Thursday 15th February 2018

Our Bradford Conference is next week: 23-25 February

We had a great time last weekend at our London conference and are excited to be travelling north next weekend.

Here’s what some of our London delegates said:

‘I found the conference inspirational and have appreciated finding out about TLG and Parenting for Faith. The speakers were passionate, well prepared and great at interaction with us. Thank you!’

Tim plus the team from TLG and Rachel from Parenting for Faith will be on our main stage on Friday and Saturday at Bradford too.

‘Excellent workshops, very enjoyable and challenging, as well as encouraging.’

Many of the seminars, workshops and speakers are the same as in London. I’m sure the others will be equally as good!

‘Everything was great. It was amazing to be here. I came with others and we have already been talking about things we have heard.’

We aim to make space in the weekend for you to chat to each other, having the opportunity to sit back and review your ministry.

‘There were SO many cool speakers. Thank you so much!’

‘This has been an inspiring conference. I have learnt a lot and I thank God for the opportunity to be part.’

The full programme is on the website. Don’t miss out!

Book Bradford

Thursday 21st December 2017

Conferences: London 9-10 February; Bradford 23-25 February

I apologise that the dates for the conferences weren’t included on the last email.

Please note the Friday timetable has been put back by 30 minutes with the doors opening for registration at 4.45pm and the first session at 5.15pm. In London this allows time for more people to travel to the Forum on Friday morning. In Bradford this helps with parking as office staff will be leaving the Business Park venue by 5pm.

The full seminar programme is now in place. Final details for the main stage sessions will be published in the new year.

Book London

Book Bradford

Forum: London 9 February

The Forum, hosted by Children Matter, will now run from 10.45am to 4.15pm, with registration from 10.15. We hope this will enable more of you to attend without having to find accommodation on Thursday night. There are two streams to the Forum: The Big Story of the Bible and Let’s Talk Family. Both of these are building on previous Children Matter days, developing the discussions for people who have already participated and inviting others to come and hear the thinking and contribute to the conversations.

The Big Story of the Bible
Helping children understand the story of God, Jesus and The Holy Spirit and how that unfolds in the Bible is a key foundation for discipleship and a life long faith. This special day will examine:
• How the Big Story nurtures faith
• Creative ways of communicating the Big Story
• How storytelling helps a child emotionally
• Why storytelling is a biblical pattern for faith nurture
• Key skills for storytelling
• Parents & the Big Story

Using several speakers giving 15-20 minute impactful insights, the day will also include opportunities for Questions & Answers and small group discussion. The full speaker list will be available early in the new year. The forum will share a session with the Let’s Talk Family forum which will examine how parents can share the Big Story at home.

This unique day will be of benefit to all involved in children’s ministry but will be especially helpful to trainers, writers of resource material and children’s ministry advocates

Let’s Talk Family
How do we nurture faith in our families? This will be a key topic in children’s ministry in 2018, with special events being promoted by Care for the Family and the New Wine network. The day will stretch your thinking and help you contribute to the conversations that will be provoked throughout the year. Topics will include:
• What do we know about faith in the family? New research explained
• How can family practices nurture faith
• Equipping parents to pass on their faith
• The faith of a boy, the faith of a girl – similarities and differences

Using several speakers giving 15-20 minute impactful insights, the day will also include opportunities for Questions & Answers and small group discussion. The full speaker list will be available from early in the new year. The forum will share a session with the Big Story of the Bible forum which will examine how parents can share the Big Story at home.

This thought provoking day will be of benefit to all but will have a particular appeal to family workers in local churches and trainers.

Book now! SAVE £10 if you book the Forum and the London conference.

Monday 4th December 2017

An important part of our conferences is the opportunity delegates have for personal worship, refreshment and inspiration. In all our main stage sessions we will gather for worship with Noel Robinson leading these times in London and two local groups leading us in Bradford, including a gospel worship group on Sunday. Each morning will also begin with opportunities for prayer or Bible study.

The times between sessions will also give you the opportunity to chat to speakers, representatives from the many organisations exhibiting at the events and other delegates – sharing ideas and gaining new inspiration for your ministry.

I’m thrilled that Rachel Turner will be joining our speakers team again in 2018. Rachel is always inspirational. She will speak on main stage at both London and Bradford on the theme, It takes a church: If we are going to see a generation of children live God-connected lives, then we as a whole church need to work together.

