Holy Trinity Children's Ministry

Messy Church Formby

Child in the Midst

Child in the midst is a newsletter full of interesting information and resources for Children's Ministry. It is produced by Mary Hawes who is the National Children's Adviser of the Church of England. She can be reached at: Archbishops’ Council Church House, Great Smith Street, London SW1P 3AZ Telephone: 020 7898 1504 email: mary.hawes@c-of-e.org.uk

This week

Harry Potter Plus
With the arrival of the final Harry Potter instalment, you might like to visit…
Harry Potter & July Worship Planning…and also check out the lectionary suggestions there for individual weeks
Dove Foundation…conservative reviews of many current movies now showing in Australia (but not Harry Potter 7.2 yet)
Hollywood Jesus…some background for those that haven’t seen Harry Potter 7.1
Wingclips…a helpful site for those who like to use movie clips

Multi-Age Worship Discussions
Although my biases are well known, there are actually many views out in cyber space. In the interests of balance, here are a few to explore…
Families, Worship and Children’s Spirituality
Why we don’t allow children in our worship service
Special needs boy removed from church
.

Parenting Corner
Some helpful content around parenting/families for parents/churches to consider…
Faith Family…back copies of this excellent quarterly Australian resource are now available on-line
Prayground…on-line prayer resources for children and adults to use together
Parenting beyond your capacity…and the related Orange Parents
…and, following from last month, please e-mail chris.barnett@ctm.uca.edu.au for a Humpty, Dumpty grace (thanks to Fiona M)

New Resources now available
Please let me know if you want more information on how to source these …
Mat Time (for Playgroup/Pre-school ministry)
Messy Crafts
Messy Cooks
…and, hot off the press, just released this week…
Welcoming Voices: Songs of Love and Justice features songs written by Beth Barnett and Jude Waldron. Comprising eleven songs suitable for use with all ages in worship and other settings, Welcoming Voices: Songs of Love and Justice may be of particular interest to school chaplains with responsibility for organising worship services and music teachers in Christian schools. There are songs suitable for “general” singing and others more suited to presentation by choirs (or singing groups). The CD includes songs, backing tracks and sheet music.

Currently available through e-mailing sarahc@suvic.org.au (or e-mail chris.barnett@ctm.uca.edu.au for more information).

Child-Friendly Church
The phrase Child-Friendly Church seems to be growing in prominence…
Child-Friendly Church…beginning in the UK
How child-friendly is your church?...an Australian adaptation?
Some Promises for our Children…a few words to think about