It is a privilege in my role as Children and Youth Minister to accompany families, children and young people on outings. Sometimes they are purely for fun, such as LazerQuest with Youth Fellowship or Chessington World of Adventures with Pioneers and sometimes we get to deepen our faith and join with other Christians. On June 22nd some of us will be going to see the Saltmine Theatre Company and on July 3rd will be going to see the ‘Life of Christ’ at Wintershalls. I look forward to …

I had been hearing things about the Youth Service for quite some time but had never been quite sure what it was all about. I had assumed from its title that it was as it says, a service for the younger members of our Parish – particularly aimed at those involved in Pioneers and Junior Pioneers. I certainly hadn’t thought it was something that I might be welcomed to. How wrong I was.
It was clear from the moment that I approached St Mary’s Hall at 5pm on …

Sunday school teachers from both St Mary’s and St John’s attended the recent training day entitled ‘Creating Sparks’ organised by the Diocese. The main speaker was Mary Hawes, National Children’s Adviser, who gave an overview of what life is like for children in this country backed by many worrying statistics. She then laid down a challenge to churches, using research from a book on Children’s Spirituality, to consider 6 issues in relation to our work with children. These are:
Space – consider the buildings and rooms available and …