Children's Ministry in Lockdown
Since the beginning of lockdown, the Children’s Ministry has had to change pretty radically and pretty fast! It felt at first as though the challenges in doing kids’ ministry remotely were rather daunting: we regularly serve around 100 children as part of our Sunday groups; they are a wide age range from 0-11; not only are they at different ages and stages, but they have different learning styles and respond to different kinds of activities; we prize interactivity, fun and relationship building. How were we going to do any of this for all of our kids?!
Well, a step at a time, often with difficulty and always by God’s grace.
The first aim was to try to maintain contact with children and their families, to let them know we were still here, we were praying for them and there was someone to talk to if needed. All of the children on our database have been receiving post from us, with encouragements and activities. Social media and email have helped to keep in touch with a good number of parents. I have also been recording our weekly videos. I’m very aware that a video doesn’t give the children anywhere near the kind of experience they would have as being part of their groups in church, so the aim was not really to try and recreate a Sunday group, but rather to be a springboard for further reflection, prayer, chat and activity at home.
We have utilised Zoom cautiously and now have two kids groups meeting weekly and aim to get a third up and running within the next week or two. We also had a ‘Big Zoom Kids’ Group’, which all our 0-11’s and their families were invited to, we had lots of sung worship, games and prayer, it was a great time and we are now planning a ‘Big Zoom End of Term Group’. Huge thanks to those on our team who have given their time in challenging circumstances to make these things happen.
I am so grateful to the Lord for blessing these efforts and for his care over our young (and not so young) families, but we would love you to be praying with us and for us. Please pray for:
• Those families who may, for different reasons, be struggling at this time
• God’s guidance for me as I continue the process of reviewing our provision for children & families and planning as we go forward, while balancing leading the ministry and home schooling/parenting at the same time
• The children’s team as they also juggle a mixture of working, child-caring, home schooling, caring for relatives, friends or neighbours and adjust to different ways of doing their jobs and a generally different way of life
• Parents and carers to feel equipped and empowered by God to share faith at home with their children and be supported in this by our ministry and church community
• Those key worker children who continue in school and the Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 children who have just returned
• All of those children unable to return to school this term
• Those who will be getting ready to start primary and secondary school in September, with the usual preparation disrupted
• Harborne Primary and St Peter’s schools, with whom we do a significant amount of outreach. Especially for the children in our Transforming Lives for Good coaching programme, whom we haven’t been able to have contact with during this time, that there would be a way forward here
• Most importantly, for all of our children to know God’s faithful presence with them during this time and for those who have not yet encountered Him, to experience, by the Holy Spirit God’s great and unending love for them
Thank you all for your prayers, support and encouragement.
Diana Hopkins
Children’s Pastor