Wishing you God's blessing as we start this New Year.
As a Mission & Ministry team we have a weekly practice of Dwelling in the Word together. We are looking at a short passage from Mark 4:35-5:2 which juxtaposes the storm on the lake with Jesus meeting with the deeply troubled man from Gerasenes. For me the passage contrasts the storm raging outside for the many caught up in it on the lake with the storm raging internally for the isolated man. Jesus demonstrates his authority over both the storm raging outside and the storm raging within. I wonder if there are children and young people in our church and local communities who are struggling with 'other' storms that we are in danger of missing with our focus on the pandemic? How might we bring the good news of Jesus to them at this time?
The early Spring is a busy time in the church calendar! Candlemas is rapidly followed by Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday marking the beginning of Lent. St Valentines Day and Mothering Sunday are also good opportunities to connect with children and families. Many churches have hadsuccess with 'church in a bag'-offering the resources required for a particular session. One way of doing this is to notify families that resources are available for collection from a particular place on the families' daily walk, such as the church porch. If you are doing this, please think carefully about how to avoid any possible risks of infection-preparation of the bags must be scrupulous and there is a need to avoid people congregating (eg: offering only a short time window to collect bags in NOT a good idea). Alternatively, why not encourage your families to join in with an online idea such as Heart Bombing from Muddy Church, which also offers lots of ideas about how you might produce an image to put in your window and involve your neighbours too!
Authorised Lay Ministry in the Church of England is a ministry opportunity for lay people in churches who, with the agreement of their PCC, undertake a period of specialism training and on successful completion, are authorised by the Bishop to minister within the area of their specialism to that specific church for an initial period of 4 years. This years' training course has been updated to include ministry to children in all sorts of contexts; online, outside, within COVID restrictions and to the whole family(not just the children) and is being delivered online for the first time by me along with a number of experienced practitioners from across the Diocese.
The course starts on Wednesday 24 February but there is quite a bit of preparation to complete before beginning. If you think this may be an area of ministry God is calling you to, why not discuss with your incumbent and then get in touch with me to find out more. Places can now be booked on the website . We'd love you to join us!
For Messy Churches ... Messy Church master classes Wednesday 24 and Friday 26 February. Booking opens 2 February. A session to help Messy Church teams and leaders feel confident in reimagining their messy Church in a Covid secure way. These sessions are booking fast(Januarys are already fully booked so keep an eye on the open for bookings date. Other sessions to be offered are Starting a Messy Church and Messy Church Discipleship.
Safeguarding... If you hold any position of responsibility in the church it is imperative that you have 'due regard' to safeguarding guidance. Booking open online for all courses(including C3 Responding to Domestic Abuse) Safeguarding Courses. New dates are being added regularly so please keep checking if the course you want is full. Want to keep up to date with developments in social media platforms that children are using? INEQE safeguarding group have a series of explainer videos including safer use of TIkTok and Instagram and a warning about Omegle.
Please make sure whatever you are doing with children, young people and families is safe for all concerned. If you are online with children and their families, please make sure you have put a thorough risk assessment in place with parental/guardian permission forms completed. Templates can be found at Safer Working online
Please regularly check, read and follow the recommended guidance from the Church of England when working with children and families. The latest version is 3.0 This can be found on the Church of England Coronavirus page The overarching principle must be one of safety for everyone. The position in Tier 4 for out-of-school settings is broadly the same as the November restrictions, meaning that registered wraparound childcare and supervised activities for children, such as out-of-school settings, should only be accessed where the provision is necessary:
to allow parents / carers to work, seek work, undertake education or training, or attend a medical appointment
for the purposes of respite care; or
where the provision is being used by home educating parents as part of their existing arrangements for their child to receive a suitable full-time education.
A good source of guidance is from the NYA which updates rapidly following government updates. Tier 4 is currently designated Code Red for both over and under 18s activities.
Debbie Hill
Development Officer for Children & Families Diocese of Ely
Working hours 9-5pm Monday to Thursday debbie.hill@elydiocese.org 07837 699016
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We pray to be a visible and generous people of God
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Ely Diocesan Board of Finance
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Ely, Cambridge CB7 4DX
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