Children's and Family Work Resources 2020-2021
The links below will provide helpful information to support you with parish church children's and family work at home during the current Covid-19 crisis.
ECO-CHURCH RESOURCE LIBRARY
Leading Outdoor Church
Muddy Church. Wondering and Wandering Together - Click Here
An Overview and helpful advice from the Church of England - Click Here
An introduction to Forest Church, from Gloucester Diocese- Click Here
Discipleship Walking in Small Groups from Peterborough Diocese - Click Here
Exploring Outdoors in all Seasons, from Bath & Wells Diocese - Click Here
Top Tips for being outside with Children and Young People, from Bath & Wells Diocese - Click Here
A few Outdoor Church Resources from Engage Worship - Click Here
Prayer, Worship and Bible Study Resources
Prayer Resources from Green Christian - Click Here
Worship Resources from Green Christian - Click Here
Creation Matters, Small Group Bible Study Resource from St.Paul's in Dorking - Click Here
Pray and Fast for the Climate on the first day of each month - Click Here
Christian Environmental Organisations and Charities
A Rocha is working for the restoration of the natural world and the equipping of churches - Click Here
Creation Care are encouraging households to care for God's world - Click Here
Green Christian are promoting prayer, hope and action - Click Here
Operation Noah are inspiring action on the climate crisis - Click Here
John Ray Initiative connect environment, science and Christianity - Click Here
Christian Aid are helping poor communities effected by climate change - Click Here
EcoChurch is A Rocha's UK Award Scheme for Churches in England and Wales - Click Here
World Vision provide some really helpful insights and resources - Click Here
There is loads of great information on the European Christian Environmental Network - Click Here
Hope for the Future enables people and groups to have their voice heard - Click Here
The brilliantTearfundandYouthscapeBurning Down the House Report is here - Click Here
TheYoung Christian Climate Networkis an action focussed group for young Christians -Click Here
TheClimate Emergency Toolkitguides Churches to have greater impact -Click Here
Local Environmental Groups, Information and Organisations
Peterborough Eco-faith Network - Click Here
Transition Oundle are working towards a Sustainable Future - Click Here
Northamptonshire Climate Change Strategy 2020-2023 - Click Here
Outdoor Church Network led by Peterborough Diocese and Care for the Family - Link TBC
Inspiration
Sermons, blogs and inspiration from A Rocha - Click Here
A Rocha's Wild Christian, Connecting Faith, Nature and Climate - Click Here
Hazelnut Community Farm. A brilliant new Church in Bristol - Click Here
Brilliant videos and more from Patagonia - Click Here
Loads of great environmental video shorts from BBC Ideas - Click Here
Culturally engaged and beautiful videos from Emergence Magazine - Click Here
Home and Travel
Advice on saving energy at home from the Energy Saving Trust - Click Here
Carbon Footprint Calculator from Climate Stewards - Click Here
The Big Green Switch, comparing Green Energy providers - Click Here
Resources for cycling and walking from Sustrans - Click Here
Low Carbon Travel Guide - Click Here
Allotments and Community Gardening
Give Nature a Home, a personal action plan from the RSPB - Click Here
RHS Plants for Pollinators Guide - Click Here
Why every Church should plant a garden by A Rocha - Click Here
Redeeming the Dirt connects faith with permaculture - Click Here
Food
A vision for ethical and sustainable food from Green Christian - Click Here
A healthy and sustainable Planetary Health Diet - Click Here
Really important information about Palm Oil - Click Here
Reducing Kitchen Food Waste - Click Here
Olio are one of the best know free food sharing apps - Click Here
The Soil Association are transforming the way we eat, farm and care for the natural world - Click Here
The best all round site is probably Ethical Consumer - Click Here
An interesting article on how to shop organic - Click Here
Clothing
The Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) sustainability programme - Click Here
John Mark Comer's Biblical Teaching on excess, waste, and modern fashion - Click Here
Fair Wear Foundation supports workers in the garment industry - Click Here
Tearfund's Ethical Fashion Guide - Click Here
Food and shopping in the Northamptonshire (and beyond)
Brilliant local food, drink and other things from Made in Northamptonshire - Click Here
