Children

Who and what is a 'Children's Adviser'?  Good question...

Name?  Yvonne Morris  Age?  That would be telling! (somewhere in the 30's though)

Favourite colour?

Favourite Veggie Tales Character?

Favourite book? Having finished some Inspector Morse classics I'm now enjoying 'Nineteen Minutes' by Jody Picoult, a difficult subject sensitively handled - a real page turner! Also reading 'Church History in Plain Language' which does what it says on the cover and is really accessible and interesting. Have some children's faith and spirituality on the go too so will probably introduce a Book Review page soon.

My other favourite books are 'Contemplative Youth Ministry' and 'Growing Souls' by Mark Yaconelli, both of which have implications for ministry in general not just amongst teenagers, but also with older and younger members - the implications of which I'm still working out but it feels important.

Great Quotes;

"Children are not colouring books. You don't get to fill them in with your favourite colours" from the novel 'The Kite Runner' by Khaled Hosseini.

'Faith isn't a package to be given to children: it is a process, through which we accompany them.'  From 'Core Skills for Children's Work' by the CGMC Session 1 on Child Development.

'Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.' Proverbs 22:6

'I will sing of the LORD's great love forever; with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations.' Psalm 89:1

Best resource for Children's work?

Here are just a tiny selection of my personal favourites (check out the resources section for more specialised offerings)

For quick links through to information visit our Weblinks to Useful information page under 'ministry with children'.

New Resources worth a mention.

What does a Children's Adviser do? Good question. I think I've only just found the tip of the iceberg!  However, so far things like;

• Consultancy to parishes, PCC's and children's leaders
• Training and support for children's leaders - Core Skills/123 Alive
• Training in planning and leading all age worship
• Advice on resources for those working with children
• Organises the meetings of the Children's Workers Network
• Godly Play training, events and consultancy with churches and schools wanting to develop Godly Play.
• Over 100 churches in the Diocese now enable baptized children to regularly recieve Holy Communion, that's around one sixth, with more exploring the issue and formally undertaking the process. Please contact me if you'd like help with this area of ministry.
• Special events for children

This piece called 'the calling' is a pretty good summary too!

To be a voice for the often, silent voices of children, and in the context of Sharing Life to encourage, support, value and develop those working with them.