83 – Sacred Doodling
A weekly blog of Creative Ideas for Leading Worship
Sacred Doodling
Visual Listening in Worship
Some people listen best with their ears. Some listen best while their hands are busy. This simple worship idea gives space for both.
Before the service, hand out plain paper and pens, or place them on the pews. At the beginning of the scripture reading or before the sermon, invite people to use the paper for “visual listening.” Instead of taking written notes, invite them to doodle their response to what they hear.
Reassure people that this is not an art exercise. No one is being asked to draw beautifully. No one will be asked to show their work. The aim is simply to let shapes, lines, marks, patterns, or symbols they draw become a form of prayerful attention.
You might say:
“As we listen today, I invite you to let your hand respond as well as your mind. You might draw a word, a shape, a path, a knot, a doorway, a tree, a wave, a question mark, or nothing recognisable at all. Let the lines become a way of listening.”
This can be especially helpful for people who find sermons too word-heavy, or who process ideas visually and physically. A doodle can hold what ordinary notes cannot: confusion, resistance, wonder, grief, recognition, hope. A spiral might become a prayer. A dark scribble might name a burden. A small opening in the middle of the page might become a sign of grace.
Theologically, this activity reminds us that listening to God is not only intellectual. We listen with bodies, memories, imagination, and emotion. Scripture is not just information to be explained. It is a living word that stirs, unsettles, heals, and re-shapes us.
At the end, invite people to look at what they have drawn and ask themselves: What might this doodle be saying back to me?
Sometimes the soul speaks in lines before it speaks in words.
Ngā mihi
Philip
p.s. For a related drawing idea, see: https://philipgarsidebooks.com/blogs/news/82-drawing-the-church-we-long-to-become