Click here to check out all the information you need about the conferences, including the details about travel to our venues, local accommodation and meal options.

We are delighted that that we’ll be welcoming several organisations to the exhibitions for the first time in 2018. Meet four of them below. Click here for the full list of exhibitors already booked.

Monday 4th December 2017

Biblica

– The International Bible Society exists to provide the Bible in accurate, contemporary translations and formats so more people will have the opportunity to be transformed by Jesus Christ.

Alongside their other publications, they are introducing two new resources based on the NIrV Bible:
• The NIrV Accessible Edition. Developed in partnership with Livability, Torch Trust and Urban Saints, this edition uses shorter sentences and simpler language, a specially designed font, more white space and simpler navigation
• The Books of the Bible for Kids. A 4–volume resource that strips the text of chapter and verse numbers and introduces shorter lines, a larger font size, and engaging illustrations all designed especially for developing readers.
www.biblicaeurope.com

Monday 4th December 2017

Storystack

…makes and sells colourful, stackable, cone-shaped character figures for use as visual aids in the telling of Bible stories to young children.

The idea for the Storystack characters came from the similar sounding story sacks – sacks containing a book and a collection of related props and activities. Having visual aids to accompany story-telling can enable children to be involved and give a focus to the children who find listening challenging. They may also make a story more memorable and can be linked into follow-on activities such as craft. The Storystack figures are designed to be large enough for group story-telling, re-useable and hand washable, sturdy and free-standing, easy to hold and stackable for storage. They can be used in church groups, primary schools and pre-schools and homes.
(London exhibition only)
www.storystack.co.uk

Monday 4th December 2017

Take 5 and chat

When you have a child who needs a little extra care, or presents more of a challenge, you can easily feel isolated and different. Many other parents can’t understand the anxieties and concerns that you live with.

Take 5 & chat sessions started in May 2015 in Whitley Bay – the idea was to provide a safe place for parents to be, somewhere to drop in, meet with others with similar experiences, and feel less isolated. It quickly became known in the area as a great place to be with hot drinks and homemade cakes creating a café atmosphere. It runs fortnightly, all year around, including school-age children during the school holidays.
They are now encouraging others to set up and run similar café style, drop-in sessions in accessible community buildings for the sole purpose of providing support and encouragement to those parenting/caring for children with additional needs.
(Bradford exhibition only)
www.take5andchat.org.uk

Monday 4th December 2017

Changing lives

by Mark Griffiths (published by Lion Hudson)

This book covers everything you need to know about working with children and families – the why to, the how to, the when to and the where to. Mark looks at the history, theology and practice of ministry with children and families. He shares wisdom from many years’ experience of leading hundreds of groups, assemblies and youth services and teaches how to communicate with today’s children both in church and in school and the community.

Sue says: This is a very practical overview with some great tips based on Mark’s theological studies and experience in many ministry situations. It challenges the priorities that your church may have for its evangelism and discipleship and gives lots of sensible suggestions.

A first Bible for children

by Sally Ann Wright (published by Authentic)

This first Bible contains the timeless stories that teach children how to live well, loving God and those around them. Almost 60 stories are retold for young children to understand, each across a beautifully illustrated double-page spread.

God made the world

Illustrated by Emma Haines (published by Authentic)

A cuddly, soft cloth book with crackle noise and a shiny mirror to engage baby’s senses.

Monday 4th December 2017

Don’t forget that Dernier publishing are offering bundles of children’s fiction books at a discounted price and are also giving you the opportunity to have an extra 10% discount for anything you buy from their website before the end of this December. www.dernierpublishing.com

Monday 4th December 2017

FREE Download

For the next 2 weeks you can download Paul Butler’s 2016 conference main stage sessions: Nurtured and nurturing for FREE. The Bishop of Durham unpacked two Bible stories – of Timothy and of Priscilla, Aquila and Apollos.

Download here

Monday 4th December 2017

Job opportunity

The Mothers’ Union, Diocese of Chichester, is looking for a Coordinator for the Eastbourne Family Contact Centre. closing date is 16.12.17.

