A Response to Violence

Banning violent video games doesn’t go far enough and we need to take the more difficult step and do something positive to build peace.

Peacebuilders is a brand new project which does exactly that, it is designed to take the Church into its community to explore what practical steps children and adults of all groups might be prepared to take to build peace in the neighbourhood and in the nation. We often teach children about peace, but letting them take a lead could be just what many communities need. The Peacebuilders booklet offers 36 pages of ideas and activities and churches are being encouraged to set up Peacebuilders groups in all their churches and schools. Personal peace, community peace and world peace each receive attention in biblical and practical ways intentionally leading to suggestions for improving ourselves and our world.

The project is a ground-breaking co-operation between The Methodist Church, The United Reformed Church, The Church of North India and the Henry Martyn Institute, Hyderabad. The Indian connection has brought a wealth of experience from its work with the marginalised and communities in conflict.

Ruby Beech, Vice-President Designate of the Methodist Conference, will officially launch Peacebuilders on the Tuesday of Methodist Conference in Blackpool, while the United Reformed Church will do the same at their Assembly in Manchester.

A focal point of the project is a travelling Peace Box, which encourages children and adults to share possibilities for building peace and understanding while engaging with different groups in the community. Finally decisions are made about which peace ideas from the box are to be acted on. ‘The aim of Peacebuilders is to get up and do things. That’s the only way to build peace.’

Both these resources will be sent to every Minister, Deacon, and Lay Worker within the Connexion after Conference. Extra copies will be obtainable from mph www.mph.org.uk.

SLOGANS AGAINST SMACKING!

The Children Are Unbeatable! Alliance believes that hitting children is wrong and campaigns for the law to say so... www.childrenareunbeatable.org.uk
Their new competition is to help to launch a noticeboard for parents.
They want parents, however old their children are, to make up a 'slogan against smacking', something like, 'The law smacks of injustice'.
Use wise words, creative catchphrases, meaningful mottoes and powerful headlines, to get across why hitting children is wrong and why children should have equal protection under the law on assault.
Email your slogan, with your name and a contact telephone number, to info@endcorporalpunishment.org by 12 July.
Entries will be posted on the parent campaign notice board when it is launched.
The winning entrant will receive a £100 voucher and the winning slogan will be featured at the top of every page of the website. There will be ten small runners-up prizes.
(Each entry must include the full name of the person submitting the slogan and a contact telephone number.)

Make your views heard

The Government is seeking the views of parents and those working with children. We are often not good at taking the opportunity to make our voice heard, so don’t let this opportunity pass you by.

One or two children die every week in this country at the hands of parents and many more are seriously injured. We think it is time to make it clear that children deserve the same protection from assault under the law as adults have and giving parents the right to inflict ‘reasonable punishment’ is not giving a clear enough message to adults who are injuring children that physical assault is not acceptable.

The Government review is of Section 58 of the Children Act 2004 and you can contribute up to 10 August by going to www.dfes.gov.uk/consultations/

Grief and Loss: Responding to young people

Knowing what to say or do when someone is grieving or experiencing loss is always difficult. For anyone working with young people, especially those already vulnerable or socially excluded, the need to feel equipped is a priority. First Response to Grief and Loss is a new resource providing initial answers for people “on the frontline”.

First Response to Grief and Loss is a 50-minute DVD and five leaflets for use with young people, plus a manual and reference leaflet for use by practitioners.

Part One of First Response to Grief and Loss looks at the different forms of loss. Loss can be felt by young people in many ways across time, such as parental abandonment or disability as well as death, and young people’s responses can be particularly acute if empathy and understanding are not on hand. The resource goes on to look at the ways in which grief can manifest itself; why we grieve; the grieving “journey” and the possible consequences of unresolved grief. Part Two explores the initial steps – the “first response” – that all practitioners can take, namely active listening, sensitive pacing and working safely and professionally with a young person.

For more press information contact: Deborah Hyde at Oasis Media: debbie.hyde@oasismedia.co.uk 020 7450 9057 or 07956 320 486

Celebrate a harvest against the odds with MRDF this year!

Contaminated soil, polluted rivers and forest destruction directly threaten the livelihoods of small-scale farmers.
Climate change is having a devastating impact on the world’s poorest rural communities.
But small miracles are taking place. This year, MRDF is helping small scale farmers in El Salvador, and across the world, renew their environment and reap a healthy harvest.

This year's free Harvest Pack includes:
* Real-life stories from El Salvador
* Ready-to-use Harvest service and school assembly
* Activities for children and young people
* Colour posters
* Gift aid envelopes

The majority of the Harvest Pack can be downloaded from www.mrdf.org.uk/pages/harvest_service.php or a free hard copy - complete with gift aid envelopes and posters - can be ordered from http://www.mrdf.org.uk/pages/order_form.php

Spirit Blazers

We received this from one Church with a vision -
" Our Sunday School at Bilston Methodist Church, in the West Midlands, was one of the oldest in the country having been founded in 1797, but in 2004 it's future was in doubt. Numbers had fallen over the years and the future was looking bleak.

It seemed that the format and name of the Sunday School had become outdated and did not really belong in the 21st Century. We decided that we needed something new for the children and it was time to close the Sunday School after 207 years.

We formed a new club at the start of 2005 called "Spirit Blazers" which was half an hour longer than before and had a Tuck Shop as well as the children paying subs.

Attached is a PowerPoint Presentation based on the changes we made to our Sunday sessions to allow us to launch 'Spirit Blazers'.

Spirit Blazers at Bilston Methodist Church has been a great success with over 50 new children atending over the last two years and a number of their parents now so involved with our Church that they have just become Church members.

We think that by spending time to listen to God we have hit on a winning formula for working with children on Sundays. So we now feel it is time to spread the word about Spirit Blazers and see if any other Church would like to follow our lead.  

So if you are interested please contact me on andy@lowertrinity.co.uk."

Bilston sent us this powerpoint presentation that tells you more - download it here (ppt) .

A Good Childhood? at St Paul's Cathedral

We live in a time of dramatic social and economic change. Our lives are increasingly influenced by global market forces, digital technology, the communications revolution and new patterns of work. How are these changes affecting children? A Good Childhood? explores what it’s like to be growing up in the UK in the 21st century – and the likely consequences for adulthood.

A Good Childhood? is about the world we live in now and the future we are shaping. The series brings together voices from education, religion, advertising, politics, medicine, psychology and the arts to share insights and expertise, and to consider the nature of childhood today and its legacy for the future.

The programme is delivered by St Paul’s Institute in partnership with The Children’s Society, who are managing The Good Childhood Inquiry, the UK’s first independent inquiry into childhood.

KEYNOTE EVENTS:
Admission to keynote events is free and unticketed, and admission is on a first come, first served basis. Events start at 6.30pm. Doors open at 6.00pm.

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

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MethodistChildren is part of the Connexional Team of the

Penny Fuller, Steve Pearce, Mary Roseweir, Doug Swanney
MethodistChildren