During the COVID-19 pandemic, the ways in which we gather as a church community and our mission and ministry with children and young people (CYP) have changed dramatically. We now have an opportunity to reimagine the way that we welcome CYP, walk alongside them and encourage them to grow in their faith.
To help you on this journey, the Diocese of Southwark has just launched its brand new ‘Welcoming Children and Young People’ toolkit. The First Steps booklet provides a framework to enable churches to begin, re-start or reimagine their welcome and inclusion of children, young people and their families. Once you have completed all sections, you will have decided your vision, values and action plan.
We encourage you to create a group to look through this self-evaluation course, ideally including your CYP parish rep, Incumbent or Churchwarden. We also encourage you to include children and young people in the group, to enable you to see things through their eyes.
The First Steps booklet is available in printable pdf form or as an editable word document, for those who prefer a digital record of the decisions made.
After Easter we’ll be publishing further online booklets in the Welcoming Children and Young People series: Spirituality and Relationship with God; Mission and Outreach; and Decision Making and Inclusion.
The CYP team, Aike Kennett-Brown and Keli Bolton, are on hand should your church require additional support with the process.
Download the booklet, get in touch with our CYP team, and find out more about the help and resources we offer on the Children & Youth Ministry section of our website.
