an email newsletter. You might also incorporate visio divina into your weekly rhythm in worship, small groups, or through online communications.
You can learn more about the scriptures and resources in the series by downloading our free theme infographic and samples in the signup form below. We hope these resources can offer you creative and pastoral support as we continue to walk through this season when nearly all of our plans have indeed fallen apart.
Anna Strickland
A Sanctified Art Intern
Anna Strickland (she/her/hers) looks for the Divine in the everyday like treasure in clay jars and first encountered God in the integration of her spiritual self and artistic self. She is a native Austinite and graduated from the University of Texas where she now works in college ministry, especially serving LGBTQ students.