The Growing Faith Adventure is an initiative from the Church of England. It seeks to connect the communities in which children and young people (CYP) and their households are found, enabling them to have spiritual encounters through imaginative practices across the generations. It calls for the Church to be a place where CYP are included and valued as fellow pilgrims and for missional churches to think beyond their existing members and seek fullness of life for all in their local communities.
Growing Faith seeks to connect the spheres of church, school and household:
Churches are made up of members who choose to belong to that church. Each one of those members also belongs to a household. Almost every child and young person belongs to a school community. Connections already exist between these communities; Growing Faith imagines the strengthening of these partnerships.
The creation of strong relationships between church, school and home, which mutually support one another and create a shared language and activity, provides a fertile space where talking about the Christian faith is normalised. Faith is more likely to be explored if there are strong connections across the three spheres.
How can I get involved?
Whether you are a parish, Christian parent, Church of England school or a Christian young person in a community school, there are ways to embrace the ideas behind Growing Faith.
- The Church of England is currently producing Faith at Home resources to give you ideas for imaginative practices that connect the spheres of church, household and school, and which create spaces for spiritual encounters. More will become available during 2021.
- We have also collected some of the most helpful and interesting resources available on subjects such as mental health and well-being, worshipping at home or ministering to children and young people with additional needs. For more information, see our dedicated Resources page.
- Our Schools page shares ideas for how to connect with schools and pupils, including activities and assemblies that share the Christian message.
- If you are a parish looking to build your CYP ministry, our Welcoming CYP toolkit will help your church be a welcoming community for children and young people. Read more on our Welcoming CYP Toolkit page.
