Camberwell Deanery
One Sunday afternoon in October, 10-15 children’s and youth leaders from the Camberwell Deanery met at one of our churches. We were lay people and clergy; paid staff and volunteers; both children’s and youth leaders, and one or two people considering volunteering with CYP too. There were chairs set out in a circle, there was tea and coffee, there were snacks for those coming straight from church. There were workbooks and leaflets and a PowerPoint, but most importantly there was a friendly, knowledgeable and flexible tutor in Imani McEwan.
It was good to be together to get to know each other compare notes, share experiences and realise that many of our challenges are the same. Holding the training locally made it easier to attend – not only practically, but because it felt more like “home” for participants who have not taken part in diocesan training before. Running the training as two half-days gave us all time to think about the material and come up with any questions between the sessions.
The training was enjoyable and wide-ranging. It was a good level for the group, and covered the basics of everything from spiritual styles, to planning sessions, to safeguarding, to behaviour management. Although it was a whistlestop tour, it did the job of giving us an overview of things to think about, and resources available. Imani was always happy to pause for discussion, to answer questions, or to point us towards other resources.
Following this “taster”, some of our participants have been thinking about building their skills further, for example through the Aurora course. I would recommend the training to others in the diocese – and especially if you are thinking of doing it with other local churches. Thank you so much to Imani and the CYP team!
Revs Jo Lewis Burgess and Sarah Dawson
Horley
The Children and Young People Basics Training run in Horley in November 2024 was a great training day! It was advertised for anyone interested, which was great, as it gave us an opportunity to invite not only those involved with children’s ministry, but others in the congregation who were interested and wanted to learn and gain some skills and understanding on how to support children and young people in their lives. The training was very encouraging and inspiring, very well attended by people in our parish as well as friends from the Deanery. We had 23 participants which was great!
The topics covered were very relevant and interesting, engaging us right from the beginning to the end. The training was more than basic, lots of areas covered such as spiritual development of children and young people; Learning styles; trends of Gen Alpha, how to plan a programme; we touched a bit about safeguarding children; and so on. I would highly recommend this training to any church that wants to meaningfully reach and engage their children and young people.
The training delivered was fantastic – professional yet light-hearted, enthusiastic and competent. I would encourage anyone to book this training for your church and children’s teams as it also offers an opportunity to think about strategy, mission and vision for children’s ministry and helps with team building. Excellent day!
Rev Naomi Ngururi, St Wilfrid’s, Horley Team Ministry
Register
Take the first step towards making a lasting impact in the lives of children, young people, and families in your church. Follow the link below to register for a volunteer training session and start your journey today! Bit.ly/41N7tII
Upcoming Dates and Locations:
26th April – St Mark’s Church, St Mark’s Place, Wimbledon, London, SW19 7ND
10th May – Christ Church, Brighton Road, Purley, Surrey, CR8 2BN
14th June – St Mary Magdalene’s Church, 17 St Mary’s Road, Peckham, London, SE15 2EA
28th June – St Mary’s Church Centre, Chart Lane, Reigate, Surrey, RH2 7RN
27th September – St Peter’s Church, London Road, Kingston, Surrey, KT2 6QL
11th October – St Alfege’s Church, Greenwich Church Street, Greenwich, London, SE10 9BJ
