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Welcome to the October 2007 Children's Workers' newsletter. |
Participation is the watchword for children's and youth work at the moment. With the first meeting of the Participation Steering Group that followed from the Church's decision to adopt the Youth Conference's proposals for a strategy for youth participation in the Methodist Church we are now working hard to develop a strategy that will encompass all in the Church. We are also very excited about the plans we are developing for Takeover Day here in Methodist Church House where children will be taking important decisions and learning about the work we do. Participation is not just a fancy idea or a way of looking more modern, indeed its roots are found in scripture and we as Christians have a clear mandate to take children, young people, and people of all ages seriously as we all journey together. How does participation factor in what your group or church are doing? Is it time you started to ask some questions and hear from the children and young people around you?
The first additional unit for Core Skills for Children’s Workers has now been published on the website. TRANSITIONS is the focus of this unit and it heralds an important new focus which has been identified in the Children’s Workforce Development Council’s new curriculum for children’s work training. Know and understand the key types of transition in the lives of children. Using a variety of group exercises, inputs and reflections, this session challenges workers to reflect on the contribution their work and relationships with children can make towards helping children to cope with transition in their lives and build resilience in dealing with difficult situations. There is a wealth of material available for tutors to choose from and some substantial handouts for further reading. It costs only £3 to download the module and then you can save it on your PC and return to it as many times as you like! Purchase the new module by following this link here http://www.coreskillsforchurches.com/pages/data.asp?layout=page.htm&Type=&Id=2368 |
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New CORE Skills downloadable module
Angel Tree provides Christmas presents for prisoners’ children. In the UK local Prison Fellowship volunteer groups raise funds and work with churches and prison chaplains to buy and deliver the presents. Each gift is sent as though it is from the parent in prison who is also able to write a personal message to their child. If the parent requests it, a Christmas story book is also sent. Prison Fellowship works in 130 countries round the world. For many years JMA has given special help to Prison Fellowship projects in Nepal to give children of prisoners there a home (otherwise they might have to go to prison with their parent!) and also set up training centres for newly released prisoners so that they can start a new life. You can help by sending money to JMA for Angel Tree in Nepal. And you will soon be able to donate to JMA online - watch future e-news for further information! |
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Angel Tree - Helping the children of Prisoners at ChristmasRebuilding Strong Towers
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You may have attended one of our Building Strong Towers events and might be keen to know how you could do more with this resource. We are pleased to announce that the partners who worked together on this are offering a one day Consultation event in Methodist Church House on Tuesday 30th October 2007. We aim to present the resources developed for Building Strong Towers so that others can use them in both similar and new contexts. The consultation will address how we can best equip the Church and its workers to walk alongside children in difficult times and ensure that as a society we function effectively in support of children. We will look at regional co-operation and at strategies to resource colleges and training schemes.Godly Play Network
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Thank you to all those who contacted us about the Godly Play Network. We have had enough response to move ahead with planning a day here at Methodist Church House to share our experiences and plan how to keep people in touch with each other and with developments and resources.
Our friend Lucy Moore from BRF's Messy Church sent us this message - "It's obvious from a simple Google of 'Messy Church' and from all the people who've visited us over the last year, that there are lots of people doing Messy Church across the UK now (and even in New Zealand!), which is very exciting. And this means that And it would be good to share all this so that we are all energized, enthused and equipped to carry on with - let's face it - a pretty tough calling. But isn't it wonderful that so many families who otherwise wouldn't set foot in a church are coming happily every month? Many hallelujahs. Both Barnabas (who published the book) and St Wilf's (who started Messy Church) want to equip and encourage everyone doing this work, so we're organizing a 'tour' of Messy Fiestas across the country. The first one is on Nov 10th. It's a very hands-on celebratory day to meet other people doing Messy Church in different situations and hear their stories. There'll be a slot for sharing and doing craft ideas that have worked for you, a time to swap recipes, time to talk about the issues you're facing in your Messy Church and to try to discern together the way God wants this to develop. And of course, to EAT! We'd love you to come - I'd love you to come. Either on your own or with your team. Whether you've been running a Messy Church for years or whether you're still thinking about it. Whether you feel you've got nothing to share or whether you have all the answers. The booking page is http://www.barnabasinchurches.org.uk/product/BFQ071110Z.htm The other (for the moment unconfirmed) Messy Fiesta dates are Please forward this to anyone who might be interested. Hope to see you there! And whether you can or can't come, please let me know how things are going and whether there's any help you need. " For further information contact lucy.moore@brf.org.uk |
Messy Fiesta! JMA News
New editions of Rainbow (for children) and FuN are now available and should be with all JMA Secretaries this week. FuN (Follow up Notes) is a bumper 12-page edition and would be a very useful resource for all workers with children. If you would like copies of the two publications, please contact us on 020 7467 5213 or children@methodistchurch.org.uk You can view the new Rainbow and FUN online by visiting http://www.methodistchildren.org.uk/adults/jmadownloads.htm
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9- 13's Project News Keepin it Real a New Resource to help leaders explore choices with 9-13 year olds Keepin it Real covers four topics relevant to the lives of 9-13 year olds: This resource will be available in November from Methodist Publishing House and CURBS. Further details in next months e-news. MCTXT4U has completed a full year texting to over three hundred children and young people. Over twenty four thousand texts have been sent out on a variety of subjects and issues relating and relevant to children and young people of today. Mctxt4u is linked to our bulletin board on the MethodistChildren website. The bulletin board is full of ideas and questions to engage 9-13s.http://www.methodistchildren.org.uk |
Upcoming training for children's workers
Are you ready to make a difference?Two opportunities to receive and participate in a choice of weekends to enable you to grow your ministry, and equip you to disciple children and young people more effectively. Key practitioners from the Scripture Union family drawn from specialist volunteers and expert staff will lead the weekends. 9-11th November, Swanwick and 30th November -2nd December, High Leigh |
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If
you require any further information please contact us on children@methodistchurch.org.uk MethodistChildren is part of the Connexional Team of the
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A Proud participant in Takeover Day - 23rd November 2007 