What comes to your mind when you think

What comes to your mind when you think of God? What influences your opinion about God? How would you describe God to someone who has never heard about God?

Who is God to me? Describe what you understand or believe God to be like Justify your beliefs with arguments Create your own description of what you believe God to be like along with an image Literacy: Atheist – does not believe in God Theist – believes in God Agnostic – not sure if God exists

Challenge Your task is to create two pieces of work 1. A piece of descriptive writing explaining what you think God and what God means to you 2. Create a picture that supports your creative writing Look at the following 5 examples of other students work and complete the evaluation sheet.

Piece of work Jumping up to God, Ethan, Age 6 Matthew, from Monkton Prep School is 6. Who is God? Alix, Annabel and Olivia (13) Tom, Billy, Joe and Kathryn are 13 From John Taylor High School in Staffordshire “God: Why? The Personality of God Anastasia (13) What you like about it What you don’t like about it How might this influence your work?

Jumping up to God, Ethan, Age 6 • “Up in heaven there is God. All of these are planets and God made them. I am jumping up to give God a flower from the hill. God looks just like me. ”

Matthew, from Monkton Prep School is 6. He says: “God is above the rainbow, and the sky is blue. God is at the top, running in the clouds above the rainbow. ”

Who is God? Alix, Annabel and Olivia (13) have used Islamic rules to create this image of the Islamic understanding of Allah. They think God, for Muslims, was in the words of the revelation of the Holy Qur’an.

Tom, Billy, Joe and Kathryn are 13 From John Taylor High School in Staffordshire “God: Why? Our piece shows the idea of people drowning into the earth, leaving life as they used to know it. It shows hands and faces reaching towards what they hope will bring help, to save them from the genocide and the terrible images that crawl in their minds. We were trying to represent all the pain and suffering that was overlooked by so many people during the Rwanda genocide, so we showed the idea of Rwandans with their hands reaching out for help, but none is received from military rescue forces. To us, this shows that God was not there to help the Tutsis so they had to pray and beg for their lives – this may have brought them hope but it did not save many of them. Their hands are reaching out, trying to locate God, but he is just out of reach.

The Personality of God Anastasia (13) Waldegrave School, Twickenham The tree in the bottom right of the painting represents that with God you grow: the side facing him has leaves, the other side is bare and empty. The three crosses show I interpret Jesus: I used glitter glue for the crown, to show that he is a king. White paint symbolizes that he is pure and perfect. Dark clouds signify problems in our lives, but although we don't know what God looks like, I think we know his personality. I think God is loving, welcoming, approachable and quick to forgive. The usual stereotypical view of God is an old white man. I have shown God's hands, one like a woman's, one black. God tries to show us who he is, through the bible and our own religious experiences. The words around the hands of God remind me what I believe he is like.

You need to create a piece of descriptive writing to explain your picture, include what you think of God and what God means to you Sentence starters: God to me is… I see God when… I don’t believe because… God is present when…. God is the…. God must not…. I feel God when… God helps me to… God understands…. Sentence starters and key words Independent Sentence starter or key words Key Words: Loving Father Protector Forgiving Creator Judge Angry Jealous Guide Remote In the past

Who is God to me? The idea of God is just as much for atheists and agnostics as for believers in different faiths: the atheist may say: ‘Where is God? Nowhere at all. ’ You will need to evaluate your own beliefs about God, using the question sheet. Imagine God is answering your questions – what would God say?

Where are you, God? What do you want me to do? Why are you invisible? What are you like? How can we find you? Do you love us all? Why can’t I find you? Where were you when evil happened?