All Issues articles – Page 71
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IssuesIt's Complicated
It’s relationship month, and Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. What are the unique challenges and blessings of being married, in a relationship and single in youth ministry? Martin, Jamie and Phoebe get up close and personal, and share the woes and joys of their relationship situations.
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Issues
An encouraging community
Last night was our church’s annual ‘all kids’ team meeting, and I left feeling so…. conflicted. My favourite part of any meeting is when we tell stories. Stories transform a room. We all lit up with laughter and wonder as we shared stories of children meeting with God, children leading and serving, and children responding to the gospel in powerful ways. We pondered the quiet triumphs of pastoral care, our hysterical epic failures (many of which were mine) and what we have been seeing God do in the past year. It was sheer joy.
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Issues
The Lab: Missional communities
Increasingly there are young people being called by God to join missional and monastic communities. They are not just committing themselves to a project like a gap year, but intentionally engaging with a way of life centred around prayer and service. The archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has commissioned 45 young Christians into the Community St Anselm, and other missional communities are seeing young people respond to God’s call.
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IssuesCrafts: Holy Communion
For anyone who wants to explore the elements and story of Holy Communion through open-ended crafts, here are some ideas. These crafts probably work best after telling and discussing the story of the Last Supper and exploring the items used in Communion such as the cup, the bread and the wine.
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IssuesThe future of joint negotiating committee (JNC) youth work
It has been publicly announced that the Employers’ Side of the Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC) propose to merge with national pay body for local authorities.
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Issues
Youth Police Commissioner's Tweets spark resignation
Britain’s first youth police and crime commissioner resigned last month following posts made on her Twitter page. Paris Brown, 17, was criticised for tweets that were seen as racist, homophobic and condoned drug-taking and violence.
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IssuesReady-to-use Mentoring: Comfort, Stretch and Panic
Ask your mentee to suggest the first word that comes into their head to do with what it means to have character, starting with each letter in the word ‘character’ (eg courage, heart, accountability etc).
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IssuesHere Comes the Pentecost
Do you want to teach pupils about what’s distinctive in the Christian understanding of God? Would you like it if the kids took an interest in the Trinity or the Holy Spirit? Here are four simple ideas for some RE lessons between Easter and Pentecost.
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IssuesYouth ministry formation: The shaping of things to come
In any youth work training course, students receive a heap of information, skills and guidance. But the transformation that happens is bigger, broader, deeper and more allencompassing that any course leaflet can prepare you for. David Howell explains youth ministry training’s secret ingredient: formation.
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IssuesQ & A: Natalie Collins
On the release of a new resource about the dangers of porn for children, Phoebe Thompson chatted to its creator, Natalie Collins, about why she feels it’s needed, how young is too young for parents to raise this topic with their children and what children’s workers can do to support and equip parents in this area.
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Issues
King's College ends Youth Ministry course
One of the most prestigious youth ministry awards in the country will no longer be offered. The Youth Ministry MA and doctorates previously offered by King’s College, London will no longer be available, after the decision was made to close the centre that holds the courses.
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IssuesCoffee with Rebecca Hamer
On a cold blustery summer’s afternoon Rebecca Hamer and I found ourselves sitting in Pret. Unfortunately, we were sitting in different ones. Unbeknownst to me there are in fact three Prets between the station and our office, and I had failed to communicate the exact location of the coffee shop of choice. Third time lucky – after an unfortunate incident involving a poor unsuspecting blonde Phoebe lookalike – we arrived at the same place.
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IssuesDown with holiday clubs?
The holiday club. It rolls around with crushing inevitability every year. The process for a summer holiday club might start as early as January, with the selection of the material and the formation of a core team. It moves on through the spring with recruiting volunteers, booking venues, collecting resources, practising dramas, training the team and more… on and on it goes. The glorious week arrives and in a whirl of children, stickers, shaving foam and yoghurt pots, finally, it’s done. And there’s a couple of months’ rest before the planning starts again.
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IssuesHoliday Clubs - Last Minute Tips
It’s nearly June, and summer holidays are just around the corner. Whether you're in the final stage of your 70-point, detailed holiday-club-implementation-strategy, or have completely forgotten to plan anything at all. Alex Taylor has gathered pearls of wisdom from children's ministry experts, to help you on your way.
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IssuesJoin our club
Last issue we looked at the benefits for children, schools and church relationships that come with running a breakfast club, but there are
lots of different clubs that can be run during or after schools as well. Midweek clubs, run in schools at lunchtime or after school as part of their extended provision, or in churches, can strengthen existing links between churches and schools and also be places where children can investigate God and meet him face-to-face