Low-waste shopping in Northants - Click Here
East Northants Refill is part of an award winning scheme - Click Here
Farndon Fields provide brilliant local food and drink in Market Harborough - Click Here
Pastures Farm Shop, near Yardley Hastings, specialises in Free-range Poultry - Click Here
Locally bred and grown produce from New Lodge Farm near Bulwick - Click Here
Rewilding and Conservation
Rewilding Britain is the best place to start - Click Here
Wild East is an amazing and inspring rewilding Project - Click Here
A Rocha are the leading Christian Charity when it comes to Conservation - Click Here
Caring for God’s Acreturns graveyards into wildlife havens - Click Here
Walks, wildlife and information about the Nene Valley from the Wildlife Trust -Click Here
Land Share:
Lend and Tendsave unloved gardens with garden-sharing - Click Here
Information about Landshare Schemes from Permaculture - Click Here
The Ecological Land Cooperative is well worth checking out - Click Here
Tree Planting
Ecologi plant trees to compensate for our carbon footprint - Click Here
The Future Forests Network Facebook page is really helpful - Click Here
Tree Planting UK have a great Facebook page too - Click Here
Harborough Woodland is doing brilliant work in the Market Harborough area - Click Here
Here are the links to the Children and Youth Ministry webinars which were hosted by the National Adviser for Children Youth and Family Work during lockdown along with the various sites and resources which were mentioned by the presenters.
Webinar hosted by Mary: https://youtu.be/2u89biTITYw. Webinar hosted by Jimmy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlcOqzBZoi8
- Messy Church links
- https://www.messychurch.org.uk/resources/messy-church-home-ideas
- https://www.messychurch.org.uk/upcoming-events
- https://www.facebook.com/messychurchBRF
- Mary Judkin’s Messy Church Video - https://youtu.be/Vap4B-jjDxQ
- Diddy Disciples
- https://www.diddydisciples.org/
- https://www.facebook.com/DiddyDisciplesBridgnorth
- Free Bible Images - https://www.freebibleimages.org/
- Open the Book: https://www.biblesociety.org.uk/get-involved/open-the-book/
- Creative Ideas for Children's Worship, Based on the Sunday Gospels, Year B by Sarah Lenton - https://www.eden.co.uk/christian-books/the-church/worship-and-hymnology/creative-ideas-for-childrens-worship/ (Years A and C also available)
- Muddy Church - https://www.muddychurch.co.uk/
- Geocaching - https://www.geocaching.com/play
- Craft Bags mentioned by Kathryn de Freitas - https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/buyagain?_encoding=UTF8&orderFilter=buyagain AND https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07SV14KY2/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_2?smid=A2XBONWAI42LC9&psc=1
- Baker Ross Craft supplies - https://www.bakerross.co.uk/
- Illustrated Ministry - https://www.illustratedministry.com/
- Charlie Mackesy: The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse - https://www.charliemackesy.com/
- Interactive ways to engage on zoom
- Mentimeter - https://www.mentimeter.com/
- Slido - https://www.sli.do/
The purpose of Faith in Kids is to resource, equip and support those who oversee the children’s ministry in their local church, because they can reach countless Sunday School leaders, parents and church leaders.We also encourage and equip parents to open the Bible and speak about faith in Christ with their children at home.
Visit: https://faithinkids.org/
The National Safeguarding Team have produced a short ‘Think Safeguarding’ advice note for parishes, PSOs and clergy when contacting those that may be vulnerable during COVID-19. You may find it useful on the link below:
Here’s the link to the Illustrated Ministries free resources
Resources to Guide Children in Bereavement
The Examen is a lovely method of praying as a family you can learn more about the Examen if you click on the picture above.
A great way to pray is to look for God’s presence in your life. More than 400 years ago St. Ignatius Loyola encouraged prayer-filled mindfulness by proposing what has been called the Daily Examen. The Examen is a technique of prayerful reflection on the events of the day in order to detect God’s presence and to discern his direction for us. Try this version of St. Ignatius’s prayer.
1. Become aware of God’s presence. Look back on the events of the day in the company of the Holy Spirit. The day may seem confusing to you—a blur, a jumble, a muddle. Ask God to bring clarity and understanding.
