Messy Church by Lucy Moore - This book shares the experience and learning’s of St Wilfred’s Anglican Church in Portsmouth who created Messy Church as a “fresh expression” of being or doing church. “Messy Church aims to create opportunity for parents, carers and children to enjoy expressing their creativity, eat a meal together, experience worship and have fun within a church context.” The book is bursting with easy-to-do ideas to draw people of all ages together and help them to experience what it means to be part of a Christian community outside of Sunday worship. www.messychurch.org.uk
Purchase from www.barnabasinchurches.org.uk or borrow from Kids Friendly.
Congregations in bloom by Caroline Fairless - I love this book and am always recommending it and lending it out so it's become quite dog eared but that doesn't detract from its ability to inspire me. Author Reverend Caroline Fairless shares her extensive experience in involving children in worship to create “blooming congregations” .
Purchase from the website www.childrenatworship.org, or borrow from Kids Friendly.
The Rhyme Bible Story Book published by ZonderKids (a division of Zondervan) recommended by
Kaila Pettigrove: "I've seen loads of baby bibles, toddler bibles, and kid's bibles. Some are decent paraphrases, and some are so watered down... I wonder what the message is. This one is wonderful. The rhymes are not forced and very clever. The paraphrase often gets right to the heart of the story... even some of the more difficult ones."
The Jesus Story Book Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones, published by ZonderKids
Kaila Pettigrove: "We received a Bible for Christmas and I want to recommend it! It's called The Jesus Storybook Bible. It's a paraphrase version, but it's done with such love and sensitivity! My seven-year-old commented that, "This Bible is great for children of ALL ages because it explains the WHOLE Bible in a way that is very easy to understand." She's right! It doesn't just give a paraphrased version of a few selected stories, but it starts from the beginning and puts everything into the context of Jesus sent to us because God loved us!
Here is a wonderful quote from the introduction titled "The Story and the Song.'Some people think the Bible is a book of rules...The Bible certainly has rules in it...But the Bible isn't mainly about you and what you should be doing. It's about God and what he has done.'
It goes on the tell the reader/listeners (a WONDERFUL read-aloud!) that the Bible tells a Story using lots of other stories. They all fit together to make a puzzle with one piece at the middle. "Every Story in the Bible whispers his name."
My 4-year-old son often squiggles in his seat as we have our family devotions. Tonight as my husband read aloud from the introduction and then the first story, he sat mesmerized with his mouth half-way open! I really should've asked HIM to write this review!
Both Fishpond and The Book Depository carry it and offer free shipping."
Another great recommendation from Gail Walker of Balclutha Presbyterian is Zonderkids’ See Me Bible with fantastic pics that you can scan to tell the story and the Read Me Bible. These are especially great for preschoolers but the pictures will appeal to any ages.
Every church should invest in a really good children’s bible with great illustrations. I like the Barnabas Children’s Bible that can be ordered from www.barnabasinchurches.org.uk .
My son Blake (10) really enjoys reading stories from the Lectionary Story Bible by Ralph Milton and illustrated by Margaret Kyle. Available from www.mediacom.org.au
Email jill@kidsfriendly.org.nz with your Kids Friendly recommendations.
Share this powerful and challenging DVD with your church leadership and congregation, and reflect on and pray about what God is saying to you by allowing two minutes of silence to follow the showing. Next Generation can be purchased from the Kids Friendly office for $10 or can be accessed from www.cmn.org.au. Click on Next Generation Project at the top left corner to open the page with the options for downloading. The pdf “Users’ Guide” gives great tips for effectively using this amazing resource, and it’s packed full of excellent children’s ministry resources and articles too.
This DVD is produced by St Heliers Presbyterian Church and includes footage of involving children in worship and encouraging their contributions. Titles include Kids Friendly rituals, dance, drama, leadership and more. This DVD can be ordered from Kids Friendly and costs $15.
This DVD is produced by St Heliers Presbyterian Church and includes footage of Kids club in action, interviews and commentary by St Heliers minister Rev Pauline Stewart. A great inspiration and helpful to see how it’s done in one context. This DVD can be ordered from Kids Friendly and costs $15.
There’s nothing like sharing a vision face to face, but if you would like to find out something about Kids Friendly before investing in a visit from the Kids Friendly Coach, order this 10 minute “Introducing Kids Friendly” promotional DVD. The DVD features the Kids Friendly Coach, photographic and video footage to introduce churches to Kids Friendly including “What is Kids Friendly?”; “Why Kids Friendly?” and “Becoming Kids Friendly?”
To order a copy of the DVD, email jill@kidsfriendly.org.nz
The DVD tells 14 stories of fresh expressions (new initiatives) of being and doing church from Skater Church to Messy Church. These are stories from the UK but inspiring and helpful to us too.
Purchase from Church House Publishing or borrow from Kids Friendly.
We have a gift for you! We recorded all of Rich Melheim’s sessions from the Auckland GIFT Conference available as MP3 files on a single CD. Topics include:
Day 1 – Friday: Taking Children Seriously, Every Night in Every Home, Calling, Equipping, Training and Motivating Parents, Rewiring Your Sunday School, Connecting with Your Community
Day 2 – Saturday: Exploring Gifts, Exploring Bible Song Sunday, Interview Panel, Head to Heart, Exploring Faith Stepping Stones, Dealing with Crocodiles
You can purchase these by completing the GIFT CD order form
Let us know what your favourite websites are so we can share them with others.
New Zealand used to be known as a great place to bring up kids. Sadly, our reputation has slipped in the last few years. According to UNICEF reports, New Zealand is now near the bottom of the class of developed nations when it comes to our children’s wellbeing.
This booklet is not a political manifesto or a parenting manual. It’s designed to raise awareness of the status of children in our society and stimulate an effective response, based on these foundations:
Click on the "Caring For Children" study, found on the Social Justice Resource Page.