Child Friendly Space

"I'm Ellie Burge and have just been appointed as a part-time Child and Young Families worker for St Paul's parish in Napier.

Prior to the establishment of some new child friendly initiatives there was nothing, other than a few books on the book shelf, that visually stated, 'Kids are Welcome' to St Paul's. With change afoot, a working group came up with the ideas and within a week things were in place, with great help from all concerned.

The children's area is opposite the main entrance to the church, sending an immediate and clear message to parents that they and their children are very welcome.

This area has been successful and is utilised by the younger children. Parents can sit near by and be available to the child if needed. Most of the toys, puzzles etc are 'quiet' ones but there is inevitably some noise, generally cheerful, coming from the area, but this has only added a positive dimension to worship.

The Kid's Bags are for the older children, 5 to 10-11yrs. They hang in the foyer and are available for children to take before going into worship. In the bags there is a book, plain paper on a clipboard, coloured pencils, and some have a colouring-in page or a puzzle page the children can do and take with them after the service. The bags are replenished after use by one of the working group. The age for whom the bag is appropriate is appliqued on the outside.

The bags have not been as successful as the younger children's area so our next step is to talk with the children and discover what they would like to see placed in the bag, where they should hang for easy access, are they the 'right' shape, colour etc. - to be 'cool' enough to use."

Special Days

The Forum of Co-operative Ventures produces an ecumenical calendar each year with important events in the life of the churches. This year's calendar can be seen on their website: www.cvforum.org.nz

Lent, starting with Ash Wednesday, 5 March
Resources for Lent are available from the Presbyterian Church Resource Centre.

World Day of Prayer, Friday, 7 March
This year's service has been written by the women of Lebanon and is entitled "Holy Spirit Fill Us". Margaret Kenna can send resources - please contact her on MEHK(at)xtra.co.nz

Anzac Day, Friday, 25 April
The suggested readings include Is. 52:7-12; Psalm 76; Eph. 6:10-20; Matt.5:43-48. You may like to have a combined service and invite a Defence Chaplain.

Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, 29 May to 8 June. NZ material is available from CCANZ, Private Bag 11-903, Ellerslie, Auckland.

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Ministry with Children and Young Families

Does your parish have a vision for ministry with children and families? Do you want someone to facilitate a discussion about this or to help you to identify goals and strategies to implement it?

Does your parish have a Safety and Protection Policy for its ministry with children? Do you have application forms and screening processes in place for anyone who wants to work with children? Would your presbytery/UDC/UCC like to have a workshop about Safety and Protection issues?

What about consideration of different models of ministry with children and families? Do you know what might be possible? What about resources … for Christian Education … or help for parents? Do you know what is available and might be suitable for your programmes?

The Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand has a resource person available to assist parishes and presbyteries with these matters. Contact Mary Petersen, 45 Motuhoa Road, Tairua 2853, mjpetersen(at)xtra.co.nz

Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand

Child Friendly Space

Special Days

Ministry with Children and Young Families

Resources for Worship and Study