If you are looking for an interactive and intergenerational way to prepare the communion bread, try painting bread. In the middle of the sanctuary, I prepared a long table and lined it with paper asking “What gives you life?” Jesus refers to bread as the Bread of Life, so participants were invited to consider what gives them life. On the table were hand sanitizer, new paint brushes, cups of milk colored with food coloring, and trays.

Worshipers were invited to paint an image or a word answering the question.

During the sermon, I had volunteers take the painted bread away and toast them in the toaster. This is an important step so that the bread doesn’t get soggy. The toasting also brightens the image and word that is painted. Then the bread is displayed and ready to be used for communion during worship.

If you are not able to do it in worship, you may try it during a church retreat, bible study, or youth gathering.