Summer Freebies!

Our give away last month proved so popular we thought we would offer you the chance to pick up some more reading material for the summer!
Last month's Mission Shaped Children went within hours of the newsletter going out. It's your move was just as popular and we have further copies of this to give away this month.

You may remember in the March e-newsletter we reported on the launch of Respecting Children, a new resource to support the Church’s teaching that physical punishment is wrong and that children should be treated with respect, love and non-violence.

There has been great interest in the pack and we thought it would be good to offer you the chance to get your hands on one. We have five to give away so get your answers in quick!

To win a copy of the Respecting Children pack, answer this question - Who produced the Respecting Children pack? (Hint - click on the link to the March e-news!)

Respecting Children is available at a price of £7 from: CNNV Co-ordinator, 6 Sylvia Avenue, Hatch End, Pinner, Middlesex HA5 4QE. A CD of the handbook is also available for £3. Please make cheques payable to Churches Network for Non-Violence (CNNV).

After the success of the giveaway on It's Your Move! we decided it would be good to give more children who are moving school this summer the chance to read this excellent book from Scripture Union.

We have another ten to give away and if you would like one, then simply tell us the answer to this question - Who publishes It's your move?

Single copies of It's your move! are £2.99, or if you buy ten you get them for £12. Contact www.scriptureunion.org.uk for further details.

Send your answers to children@methodistchurch.org.uk and get some of these fabulous resources for free!

Foundations 21


Our friends at BRF (Bible Reading Fellowship) have launched an amazing new resource that will be of great benefit to all those working in the Church with any age.

Foundations 21 is a brand new way of practising discipleship and continuing on our lifelong journey of faith. For those people who are unable to manage to attend a regular Bible study or fellowship group in their own Church, this on-line resource is going to sweep you away! It offers you the chance to undertake Bible study in a way that you will have never thought possible. With a massive on-line library of video, images, and words, it can help you to discover a world that you have never seen before! With all the latest on-line technology you can be part of a e-community and keep a journal as you journey. This resource is ideal for all of us who are busy working with the children in the Church and community - a real opportunity to refresh and learn for ourselves.

Visit www.foundations21.org.uk and see for yourself!

Racial Justice

New from the Churches Commission for Racial Justice is a pack called Just Now Stories which will be of great interest to anyone involved in working with Primary School children, and is easily adapted to suit church groups.

This pack contains sufficient material for a special week for 5-11-year-olds exploring social justice in the literacy hour. The material links literacy work with areas that are part of religious education and Personal Health and Social education/Citizenship curricula.The pack might be used in conjunction with an anti-bullying campaign, Black History week or Racial Justice Sunday. Individual year groups could use the material at different times if that suited the organisation of the school better.Divided clearly into sections, the material can be split for each year group to have their own set of material. The pack contains stimulus and worksheets which may be photocopied for use within the purchasing school.

See it in the REtoday online catalogue

JMA Order Forms

Badge ordering season is well under way and to all those who are calling us worried that you have lost your 2006 Order Form, do not fear! As we have been explaining, the transfer of operations to MPH in Peterborough has slowed us up this year and the order forms are just in the process of being sent out. As soon as these are distributed you must return your forms to MPH and not to Methodist Church House. As all the products have also been coded then it is essential that you do not use a previous year's form as these do not contain the codes. All the new JMA materials, including the Target Chart, Service, and MPH Order Form are available on the JMA website.

We thank you for your patience while this important transition takes place.

Roots

Roots for Children and Young People, the popular weekly curriculum material for use in churches, is about to extend its material to cater for those who have a wider age group. Added to the website area for subscribers from September this year is YP2 - an extension programme for 14 to 16 year olds. Following the same lectionary passage as the main material it will extend the theme for the week into areas of more interest to the older age group. This is just one of a number of resources that are available in addition to the printed magazine on the www.rootsontheweb.com website, from seasonal material to extra stories and prayers and all included in the price!

As part of the Editorial and Management Groups of Roots we are always interested to hear comments from people and thoughts on how the material could be made more accessible for you. Please drop us a line with any comments at the usual e-mail address!

Audit ceases!

It is hard to believe but it is now ten months since we launched not only our website but also the Audit that was key to us discovering much about Children's work in The Methodist Church. The Audit has now been taken off-line and the information it brought in is now being worked on in order for us to produce a full report, strategy, and good practice guidelines all based around what we have discovered. The Audit was just the first step on a very significant journey for all of us working in Children's Ministry in The Methodist Church and we can promise you exciting further steps to come.

If you missed the chance to talk to us about the work you are doing then do not worry! We would still value your e-mails and phone calls telling us all about the work that you are doing.

Pakistan Appeal

Many thanks to all of you who have been supporting our appeal for support for the health centre in Pakistan.
You’ll remember that in this strongly Islamic country the church has been given land and asked to provide health care, in recognition of the skill and selfless contribution of church members following the earthquake.

Doctors and nurses are already working in the community providing basic health care and
Bishop Samuel Azariah writes, ‘Thanks to the positive response of our partner, the Methodist Church in Great Britain (and JMA) we can now move on to develop a 15-20 bed health care centre in Rarebun - Rawalakot. We are now moving on to establish a pathological laboratory to serve the needs of women and children through our health care facility. This is very good news’

Please continue to make a special effort for this project. Send money to JMA in the usual way, but give us a ring in the JMA Office (020 7467 5213) or email children@methodistchurch.org.uk
to tell us how much you have raised.

A Day of Prayer for Pakistan - 6 August 2006

The Pakistan Asian Christian Welfare Association - Bradford is calling churches in the UK to pray for Pakistan, particularly for persecuted Christians there, on 6 August.
Congregations are asked to pray particularly for:
* The Churches in Pakistan as they provide hope and life for 10 million Christians in the country
 * The Government of Pakistan that they will provide protection to Christians and Muslims from terrorists
 * Those who want to destroy the harmony between faiths in Pakistan
 * Pakistan's security, stability, peace and progress, and the faith, unity and discipline that this will require.

For further information: Dr Elizabeth Harris, Secretary for Inter Faith Relations: harrise@methodistchurch.org.uk

Rainbow Reminder

On the front cover of the new look Rainbow in January we reminded everyone that Rainbow is available free of charge to all children who want to read it. The primary purpose of Rainbow is to act as an educational resource to enable children to learn about the mission of the World Church. Following from that learning it offers suggestions on how we can all Pray and Serve. If you would like copies of Rainbow for the children in your Church or group then please contact us and we will send you the new edition when it comes out in September.

If you require any further information please contact us on children@methodistchurch.org.uk 

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