Children and Families Ministry
MAY UPDATE

These resources are compiled by Chris Barnett from the Intergenerational Ministry - Children & Families team at equipping Leadership for Mission (eLM) in the Synod of VIC/TAS. Thanks Chris for this valuable resource!

CHILDREN & FAMILIES MINISTRY – MAY

1. Two Great On-line Events – Stories of Childhood (May 22) and Engage All Generations (June 9)

Stories of Childhood - 22 May, 2pm-4pm AEST

Stories of Childhood is held annually for those engaged in ministry – including Playgroups - with families with children aged 0-5. The 2021 event will focus on…

• Nurturing spirituality in 0-5s and their carers (Judyth Roberts)
• Nurturing our leaders and ourselves (Kimberly Smith)

On-line again in 2021, participants are encouraged to register as teams or churches, gather Covid-appropriately in their own space and experience together the blessing of being part of Stories of Childhood. Registering as an individual, though, is of course possible! Registration by Monday May 17 appreciated by clicking here.

Engage All Generations (Book Launch) - 9 June, 11am AEST

Engage All Generations: a strategic toolkit is the latest book from Cory Seibel. This very special FREE Zoom launch event will include the opportunity to find out more about the book, engage with a number of the number of the contributors and connect with others interested in intergenerational ministry.

2. Pentecost ideas

Pentecost Ideas (Moreton Rivers Presbytery)
Pentecost Ideas (All Age Worship)
Pentecost Resources (Build Faith)
Pentecost Ideas (The Billabong)
Pentecost Ideas (The Well)

3. A grab bag of goodies

Safe Church Principles – Posters (UCA)
Weekly Faith at Home Resource (Roots)
Bright Prayer Ideas (Thy Kingdom Come)
Faith Formation – Poster (@Church+Home)
Cheeky Pandas - resources (Thy Kingdom Come)

4. Highlights from the April Intergenerational Update

Pentecost ideas (Strandz)
Flickering flame light bulbs (or here or here)
The Grandparenting Effect (Trevecca Okholm)
The Power of Children (Margaret Y MacDonald)
Intergenerational Stories of Change – Part 1 (Darren Philip)

5. via CRCNA

10 Ways to Care for Creation (CRCNA)
5 Ways to Re-Tell Bible Stories (CRCNA)
5 Ways to Celebrate with your Family (CRCNA)
Play-lists and faith formation at home (CRCNA)
5 Ways to Practice Listening with Your Family (CRCNA)

6. via Grow Ministries

Encouraging life-long faith (Grow Ministries)
Care in the ordinary moments (Grow Ministries)
Learning the language of love (Grow Ministries)
Simple equipping for mentoring (Grow Ministries)
FREE Early Word/Children’s Talk Year B ideas (Grow Ministries)

7. via Lifelong Faith

How shall we live now? (Roberto)
Encouraging Christian practices (Roberto)
Practices of a Christian way of life (Roberto)
Developing a plan for Christian practices (Roberto)
FREE downloadable books from Lifelong Faith (Lifelong Faith)

8. Resources from Messy Discipleship Book Launch

• Resources from the recent Messy Discipleship Book Launch are currently being uploaded. If you would like the link as soon as it is available, please e-mail chris.barnett@victas.uca.org.au.
• Due to the generosity of both Koorong (20% discount, use Code 20MOORE21 before May 9) and BRF (50% discount on book - not including postage, use Code MDAUSZN50 before May 31), recipients of this Update are being offered discounts on the purchase of Messy Discipleship: Messy Church perspectives on growing faith.
• By way of follow up to the event, a series of Book Groups (3 gatherings of one hour over a period of two months) is being considered to explore the contents more deeply. If you’re interested, please e-mail your preferred availability - in terms of days (excluding weekends) and times (morning, afternoon, evening) – and time zone to chris.barnett@victas.uca.org.au.   

9. Highlighted 2021 Events (for your diary, watch out for more)

May 22               Stories of Childhood Playgroup/Pre-school Ministry Conference (On-line – 2pm-4pm AEST)
May 25-27         Children’s Spirituality Summit/InterGenerate (On-line – dates AEST)
Jun 9                  Engage All Generations (Book Launch) (On-line 11am AEST)
Jul 27, 28           InterGenerate AUS (Sydney, Brisbane, Christchurch + On-line)
Aug 7                  Make it Messy! (Parkville, Melbourne)
Sep 10-12          Leaders to Go (On-line + Hub model)