New Resource Helps Churches Ask 'Why' They Work With Young People

Thursday September 10

A new resource aimed at helping churches struggling to attract young people is now available.

‘How Will Our Children Have Faith?’ is a discussion guide for congregations to explore not just what they are doing with children and young people, but also why.

It has been produced by the Mission and Discipleship Council of the Church of Scotland, and edited by Catherine Falconer, the Church’s Children’s Development Worker.

Catherine says: “I think everyone’s worried because it seems like there are no children in churches. This is to support congregations in their work with children and young people. We’re encouraging them to stop asking ‘how’ but to take a step back and say ‘why’, and then to go from there.”

The guide, aimed either at kirk sessions or teams who work with children, consists of four sessions, encouraging reflection on the theology of youth and children’s work; on the specific needs of the community in which the church is based; on the work the church is currently doing; and finally on developing an action plan for one to three years.

It is the second in the ‘Learn’ series, which began with the successful Learn: Eldership guide last year. Publications on Exploring Faith and Office Bearers in the Church of Scotland are planned in coming months.

Ron Clarke, leader of the congregational learning team in Mission and Discipleship, says: “Learn is about providing resources that can be taken into any context. It doesn’t provide a lot of answers but it’s trying to enable people to think for themselves and consider how it’s going to work in their context.

“The Eldership publication has sold nearly 7000 copies, and we have sold 297 of How Will Our Children Have Faith on pre-order, which is a good start.”

How Will Our Children Have Faith and the other Learn guides are available from the Resourcing Mission website.

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