Contact centres exist so that children living with one parent can spend time with their non-resident parent in a safe, neutral environment supported by trained volunteers.
The successful candidate will need to demonstrate: knowledge of the issues affecting separated families experience of working with children and families; leadership skills; IT skills; and be able to work from home with mobile phone, laptop and printer provided in order to carry out administrative tasks between contact sessions.
This post is subject to satisfactory references and an enhanced DBS check.
Fourteen hours per week are offered which can be flexible but will include 1st and 3rd Saturday mornings for contact each month at the Gateway Centre from 9am till 1.30pm.
For more information email Kathryn Anderson

Saturday 11th November 2017

Over the past two years we launched and explored the concept of Faithfull Generation – recognising ten aspects that will help children grow in faith and be more likely to remain committed to church in adulthood.

This year, we want to encourage delegates to consider how the principles of Faithfull Generation are as relevant to mission as to discipleship. For mission to be most effective we suggest that, in addition to the important role the Holy Spirit must play in bringing people to faith, children and families need to experience:
• A welcoming, intergenerational church community
• Help for families to explore the Bible and faith at home
• Opportunities to explore and connect with the big story of the Bible
• Opportunities to encounter the living Jesus
• Opportunities to talk about and explore Jesus in peer groups
• Support by mentors and the church family
• Peak experiences
• The celebration of key moments in their life and spiritual journey
• Opportunities to be active participants in mission themselves
• Opportunities to respond to the world with compassion.

To help explore theses principles we already have the following sessions included in our conference programmes (with more to come):
• The process of discipleship – taking children from unsaved to established disciples; What is Messy Church?
• Supporting families to engage with faith at home (Bradford only); Running the Parenting for Faith course; Faith in home with under 5s; Helping parents start right – ministering to the unborn; Together with God, family worship (Bradford only)
• Bible engagement in the digital age; A storytelling overview
• Messy prayer time; Practical prayer ideas and spiritual discovery with 8-11s (London only); Spirituality among under 5s (London only)
• Reaching out to unchurched children; Who Let the Dads Out? (Bradford only)
• Coaching unchurched children, with a focus on trauma; Supporting Godly fathers and father figures (Bradford only)
• Running residentials for non-churches young people
• Celebrating seasons (London only)

With outreach as a key focus this year, we are delighted that TLG are supporting the 2018 conferences. TLG helps churches bring a hope and a future to children needing extra help in school, through after school clubs and one to one coaching. During our Friday evening main stage sessions their CEO, Tim Morfin, will be sharing inspiring stories of God using intergenerational relationships
to bring transformation for children from unchurched families.

BOOKINGS ARE NOW OPEN

Saturday 11th November 2017

If you joined us for our 2017 conference, you will have received a free book from Dernier Publishing. We are sure the children you passed them on to enjoyed the stories.

There are plenty of stories which have incited interest in the occult and witchcraft, violence, materialism and worldly relationships, but what about books where the Lord is God, where faith in the Lord Jesus Christ matters, where people pray and read the Bible? These don’t have to be dry subjects! – they can be as alive, real, funny, scary and sad as any secular story, but with the enormous extra bonus of a spiritual perspective. What we fill our minds with, is what we become. What are the children you care about filling their minds with?

Dernier Publishing’s vision is to produce excellent, relevant, fun novels for young people aged 8-17, to encourage and inspire them in their walk with God, and to show non-church kids what they are missing! Reading the books with children gives you an opportunity to discuss issues raised in the stories, such as prayer, forgiveness, bullying, teenage pregnancy, body image, illness and freedom of choice.

Why not plan to give a book to each child you work with this Christmas? Dernier offer bundles of books at a discounted price but they are also giving you the opportunity to have an extra 10% discount for anything you buy from their website before the end of this December. Use the discount coupon code handinhand. www.dernierpublishing.com

Saturday 11th November 2017

A world of difference

by Bob Hartman (published by CWR in conjunction with Speaking Volumes)

Read about the lives of 12 extraordinary heroes from history who changed the world forever. These incredible men and women did all kinds of things to make the world a better place – such as giving homeless children a place to sleep, making amazing scientific discoveries (including chocolate!), fighting for people’s rights to be treated fairly, and helping people in need all over the world. Find out more about Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King Jr, Florence Nightingale, William Wilberforce and many others, and discover how you – however small you might think you are – can make a big world of difference too!

Sue says: Written in Bob’s inimitable style, these biographies are aimed at primary school aged children and will encourage them to think about how anyone can make a difference.

