Share your stories (2)

Well autumn didn't seem to excite you to share much. But here's the place to add comments to record for others any good new ideas, resources and so forth for Advent and Christmas - before you forget.

Happy Christmas!

Share your stories (1)

Why reinvent the wheel? Often because we don't realise someone else has already got there first. So let's own up to our inventions (or even the good ideas we borrowed from someone else...). Let's start by looking back: good things you've done over the autumn (Harvest, Halloween, All Saints, start of another school year...) that might be just the idea someone else will jump on to use next year... Click "Comment" and start sharing...

School versus church

What do you with parents who fight for parking spaces in the church car park, and dash into the church at 90 mph to grab the best seat, in order to see their 'little darlings' in the school nativity play held in the local church, but you don't experience the same enthusiasm or gritted determination on a sunday morning??

Archers

Dum de dum de...
Another day, another reflection on the effects that adult choices have on children. Even on adult "children", but that's another story really. I wonder how many of the children, even from "nice" "stable" "fill-in-your-own adjective" families, who come to our church groups are dealing with tough things and wondering why what they learn and do at church doesn't seem to relate to the difficult stuff... And perhaps Christmas - and the story of a family dealing with homelessness, fleeing persecution, growing up different, relating to one biological parent and one who isn't, among other things - isn't a bad place to start doing just that.

Children's committee

The diocesan children's committee - doesn't sound very exciting, but these are key people in supporting me in my job, and some have been key people for years and year in encouraging churches in the diocese to take children's work seriously and do it well. And they have been hands-on too - in training, in this year's Big Splash and in their own parishes where there are some really Good News stories that should be heard. Another day perhaps.

It's one of those cyclical times: both formally as the three-yearly elections to boards come round, and in the more organic way in which life takes people in and out of involvement with specific activities. Sad when people drop out - and doubly sad when the reasons are sad - family or personal illness for example.

So we grieve and pray - and look for the people who will now step in and carry the baton. Fancy a job? No pay but plenty of satisfaction...

About time

I figure it's about time I took to blogging. Perhaps it might turn out that the various abortive attempts to get an interactive on-line community to draw together Christian children's workers in Essex and East London (where I'm paid to work) might gel around the now-fashionable blog... We'll see