2. Review the day with gratitude. Gratitude is the foundation of our relationship with God. Walk through your day in the presence of God and note its joys and delights. Focus on the day’s gifts. Look at the work you did, the people you interacted with. What did you receive from these people? What did you give them? Pay attention to small things—the food you ate, the sights you saw, and other seemingly small pleasures. God is in the details.
3. Pay attention to your emotions. One of St. Ignatius’s great insights was that we detect the presence of the Spirit of God in the movements of our emotions. Reflect on the feelings you experienced during the day. Boredom? Elation? Resentment? Compassion? Anger? Confidence? What is God saying through these feelings?
God will most likely show you some ways that you fell short. Make note of these sins and faults. But look deeply for other implications. Does a feeling of frustration perhaps mean that God wants you consider a new direction in some area of your work? Are you concerned about a friend? Perhaps you should reach out to her in some way.
4. Choose one feature of the day and pray from it. Ask the Holy Spirit to direct you to something during the day that God thinks is particularly important. It may involve a feeling—positive or negative. It may be a significant encounter with another person or a vivid moment of pleasure or peace. Or it may be something that seems rather insignificant. Look at it. Pray about it. Allow the prayer to arise spontaneously from your heart—whether intercession, praise, repentance, or gratitude.
5. Look toward tomorrow. Ask God to give you light for tomorrow’s challenges. Pay attention to the feelings that surface as you survey what’s coming up. Are you doubtful? Cheerful? Apprehensive? Full of delighted anticipation? Allow these feelings to turn into prayer. Seek God’s guidance. Ask him for help and understanding. Pray for hope.
St. Ignatius encouraged people to talk to Jesus like a friend. End the Daily Examen with a conversation with Jesus. Ask forgiveness for your sins. Ask for his protection and help. Ask for his wisdom about the questions you have and the problems you face. Do all this in the spirit of gratitude. Your life is a gift, and it is adorned with gifts from God. End the Daily Examen with the Our Father.
The prayers for use during the coronavirus section on the Church of England website
This has been one of the most widely-used areas of the site the last four weeks.
Working with Matthew Salisbury (National Worship Officer), Church House Publishing recently produced a downloadable/printable version of the prayers (which include prayers for children, as well as a simple form of morning and night prayer) designed for individuals and groups to use at home. The files can be freely downloaded, e-mailed or printed by anyone via the website – with versions suited to sharing digitally, printing at home, or printing professionally.
To draw attention to the booklet’s availability, we included a copy as an insert in 19,000 copies of Church Times sent out last week, and have had a large number of expressions of thanks and requests for printed copies to be made available for those who don’t have facilities to print locally and who want to be able offer resources to those not able to access online materials.
I am pleased to say that we now have a first printing underway, with stock expected to be available within a week (by Friday 24 April). We’re tried to keep the prices as low as we possibly can.
Copies are available to order now as follows:
Packs of 10 for £4 (i.e. 40p per copy) with free UK P&P: https://www.chpublishing.co.uk/books/PCO10/prayers-for-use-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak---pack-of-10
Packs of 50 for £15 (i.e. 30p per copy) with free UK P&P: https://www.chpublishing.co.uk/books/PCO50/prayers-for-use-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak---pack-of-50
Orders can now be placed online using the links above, or by calling our distributor, Norwich Books and Music on 01603 785925
It’s important to note that the description on our site (below) highlights the need to consult the main Church of England COVID-19 Guidance on the distribution of printed communications. Most parishes are hopefully aware by now of the need to use the postal service, and use this resource specifically to reach those not able to access the materials digitally.
We have printed an initial quantity, but expect that demand may be substantial and will take a decision on a further printing within a couple of days.
To that end, it would be very helpful if colleagues in dioceses were able to place any bulk orders/expressions of interest by the start of business on Tuesday 21 April
(if at all possible) ahead of an expected decision on a second printing on Tuesday morning.
Holy Week at Home
Great YouTube resources for 5 - 11's children's work from Josh at Trent Kids Vineyard Nottingham HERE
Scripture Union are providing lots of resources during the current lockdown HERE
Holy Week Reflections from the Diocese of Norwich HERE
In Christ Alone by Virtual Worship Orchestra All Souls as shown on BBC News yesterday HERE
From Revd Dr Sharon Moughtin-Mumby creator of Diddy Disciples
This Holy Week and beyond, Diddy Disciples is providing free audio storytelling and prayer resources HERE
- simple audio times of prayer for families
- audio storytelling for babies and toddlers during Holy Week and Easter
- audio storytelling for children aged 3-9 during Holy Week and Easter
- stories for strange times including home based memorial services (coming soon)
Our hope is to support families at this time and to provide resources that will make praying together easy, accessible, and sustainable.
