Resources for children, young people & families

This page is a list of resources, links and ideas to help with ministry to children, young people and families at this time. Our Discipleship Enablers are available for specific advice or questions that you may have at this time.

Can we run groups and meet up with young people?

Detailed guidance from the NYA

Church of England advice

Relationship is key

The feedback from families and young people has been how much they appreciated contact. Visits, phone calls and – from one church – handwritten postcards all help to connect, support, listen and to maintain a two-way relationship. If there are families or young people you have lost connection with, it’s not too late to be in touch; to ask how it is going, how the church can support them, and what you can be praying for. Check out our Six Things resource sheets on our dedicated Disciples Together page.

Mental Health and Wellbeing

Young People’s Ministry

Useful Resources for Young People’s Ministry

The Contemplative Toolkit

We will soon be publishing the Contemplative Toolkit for use with adults and young people. It is in draft form at the moment but a number of groups have been running the first two practices over online platforms during this crisis. The Introduction, and the practices of Stilling and Noticing are available for you to try and use too. You might want to watch how children at Goring CE Primary School used the toolkit as we developed it.

The Contemplative Toolkit for Families is also being developed, and here is the Noticing exercise, suitable for use with children in Foundation Stage as well as Key Stages 1 and 2. We would also encourage the breadth of generations in your family or household to join in.

Space Makers the Contemplative Toolkit for schools is now available.  Space Makers is founded on ancient pathways and practices of meditation and prayer that have resourced, benefitted and healed Christians for generations.

Schools

Resources to help churches connect with their local schools:

A good church-school relationship

Volunteering in schools

Questions to ask when volunteering in a school

School Acronyms

Coping with Bereavement and Loss – Oxford Diocese Board of Education (ODBE) schools resource.

Children’s Ministry

Family and Intergenerational resources

Intergenerational Church: What it is and why it matters

Messy Church at home

Bereavement

When someone who a child knows well dies, their world changes in an instant. The temptation is to try to protect children from the effects of grief and facing the stark reality of death. However, the reality is that children need to know about death and to be supported in helping them work out responses and to deal with their own grief. These resources are offered for anyone supporting a child at this time.

More resources

Here you’ll find resources to help you generally with children’s ministry.

Resources to help think through issues of racism and discrimination with children

Events around the world recently have brought the issue of racism to the forefront of our thinking and prayers. In our ministry with children and families we must welcome and affirm all and be careful not to demonstrate bias based on race or ethnicity (nor gender, sexuality, disability or anything else that is hurtful or causes unnecessary division). All people are made in God’s image. All people reflect God’s image somehow – isn’t that just beautiful?

Here are some links to resources, books and organisations to help if you are exploring how to approach this issue with children.

Talking with children

Rachel Turner and our friends at Parenting for Faith have produced a great set of resources entitled How can we talk to our children and teens about injustice? These contain helpful bible stories to examine racism and discrimination, helpful ways to open up conversations and ways to pray.

Helpful for adults to stimulate thinking

Rev Dr Kate Coleman: Are you M.A.D. with the world?

Henry Zonio: Why we must start talking about race in our children’s ministries

Henry also contributes a thoughtful and challenging chapter entitled Normalising white spirituality in children’s Sunday school curricula in an excellent book Bridging Theology and Practice in Children’s Spirituality, edited by Mimi Larson and Robert Keely. There is also a chapter by Karen F Williams, Colouring outside the lines: A conversation about racial diversity and the spiritual lives of children. Again, very thought provoking stuff! She says;

“Being in a setting devoid of racial diversity only gives children a partial vision of the kingdom of God” (p61).

My colleague Margaret Pritchard Houston in St Alban’s Diocese has got a great Pinterest page on this issue with lots of resources, pictures and ideas.

Storybook Bibles

One of the major ways churches can show discrimination is in the choice of storybook bibles there are available for children to use and look at. Examine the picture in the books – do they reveal God’s glorious diversity among his human creations, or are the people mostly white-looking? Offering books for children that offer more diverse imagery is just one way of normalising diversity and tackling racism.

Desmond Tutu: Children of God Storybook Bible

Shine On: A Story Bible has lots of curriculum resources, including some new intergenerational resources to explore justice.

Growing in God’s Love: A Story Bible

Other organisations

Show Racism the Red Card is a UK charity using education and sport to tackle racism. This video is very powerful.

Anne O’Conner, leading consultant on early years, offers some thoughts about tackling racism in nursery settings helpful for churches running toddler groups.

Disability

Children in Church

Baptism and early years faith information
Toddler groups
Resources for families
Parenting courses
Fostering and adoption
Research

Godly Play

In this diocese, we are delighted that around 36% of parishes and benefices have adopted policy so that baptised children can be admitted to receive communion before they are confirmed. We know that this practice enables children to feel a greater sense of belonging in and to the Church and their faith, which in turn can deeply influence how they live out their faith longer term. We also hear anecdotes and stories of how enabling children to receive communication has touched adults in congregations and even re-awakened something in them of the deep mystery of the sacrament. If we are seeking to grow together as intergenerational communities of faith, ensuring all baptised members of the Church are able to receive communion is a significant step.

Steps of the process:
  • Talk with your PCC to introduce the need and the idea.
  • Consult with the congregation about it, including children, young people and families.
  • Liaise with the discipleship enablers about your plans, proposed process and to discuss any resources you need.
  • In consultation with the discipleship enablers, finalise your policy (see a sample policy).
  • PCC must formally adopt a policy.
  • A written application must be made to your area bishop.

Please do contact Yvonne Morris with any questions you have or help you need about this.

May 2021 – updated information coming soon!