Saturday 11th November 2017

Being Messy, being church

Edited by Ian Paul (published by BRF)

Twelve thought-provoking essays from twelve thinkers and practitioners exploring what Messy Church brings to the wider church, how these different forms of church community can coexist, and what this might mean for the future of church.

Most Revd Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury says: A timely book offering theological insight and asking probing questions into the creativity, mess and gift of an extraordinary phenomenon. A challenging and inspiring read for those leading, helping or simply wanting to understand more.

Saturday 11th November 2017

Together with God

by Ed Mackenzie and Gareth Crispin (published by Morse-Brown)

Wondering how to help your children to know and love God? Interested in praying with your kids in the home? Thinking about ways to engage your kids with the Bible? Designed for parents wishing to start family worship in their home, but also a great resource for children and family workers and church leaders who are concerned to support families.

Mark Chester (Who Let the Dads Out?) says: An extremely useful book for those of us who struggle to know how best to pass our faith on to the next generation. It overflows with ideas that are actually being used by families. Ed and Gareth have done a fantastic job of drawing together and presenting a down-to-earth guide about a heavenly subject.

Saturday 11th November 2017

Tell it together

by Renita Boyle (published by BRF)

50 tell-together Bible stories to share
Stories are so important. Everything we are and everything we do revolves around the big story of God’s love for us and how we respond to it. Storytelling is a vital skill for everyone in ministry of any kind. Renita combines stories that have been written to read well aloud with tools for groups to share them effectively. The stories can be used in their own, to enhance a theme or Bible passage, or alongside other activities as the basis for clubs or creative gatherings and festivals. There are no listeners here – we are all participants!

Saturday 11th November 2017

Welcome to the Lord’s Table

by Margaret Withers (published by BRF)

A fully revised edition of a practical programme for children on Holy Communion
Rewritten for a new generation, this highly successful programme has been brought up to date, fully reflecting changes in both church process and church culture over recent years. Aimed primarily at church ministers, children’s workers and teachers who what to enable aged 7-9 to participate fully in eucharistic worship, the programme comprised eleven flexible units and is designed to last approximately three months with the children receiving Holy Communion towards the end of the programme.
Also available: Welcome to the Lord’s Table activity book for children

Saturday 11th November 2017

FREE Download

For the next 2 weeks you can download Terry Williams and Alan Charter’s 2016 conference session: Forming a Faithfull Generation for FREE. An exploration of key pillars that ,at be the basis of life-long faith formation for children in families, churches and communities.

Download here

Tuesday 10th October 2017

As many of you will know, our regular venue in Eastbourne will be closed for redevelopment in early 2018 and so we are taking Hand in Hand ‘on the road’. We are always being asked to take the event to other parts of the country -particularly the north of England, and so we hope that you will support us in this venture.

In London we will be visiting City Gates Church in Ilford, on the east side of the capital with good road and rail links. Because City Gates is a vibrant church with several Sunday services, we will only have use of the venue on Friday and Saturday but the church will welcome any delegates who choose to stay over to Sunday and join them for worship.

Children Matter have been facilitating conversations about Faithfull Generation through social media and forums. Our London venue has space that we can use independently on Friday, as the rest of the conference is being set up, so we will also have a forum on Friday from 10am – 4.30pm addressing some of the aspects of Faithfull Generation in depth, including connecting with the big story of the Bible. Our regular conference programme will start at 4.30pm and run through to 9pm on Saturday. You can save money if you book both the conference and the forum.

In Bradford we will be visiting the TLG National Centre, just off the ring road to the south of the city and very close to the motorway network serving the north and midlands. There we will be able to offer a full weekend programme from 4.30pm on Friday to 2.15pm on Sunday.

The conference streams at both venues will include:

• Family and children’s outreach and how the principles of Faithfull Generation are as relevant to mission as to discipleship
• Faith development in the family setting
• Children’s ministry basics, with each session including thoughts on being prepared for children with additional needs
• Practical ideas for prayer and spiritual discovery

The outline timetable is on the website. More detailed descriptions for the sessions will be added gradually as the information is received from speakers.

