Jenny joins SeeSaw

It is, perhaps, typical of children's ministry jobs that I came to the diocese on a one-year contract and am still here more than a decade later.

I think, in that time, we have made good strides forward in understanding and valuing the spiritual and practical needs of children in our church communities.

I'm particularly proud of three achievements of our team. Firstly, the child protection document Better Safe than Sorry, which has brought children's ministry issues from the edge of church life to a more central position for parishes, and developed an expectation of training for children's leaders, improving the quality of children's ministry provision.

I am proud, also, of the debate that has gone on in parishes following the 1998 House of Bishops guidelines on admitting children to Holy Communion. I must have done around 250 presentations to parishes wanting to explore the issues surrounding children receiving communion before they are confirmed. It asks us to consider where we place children in the worshipping life of the church and requires us to explore fundamental questions about baptism and the eucharist ¬- who is it for, and who decides?

The third significant point for me was meeting Jerome Berryman, American pioneer of Godly Play, in around 1999.
Jerome's belief in the deep and innate spirituality of children, and the need to nurture and find a language to help them express this, resonated deeply with me.

Godly Play provides intentioned, sacred space, creating the right environment and resources to  help children explore the sacred stories, parables and liturgical symbolism that we use in church.

Our own Godly Play classroom opened in Abingdon's URC Methodist Church two years ago. I see it as a centre of excellence where people come and are spiritually fed. It offers people the chance to experience God afresh, and shows adults how worship with children could and should be.

Walk with a Child, earlier this year, was a wonderful event for me, showing how many families want to find ways of worshipping meaningfully together.

It is frustrating that we still sometimes see children marginalised in the worshipping community. They are sent off to a back room, with poor resources, then wheeled out at the end of the service for the 'aaah' factor.

Children are not empty vessels to be filled by whatever we tell them, They have a huge inner resource that requires intentional listening and input to satisfy their thirst for understanding.

As a former teacher and as children's adviser I have always been amazed at the huge capacity children have for understanding when given permission to speak their minds.

I think this will continue in my new role as Children and Family Support Worker with See Saw. It will no doubt bring me new challenges, but in some respects will be a continuation of  my job here at the diocese, as an advocate for the voice of young people.

Children have a story to tell and how we hear that story affects how they will tell it in future. If we suppress their telling of the story they will stop telling it.