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For Children’s and Youth Ministers
Your role at this time may have changed, it may feel quite disorientating trying to work out how to minister to and disciple the children and young people you work with from a distance but you have a vital role to play in supporting families at this time.
If at all possible stay connected with the families you normally engage with week by week. It doesn’t matter whether this is by social media, telephone, email, or by sharing activity ideas; they will really come to value the way you have continued to support them throughout this.
Please signpost families to the section below For Families where there are lots of resources available, and please do send us any you have found particularly helpful so we can encourage others to use them.
Video conferencing has become part of the new normal and Children and Young People can be a part of it too, why not try a catch up with your regular group one weekday afternoon with them all logging in. You might need to explain how the mute button works, but once they know they seem better at using it than adults!
For churches who use the lectionary readings, you can find wonderfully created resources on Facebook here
If you would like any advice or support please do get in touch with Nathan Wilson - details on the CYP Team page.
For Families
Supporting Health and Wellbeing
Talk to your children
- Involving our family and children in our plans for good health is essential. We need be alert to and ask children what they have heard about the outbreak and support them, without causing them alarm.
- We need to minimise the negative impact it has on our children and explain the facts to them. Discuss the news with them but try and avoid over-exposure to coverage of the virus. Be as truthful as possible.
- Let’s not avoid the ‘scary topic’ but engage in a way that is appropriate for them. You could try using this book for explaining to children about the virus.
Try out some of these ideas to help your family thrive through the lockdown
- Why not try these boredom busters from TLG.
- Many communities are now covered in Rainbows, where people are placing them in their windows as a sign of hope and community. Why not go on a walk and see how many you can find
- The Scouts have put together this list of 100 things to do indoors, they are organized by age group so there should be something for everyone
- If you haven’t seen Joe Wicks daily workout now is the time to get involved, at 9am every weekday he broadcasts on YouTube, it’s a great way to create a routine and get the whole family involved together.
- Colouring can be both a calming influence and a great time eater- there are lots of sheets available to download free from google or why not try this site where the artist has made a number of colouring sheets free.
Supporting Faith
One of the primary places Children grow in their faith is the home and for the time being it will be the main place they do so. Children’s faith journeys can be supported by the adults in the household, and often our own faith journey can be strengthened too.
Whilst this time can be stressful for all families it may also provide a time for setting a new rhythm. If you’re not in the habit of saying grace at meals, why not start now as we are eating more meals at home; If you struggle praying with your children, make this an opportunity to explore together what praying means; Perhaps this time too, might be an opportunity to dust off a Bible and start reading together.
If you want to read more about Growing Faith at home The Youth and Children’s Work Magazine is a great place to start. Every month they include a section on Faith at home and you can sign up for free to read it- www.youthandchildrens.work
Below are some ideas for growing in faith at home, you don’t have to try and make it like Sunday Church, but have a go and let us know what is working for you and your family
- Mary Hawes and the National Team have curated a list of worship ideas for the home here
- There are lots of great YouTube links and creative prayer ideas on this site, and its free to sign up www.engageworship.org. They also post daily reflections on their facebook page which you can find here
- Ministry-to-children.com came up with this list of busting boredom with Bible stories
- To support your family in prayer why not try looking at the prayer spaces in schools website where there are lots of creative ways to pray as a family
- And don’t forget Amazon’s Alexa, Google Home, Spotify, YouTube and indeed other streaming services have a huge amount of worship music on them. Search for songs you know and love and spend time listening to them as you go about your daily lives, you may even find a new one to share with your Church when we gather again.
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