BOOKINGS ARE NOW OPEN

Tuesday 10th October 2017

Messy parables

by Martyn Payne (published by BRF)

Jesus’ parables intrigued, inspired, engaged and challenged the crowds, combining everyday imagery with surprising twists that prompted all ages to wonder and discover the treasures of the kingdom of heaven for themselves. Introductory sections address the importance of story, the power of parable, the challenge of all-age storytelling and becoming a Messy storyteller. This is followed by 25 lively retellings of Jesus’ stories for a contemporary, all-age audience.

Sue says: A helpful initial section is followed by interactive storytellings that will give you some memorable ways of telling parables.

Tuesday 10th October 2017

Messy church does science

edited by David Gregory(published by BRF)

From elephant’s toothpaste to tornadoes in bottles, this brilliant new title from Messy Church offers 100 fun and eye-opening experiments graded for mess, danger and difficulty. Under the safety-spectacled eye of ‘Dr Dave’, discover how science and faith mix. ‘Science is welcome in church,’ he says, ‘and those who are fascinated by science are welcome too.’

Step-by-step instructions and lists of equipment and materials are accompanied by ‘Big thinking’ (explaining the science behind the experiment) and ‘Big questions’ (exploring the link of the experiment to faith). The 100 experiments are interspersed with reflections from working scientists and theologians, including astrophysicist Hannah Earnshaw, who is on the shortlist for the one-way voyage to Mars.

Sue says: I think we should spend more time challenging the idea that there is conflict between science and faith. Scientific understanding can enhance our faith and this book gives lots of ideas for having great fun, helping us all to appreciate the wonder of creation and reinforcing the concept that science and faith are complementary.

Tuesday 10th October 2017

My first Bible stories

Hayley Down and Dawn Mitchell (published by Authentic)

A large-format board book with beautiful illustrations and rhyming text that is a simple introduction to the Bible for adults and young children to read and enjoy together.

Also available: My first Bible stories jigsaw puzzle and book – the same book in paper format and a 28-piece jigsaw of the Noah illustration.

Tuesday 10th October 2017

Family question time

Lucy Moore with Martyn Payne and Jane Leadbetter (published by BRF)

New from Messy Church, this is a colourful, fun-filled little book that will take the whole family on a great adventure. Full of quizzes, activities and deceptively thoughtful questions to help families explore faith at home and with friends.

Written in highly accessible, interactive and jargon-free language, this small book offers information and suggestions as well as encouragement to help families ask the big questions about meaning, identity, God and Jesus and discover the answers – and more questions – together.

In the same series as Christmas Family Time and Easter Family Time

Tuesday 10th October 2017

The big Bible sticker book

Jan Godfrey and Paula Doherty (published by Authentic)

31 best-loved and beautifully illustrated Bible stories with over 250 stickers to keep little fingers busy and personalise the book.

Tuesday 10th October 2017

FREE Download

For the next 2 weeks you can download Sharon Prior’s 2016 conference session: Children’s Ministry and the Missio Dei for FREE. We serve a ‘sending God’. How is God sending the children you minister to into the world? How are you preparing them to go.

Download here

Tuesday 7th March 2017

Conference review

Below are a couple of comments written on the assessment forms.

‘A great atmosphere. Everyone is very approachable and welcoming. Felt able to talk to anyone. Overall a very positive experience and I’ll definitely come again.’ Including those with Family tickets for Saturday afternoon, speakers, exhibitors and the support teams, over 600 of us were on site during the weekend in the reduced space resulting from redevelopment work at the venue.

‘This has been the best conference of the seven I have attended. The clear focus, agreement across all the groups within the umbrella of Faithfull Generation is so exciting. Ways forward will be so interesting as we adventure together. I did think Rachel Turner was exceptional. The sung worship has been such a blessing. I liked the venue – it felt more together, so good to see younger people here too. We’ll be back next year but are returning home having heard God speak to us about building intergenerational relationships – so exiting.’

A third of the delegates indicated they were in a full time or part time paid role. Two thirds said they are involved in just children’s ministry, with most of the rest being involved in both children’s and family ministry.

After the encouraging comments relating to the launch of the Faithfull Generation concept at last year’s conference, most of our sessions explored and developed the concept in more detail and we also gave every delegate a Faithfull Generation book, written by ten practitioners in children’s and family ministry, looking at the ten key insights that may help churches develop resilient faith in children. If you would like copies of the book it should be available from the www.faithfullgeneration.com web site shortly.