Holy Week and Easter Prayer Card Activities Diocese Of Durham HERE
Lots of ideas streaming for Holy Week from Engage HERE
Lent and Holy Week at Home HERE
From Diocese of Bath and Wells Palm Sunday and Easter HERE
We just wanted to let you know that we have a Palm Sunday and Easter Bible Chat Mat ready to go and freely downloadable from our website. We hope households can enjoy using them over the next few weeks. For those of you who are interested, most of the Chat Mat’s have a bunch of hidden theology within them, many referencing some of the Old Testament parallels or they include images that hopefully provoke a conversation, our aim being, to produce a resource that can engage all ages on different levels. Our vision is for this resource to be far more than a colouring sheet, but rather something that encourages households to read the Bible, have a conversation, pray together and explore together.
Please feel free to share the Bible Chat Mats in your networks.
Also, the Bible Chat Mat ‘Jesus the Chef’ could be useful in the next few weeks, in that it is based on John 21: 1-14 – Jesus and Miraculous Catch of fish.
Lots of Ideas, songs and videos from Alastair Ghinn (Youth Children and Family Leader Selsey Churches) HERE
The Donkey's Day Out by Michael Forster read by Lauren from Bosham Church HERE
Downloadable Spreadsheet of a Huge List of Resources from Church of England National Advisers Network HERE
Church of England Safety Advice on Video Conferencing HERE
Links to Guidelines for Parent and Toddler, Playgroups, Early Years Provision and Churches:
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/schools-childcare/index.html
https://www.eyalliance.org.uk/coronavirus-info-for-nurseries
https://www.churchofengland.org/more/media-centre/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-churches
A Prayer for Coronavirus by Dorothy Moore Brooks, Chaplain at Great Ormond Street Hospital
Dear God,
When I feel worried about what is happening in the world,
Blow my worries away like the wind blows leaves on an autumn day.
When I feel sad about how this virus is making so many people sick,
Wash my tears away like a waterfall washes over rocks and makes them smooth.
When I feel scared that I might get this horrible virus,
Calm my fears like the dawn makes a dark night fade away and I feel safe again.
Thank you that you are with me and everyone I am worried about.
Thank you that you love me and will always be with me.
Amen.
Family Worship at Home
Please click on the Going for Growth logo below for resources for Family Worship at Home
Hollie from Wadhurst recommends Youthscape Playing Cards
Liz from Chichester On-Line Sunday School Week 2 Raising of Lazarus
Lauren from Bosham reads A Boatload of Trouble by Michael Forster
Zena from Goring Sunday School School at Home ideas for the next few weeks
Lauren from Bosham reads a story by Michael Forster 'What a Silly Sheep'.
Liz from Chichester On-Line Sunday School
Dani from Chanctonbury Christian art resources by Perry May
Darren's Worship Workout for Children St Pancras Facebook
Ali from Newick Church live streaming daily Bible story worship and activity sheets
Lots more to follow - watch this space...
Ideas and Resources from other Dioceses below
Pilgrimage at Home
by Tony Cook Director of Education at Diocese of Bath and Wells has designed a great way to journey round your home with creative prayer stations as you go.
Faith5 HERE
“Faith Formation Every Week at Church and Every Night in Every Home”
There is a simple faith practice built into the core of every Faith Inkubators system, resource, and product. It is a powerful framework that deeply connects people to God and one another, connects church to home, and connects faith to daily life. We call this practice FAITH5™.
When modeled every week at church and practiced every night at home, FAITH5 carries the power to enrich communication, deepen understanding, and promote mental, physical and spiritual health.
The five steps are:
STEP 1: SHARE your highs and lows
STEP 2: READ a Bible verse or story
STEP 3: TALK about how the Bible reading might relate to your highs and lows
STEP 4: PRAY for one another’s highs and lows
STEP 5: BLESS one another