Growing faith
The Growing Faith Foundation helps churches put children and young people at the heart of all ministry and mission. The three key strands are faith at church, faith at school and faith at home.
What is Growing Faith?
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.
Get Involved & Growing Faith resources
Why not run 3 sessions in your parish to discover together – What is Growing Faith?
This is a free resource designed for anyone seeking to understand Growing Faith and to apply its principles. It’s accessible and flexible for individuals and groups, with examples of lived practice of Growing Faith. It aims to prompt discussion, reflection, and action.
Resources for Growing Faith at Home
Parenting for Faith
Parenting for Faith equips and encourages parents and carers to help their children develop a confident, everyday faith by creating opportunities to explore God naturally within family life. It empowers families to have faith conversations, pray together and nurture children’s spiritual growth both at home and within the wider church community.
Parenting for Faith: How it could transform your family and church – Church Support Hub
Kitchen table
The Kitchen Table Project, an initiative of Care for the Family, equips and encourages parents and carers to nurture a lasting faith in their children through everyday family life, providing practical resources, conversations and support for faith at home. It also helps churches partner with families, recognising that parents are the most significant influence on a child’s spiritual development.
Care for the family
Care for the Family is a Christian charity dedicated to strengthening family life through parenting support, relationship resources, bereavement care and faith-based initiatives. Its work helps families build strong relationships, navigate life’s challenges and grow in confidence, resilience and faith
Schools Ministry Resources
Developing links with community partners and schools is key to growing children and youth work. Find ideas for activities, assemblies and useful contacts to encourage that relationship-building, and to share the Christian message with pupils.
12 Ways Churches Can Serve Local Schools
This simple resource offers 12 ways that churches can start to engage with their local school – even non-church schools. It also offers schoola ways to begin their engagement with their local church.
CSI: Easter resource
CSI: Easter is an engaging, hands-on workshop designed to enable pupils in key stage 2 to discover the beliefs behind the Christian festival.
Through investigation, scientific experimentation, codebreaking, fingerprinting and evidence packs, pupils learn about the events of Good Friday and discover why the garden tomb was empty on Easter Sunday morning. The resource includes a planning book, pupil booklet and video clips to provide all the information, ideas and resources needed for you to run, lead and host the project in your church, worship space or local school
Resources
- CSI Easter Planning Book – booklet style
- CSI Easter Planning Book – single pages
- CSI Easter Pupil Book – booklet style
- CSI Easter Pupil Book – single pages
Witness Statements
- Video 1: Roman Soldier
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tU08ZhhaVI
Video 2: Mary Magdalene
Video 3: Mary Magdalene
The Southwark Diocesan Board of Education (SDBE)
The SDBE supports 105 schools and academies, colleges and universities across the Diocese of Southwark. It provides training, professional advice, resources, guidance and pastoral support.
Assemblies
Struggling for inspiration with assemblies? Big Start Assemblies have produced 13 to download and use for free. Each one includes a plan, presentation slides, a song, a film, and an interactive story.
Music
Music can create a strong partnership between schools and churches by bringing pupils, families and congregations together through singing and shared musical experiences. School choirs can participate in church services, concerts and seasonal celebrations, while church choirs can actively welcome and involve pupils, giving them opportunities to sing alongside more experienced musicians and become part of the wider church community.
This shared musical journey helps build confidence, develop talent and foster a sense of belonging, making the church a welcoming place for young people and strengthening the relationship between school and church.
Launching 200 new choirs: ‘The Choir Project’ with Royal School of Church Music – Church Support Hub
Start or strengthen your ministry in schools with:
- Seasonal Ideas: Journey to the Manger, CSI Easter, Christmas Unwrapped
- Collective Worship: Spinnaker, Open the Book, Sparkfish
- Partnerships: XLP, KICK, Godsend, Sutton Schools Pastors