Find photos of the conference, information on speakers’ recommended products and links to downloads of their sessions, plus the exhibitor directory on our website www.handinhandconference.com/conferences-training/2017-conference-report/

Thank you for those who have made suggestions for possible venues for 2018, when the Eastbourne conference centre will be completely closed. I am visiting a few possible sites over the next month or so and will keep you updated in the coming newsletters.

Tuesday 7th March 2017

Children’s song

On Saturday morning Pete James joined us to introduce a new song he has written for children. You can watch, listen and download the track all for FREE: www.godsuiton.com/

Tuesday 7th March 2017

Conference Top Sellers

Tuesday 7th March 2017

Diary of a disciple: Luke’s story

by Gemma Willis, illustrated by Emma Randall (published by Scripture Union)

This is a contemporary retelling of Luke’s Gospel. Written in a quirky, contemporary, accessible style, it offers a way into the Bible for the next generation. Fresh from the fizzling imagination of Gemma Willis comes a whole new way of seeing the story of Luke; part doctor, part detective, all disciple. Every page of this book bursts with doodles, drawings, and discovery – booming angels, swirling baptisms in great rivers, storms and seeds and stories of miracles. Starting with an impossible birth, and ending with the stunning twist of a dead man coming back to life, Luke’s diary needs to be read to be believed. Aimed at 8-11 year olds.

Tuesday 7th March 2017

Explore Together: purple resource book

(Lianne Semans Smith & Lee Herdman, Scripture Union)

Explore Together is a fresh, new, exciting and creative way to enable groups of any and all ages to engage with the Bible. This is the third resource book, containing 12 more sessions including the themes of Good Friday and John’s vision of a new heaven and new earth in Revelation, to help you and your church engage with the Bible as an inclusive, authentic and creative community.

Tuesday 7th March 2017

Comfort in the darkness

(Rachel Turner, BRF)

Sleep, dreams and the night can be mysterious and sometimes troubling. Children can be afraid of the dark, have nightmares and night terrors, sleepwalk, or have insomnia. How do we deal with their concerns and fears and help them to draw close to God at night? This collection of Bible story retellings exploring God’s character and promises will enable parents to help children grow in peace, confidence and understanding of who God is.

Tuesday 7th March 2017

The big Bible prayer book

(Gemma Willis, Scripture Union)

Sometimes it’s hard to find the right words… But this book is here to help! With prayers written especially for reading aloud with young children, it encourages honest, open prayers on a wide variety of topics from having bad dreams to falling out with friends, from praying for people without a home to processing times of change. Space is also included for children to create a list of those people they particularly want to pray for.

Tuesday 7th March 2017

The All-In thing

(BIG Ministries, Elevation)

The idea of The All-In Thing is to help people create worship experiences that actually work for times when the whole church is ‘All-In’ together in a service. The whole premise for All-In Worship is to take into consideration the massive variety of people with such a variety of needs we have in our churches (regardless of age) and facilitate their worship by making things accessible and inclusive for all. The book includes the explanation of the vision of All-In Worship, 10 service outlines and all the details, scripts and resources you need to be able to pull this off!

Tuesday 7th March 2017

Messy prayer

(Jane Leadbetter, BRF)

Equipping your Messy team to pray and encourage others to do so, both within and outside the Messy Church context. Including:

• Communicating prayer as a concept
• Praying as a team in advance and on the day
• Prayer ideas for the activity time, celebration time, and at home as a family
• Ways of praying the Lord’s Prayer
• Ways to reimagine other traditional prayers
• Creating a prayer space
• A Messy Quiet Day outline

Tuesday 7th March 2017

Prayers and answered prayers

illustrated by Sarah Vince (published by Authentic)

Inside a beautiful vinyl jacket are two glittery postcard-sized books. Each book contains related content: one designed to record prayers and the other to record blessings. Filled with questions and creative prompts and Bible references to look up, this is a perfect book for children to store their prayers and record things they are thankful for, becoming a gorgeous keepsake. Aimed at 8-12 year olds.

