The hands will create the church building, and the fingers will create the steeple and the people inside. Your thumbs should remain straight and pointing upward at this stage. They will eventually create the doors of the hand church.
At this point, the tops of your knuckles on both hands form the roof of your finger church. There should be no space between your thumbs. Now you are reading to say the first part of the rhyme: “Here is the church. ”
When you press the pads of your index fingers together, they should form a triangle, with a point at the top. You should say the second part of the rhyme: “Here is the steeple. ” Steeples have specific meaning to the church; some historians believe they symbolize Christians’ desire to lift their hearts and minds up toward heaven.
Your locked fingers will be lined up as if they are the people sitting inside pews inside the church. [1] X Research source
It’s more fun for children to wriggle their fingers to show that the people are moving inside the church.
To do the prayer formation, press both hands together, with the thumbs pressed together and the fingers pointing toward the sky. The rhyme is thus a good way to get children to start to pray. This prayer formation is meant to represent the parson praying. If you’re secular, you can drop the last line and prayer hands and just end on the wriggling fingers inside, representing the people. A parson is a member of the clergy, especially Anglican.
The rhyme, in totality, goes, “Here is the church. Here is the steeple. Open the doors and see all the people. Here’s the parson going upstairs. And here he is saying his prayers. ”[3] X Research source A lot of people leave the last two lines off. It’s up to you. The term parson is not familiar to many children, but they will understand this is a leader of the church. Another way to end the rhyme is to say, “Close the doors, and let them pray. " Open your hands almost all the way, with your pinkies touching. Say, “Open the doors, and they have all gone away!” This will surprise and thrill small children because it’s as if the parishioners have vanished.
