Too Important to Leave to Chance

INTRODUCTION

We are privileged to be a village populated by a high percentage of children and young people - whom we think are brilliant and deserving of our attention, value and energy. 

It is also true that no matter how complicated our faith journey has been, we deeply value a faith in Jesus and hope that our children know the peace, kindness, love and joyful grounding which comes from the presence of God in their lives. This is all too important to leave to chance, hoping that it all works out well. Of course family bubbles are vital, and the village can only everplay a supplementary role, but playing that role on purpose, with conviction and creativity is paramount. 

Our current form of ‘children’s sunday provision’ relies almost exclusively on Laura, our youth often have their calendar dictated by Paul’s and the age group splits we are able to resource are huge (secondary school / younger than secondary!).

We need to provide something which is at the same time more sustainable, more collaborative, more creative, village focussed and exciting to our young people. Every piece of serious research into child development or faith development concludes that the presence of a wide variety of trusted, caring and engaged adults in the daily lives of young people has an overwhelmingly positive effect. 

On the micro level, both Paul and Laura are getting more busy (just like everyone else) and so need to share the task of teaching and discipling our younger generations more widely. 

On a macro level, the number of under-16’s who are disciples of Jesus in MK is frighteningly low. 

On a personal level, being “the only Christian at school” can be a scary thing: We need to do our little bit in creating places and spaces where young people might feel able to explore faith, feel welcome, grow in confidence and have a healthy way of living modelled to them by trusted adults in a world they sometimes find overwhelming. 

HOW IT WILL WORK

We are all (within reason) on team!

Think of the maths of a ‘normal’ Sunday. 

35 adults and 10 teenagers sit in a hall listening to Paul, while 2 other adults take up to 20 children out to a different room. 

What a lot of latent potential, creativity, wisdom and brilliance remains sat in the hall!

What if one Sunday a month, we harnessed the potential of the WHOLE VILLAGE in teaching and caring for our kids?! What if we flipped the entire thing on its head and sacrificially made provision for U-18’s the main focus for a week?

That was all for the dreamers…now some details for the planners. 

The aim is that on Kids Sunday (branding pending) we will all congregate as usual at MacIntyre. After a quick hello and scene-setting, various groups will then split off. Ideally we would be able to facilitate the following groups:

• Under 2’s
• Pre-schoolers
• Primary kids 
• Lower Secondary 
• Adults Croissant and Chat 
• Older teenagers will (depending on numbers and their preference) either get their own group / join the adults / be young leaders

Each group would need 3 or 4 adults to facilitate and lead. 

There is plenty of room in the MacIntyre centre for a variety of different groups to meet in different rooms…but we would also have time and freedom to be a bit more creative. Maybe the teens could do a scavenger hunt outside as part of their time together? Maybe we go wild, give the teens a lay-in and let the secondary kids meet up on Sunday evening instead with pizza, board games and chats about life? (Steady on vicar!)

SO, WHAT NEXT?

Great question!

The first one of these sessions is on the 22nd September, which is not long away, so we need to get a little wriggle on. Sign up below to help. After that, Paul will put you in touch with others eager to work with the same age groups and also throw some ideas at you. 

Then, on the 22nd September a great glorious and messy live experiment will happen. Some bits will be brilliant, some will need some tinkering, but because we are all in this together we will have a much better chance of building something beautiful. 

Read the FAQ’s and then drop Paul a message using the form. 

FAQ’s

Do I have to?

No! If this is 100% not your cup of tea (and that is totally ok) then there are a variety of options. Firstly, there will always be an “adult only croissant and chat” group which you can join, no shame. This is mostly cos of numbers…we don’t want to freak out the tiny babies in creche by having a 6 adult to 1 baby ratio!

Secondly, you could use the morning to pray for our youngsters. 

Thirdly, you could use the time to invest in your own core. 

Fourth, you could just take a guilt-free pass and skip the gathering this week (Most people don’t come every week anyway!)

Can I help in an age group where I don’t have kids?

YES! In fact…that would be way better! Any parent knows that their kids normally behave better when other adults are in charge! 

Do I need to have children or be ‘brilliant with kids’?

Nope. 

This sounds like a logistical nightmare!

Tell me about it! It will probably be a little bumpy, but will hopefully be worth it. If not, nothing lost, we can think of another brilliant idea. 

What are the safeguarding implications?

Great question!

Safeguarding is of course paramount. So here is a two stage answer:

Part one - We have people in charge of safeguarding and will make sure that safe ratios and practices are adhered to at all times. The leader of any particular group will be in charge and will also be fully responsible for ensuring their group is safe. Also clearly, we won’t be throwing guests straight into running a kids group (hence the adults croissant and chat group mentioned above)

Part two - Let’s continue to flip it! In most churches only 1 or 2 people have done any safeguarding training, have got DBS clearance and know what the safeguarding policy says…the rest of us sit comfortably in our seats. What if we flipped it and made it the norm that regular, committed members of St Marks have some training, clearance and responsibility for keeping everyone safe? Over the next few months there will be training opportunities and we are committing to get as many people as want to be cleared through the DBS check scheme. 

If you are up for being involved in this experiment, we will ask you to be DBS checked. It is a small form to complete online, an ID check and we pick up the tab. 

I am keen to be involved, but super busy. Not sure I can commit to planning a fun youth session.

Join the club!

Each month we will have a theme and in an ideal world a couple of people might spend a few minutes chatting together to plan an activity or two a week ahead of time…remember, the more involvement = the more creativity and wisdom. 

But, we recognise that this is another task to throw into your week, so will also ensure that there is a plan, some activities and games ready to rock and roll. Ultimately your interest in and care for our young people is the most precious commodity. 

Anything else?
Probably! If you think of something, are struck by a great idea, spot a potential wrinkle in the plan or have some feedback, please let Paul know. This is a team-sport and will be much better for your involvement and insight!