Tuesday 7th March 2017

Sticky faith

(Kara E Powell & Chapman Clark, Zondervan)

Nearly every Christian parent would give anything to find a viable resource for developing within their kids a deep, dynamic faith that “sticks” long term. Research shows that almost half of graduating high school seniors struggle deeply with their faith. Recognizing the ramifications of that statistic, the Fuller Youth Institute (FYI) conducted the “College Transition Project” in an effort to identify the relationships and best practices that can set young people on a trajectory of lifelong faith and service. Based on their findings, this book presents both a compelling rationale and a powerful strategy to show parents how to actively encourage their children’s spiritual growth so that it will stick to them into adulthood and empower them to develop a living, lasting faith.

Tuesday 7th March 2017

Download Offer

Throughout the rest of March you can download any conference sessions from the web site and get 15% OFF. Find talks via the conference report. Use the discount code 17NF15.

Monday 16th January 2017

We hope that, in addition to being challenged and resourced for your ministry with children and families, Hand in Hand gives you time for personal reflection and refreshment. Back by popular demand after last year, Julie Costello and her band will be leading us in worship in all four of our main stage sessions and Ian White (from Cliff College) will remind us that we can trust God in a series of short Bible studies throughout those sessions. On Saturday we also invite you to start the conference day connecting with the Lord either in a time of Messy Prayer or interactively reflecting and responding in our Encounter God zones.

Our main stage sessions will also include two talks from Rachel Turner:
The downside to the Promised Land – families are surrounded by excellent Christian resources (bibles, curriculums, books, activities). They are in the promised land of provision. But often that is not enough to create sustaining life-change in the spiritual heart of the families we serve. How we can help them flourish and live fully in that promised land?
Squash leadership – as we leave this conference, we have so much potential to bring significant impact to our children and families, churches, communities. How can we be the most effective we can be without exhausting ourselves?

Due to redevelopment work at our venue, there will be a cap of 500 delegates, so I’d encourage you to book soon. The ticket price will include a FREE book addressing forming a Faithfull Generation.

We hope and pray that the conference will not be impacted by the ongoing strike action on Southern trains but there is the alternative of SouthEastern trains from London to Hastings or Tunbridge Wells. See more information on our website 2017-general-information

We believe that the Faithfull Generation concept makes it easier for us all to take stock of what we doing well, where there may be gaps in our ministries and how we may find support and resources to fill those gaps. As an extension to the February conference, over the last few newsletters, we have been encouraging you to assess your ministries and pointing you in the direction of some resources that may help.

This time we invite you to audit your work in the area of helping the church to thrive as a growing, intergenerational faith community. We also give you resource ideas for the enabling peak experiences and celebrating milestones aspect of Faithfull Generation.

Monday 16th January 2017

• Do you have intergenerational services and how successful are they in catering for everyone – all ages; all stages of peoples’ faith journey?
• Do you have intergenerational life groups or Bible studies?
• Do you host regular or occasional social or skill sharing events for all ages?
• Do visiting families feel welcome and integrated?

Sessions that will address Intergenerational church community at February’s conference:

• An overview of intergenerational church options
• Togetherness: generations learning from each other
• All-in celebration (A Families Welcome session)
• What is Messy Church?
• Messy Walk

The full programme for Hand in Hand is now on the website.

Monday 16th January 2017

Oomph!

Fun and funky praise and worship for kids

by Doug Horley

Duggie Dug Dug is back with a brand new collection of awesome fun and funky praise and worship songs for kids. Bursting with energy, full of musical variety and packed with truth, these songs will quickly become firm favourites. Includes 3 tracks written and recorded in collaboration with Scripture Union’s Guardians of Ancora.

Sue says: If you have any of Doug’s previous albums you know exactly what to expect from this latest offering.

Monday 16th January 2017

Jump for joy!

by Dan Warlow

Dan’s albums feature songs that are rich in biblical truth and catchy in style, making them a fantastic resource for churches, ministries and families wanting to point young hearts to know God more. By investing in your kids and getting godly, fun music into their hands you’ll be helping God’s truth and love get into their hearts.  Jump for joy! includes special guests: The African Children’s Choir Watoto and Australia’s leading Christian Music Kids artist Colin Buchanan.

Sue says: Some great songs to include in children’s or family worship.

Monday 16th January 2017

Veggie Tales: Princess Girls Pack

An omnibus pack filled with songs, fun, and lessons about becoming a ‘girl after God’s own heart’. It includes two Veggie stories that encourage girls to be happy to be themselves and understand the meaning of true beauty.

Princess and the Popstar Princess: Poppyseed’s life on her family’s farm is far from the glamorous world of her favourite pop singer Vanna Banana. While Princess milks cows and dreams of a life on stage, Vanna dreams of a life far from the hectic pace of stardom. On a chance meeting, Vanna and Princess cross paths and realise that they look almost exactly alike which leads to the crazy notion that maybe they could switch lives!

Sweetpea Beauty: Once upon a time, there lived a royally sour blueberry, a fair rhubarb maiden and a dastardly deceptive mirror! Sweetpea Beauty knows that what’s on the inside is what matters most, but insecure Queen Blueberry can’t see past her own reflection! So, when a decree is handed down that only the most beautiful can rule the land, the Queen gets nervous and things turn ugly!

Monday 16th January 2017

…to help enable peak experiences and celebrate anchor points and key moments in a child’s life and spiritual journey

Enabling peak experiences is important in the faith formation process because they show you are part of a wider community of faith; faith may be deepened through meeting new people with a real faith and being inspired by new leaders with fresh insights;  there is a memorable ‘wow’ factor from a big or special event.

Celebrating anchor points and key moments in a child’s life and spiritual journey is important in the faith formation process because there are anchor points throughout the Bible for memory and understanding; they anchor us in our culture – helping us understand who we are and where we belong; without them, many young people make up their own rites of passage.

Sessions that will address peak experiences and milestones at February’s conference:

• Coming down from the mountaintop
• Growing faith: marking milestones

Other helpful resources:

• Organisations offering residential or day camps for children and leaders: London City Mission; Pulse Ministries Rock UK; Scripture Union; Urban Saints
• Organisations offering festivals, Christian holidays or day events for families or church groups: Big Church Day Out; New Wine; Spring Harvest
• Organisations offering visiting teams or speakers for celebrations or day events in church: BIG Ministries; Duggie, Dug Doug (Doug Horley); Pulse Ministries
• Resources enabling participation in plays or other productions: Musicals from Starshine Music
• Baptismal anniversary cards: Mothers’ Union
• Church year resource books: The no-rehearsal Nativity (Gillion, BRF); Christmas wrapped up (SU); Easter cracked (SU); All age sketches for the Christian year (Shaw, BRF); Oh no, not the Nativity (Barndon, SU)
• Booklets for transitions to school, secondary school, completing education: Get ready, go!; It’s your move; Life actually (all published by SU)
• Hand in Hand conference downloads: Seasons of family life (Kyte, 2016); Developing year-round ministry (Smart, 2014)

Monday 16th January 2017

FREE Download

For the next 2 weeks you can download Sarah Smart’s 2014 conference session: Developing year-round ministry for FREE. The calendar provides opportunities to reach out to communicate the love of Jesus to children and families in your church and community. Ideas for different times of the year and how to link them, forming year-round outreach opportunities.

Download here

Monday 16th January 2017

Gospel Flash Cards

A new resource from Pulse Ministries

A pack of 12 cards that enable you to share, discuss and explore the Gospel. With images, scripture references plus downloadable scripts available from the Pulse website  www.pulseministries.org.uk.

Monday 16th January 2017

SunScool

A new Bible study app for children from Bible Educational Services

Encourage children to learn about the Word of God. Memorize scripture, listen to Bible stories, and interact with Bible characters. With games and puzzles that will also help them understand some of the most important truths about life www.sunscool.org. All based on the free Bible lessons for children produced by Bible Educational Services www.besweb.org.

Monday 16th January 2017

MakeLunch

…exists to equip the church to tackle holiday hunger

1.7 million children in the UK are registered for free school meals but when school stops for the holidays, so does the food. MakeLunch partners with churches and communities to help feed hungry children in the holidays. Thanks to the help of volunteers, their Lunch Kitchens provide a hot, healthy meal and some great activities. If your church could open a Lunch Kitchen and support families in your local community, MakeLunch provides the training, resources and support needed to get going.

The first step is to take a small team from your church to a MakeLunch training day which take place across the country:

• January 21st – Bristol
• February 11th – Bradford
• March 25th – West Midlands
• May 6th – London

To find out more, get in touch with Hannah (hannah@makelunch.org.uk) who can tell you how to register as a partner or answer any questions.

2016 newsfeeds

2015 newsfeeds