Meeting Ministry Essentials

As someone who has moved from Children’s Ministry into Family Ministry and having been a ‘sleeping partner’ in the CMN for the last 7 years, reading the emails ‘for information only’ but not responding to them, I was delighted to be invited by TSA’s formal representative Jonny Whitmore, to partner with them on the Network in person.

It was lovely to touch base again with people from my days in CM, meet legends like Suzi and Sam in person, who I have seen on International Webinars and been in awe of their work, and get to know, as far as possible, the other members of the group that were present.

I have reflected on the staying power of some of us – we have been in this place of ministry with children and families for many years. What a testimony to our calling whether that be full time or in lay ministry. There is something ‘dissenting’ about our work– we want to raise a voice that in some cases is still not heard. Thank God for the Hive Mind of CMN in regrouping around Core Skills and creating Children’s Ministry Essentials which is even more accessible, and even in pilot is providing the most amazing testimonials. My heart hurts that the cry remains ‘I wish I’d known this sooner’ and the video from Children Matter, played as we shared closing prayers on Thursday bought a different emotion from the tears I cried 10 years ago. I felt disappointed that the message ‘You’re losing us!’ is still current – and those children are now 19, 23, 15, 17 etc.

We asked, ‘where are they now’? and it seems they remain, but what of so many others?

It was amazing to hear of the resources that are being developed to reach children in schools, to disciple families and train workers – the result of 100’s of hours of dreaming, praying, listening, collaborating, planning and preparing. Let’s keep praying over the dreamers and developers – while our denominations differ and our struggles come from a variety of places, we must be one another’s Champions!

To that end, I’m really looking forward to The Salvation Army playing a part in the further collaborative development of Family Ministry Essentials.

What did I learn?

  • A new word – ‘wakelet’ a place to save, organise and share content from the across the web.
  • That the little people counters in Carcasson are called Meeples.
  • That the game of the book ‘Being Intergenerational Church’ is fabulous. It was fun and we got a bit competitive, but it created a place where we could get the heart of some important  matters and thinking out loud.
  • That the best way to answer a question is with a question.

Finally, we said goodbye to Jane, Yvonne and Isobel and thanked them for their wisdom and service to the group. Only Jane would know the whereabouts of the mislaid secretly signed thank you cards!

The challenges remain and I am glad to be included in the Network for a season as we keep on keeping on.

Liz Hall, Salvation Army

Corrymeela

After an early start for many, everyone began arriving from numerous locations by ferry, plane, taxi, and car and started settling in at the Corrymeela Centre. The centre has long been a place of coming together from different places geographically, theologically, and philosophically for reconciliation and peace.

Following a sandwich lunch in the gathered space, everyone present from CMN shared their updates with a mixture of ideas and resources.

We had an introduction to the centre and our tour host was former leader Trevor Williams. He said how important it was ‘not to abolish difference but to learn to live with it, and even acknowledge it’.

He continued ‘A persons greatest need is for someone to listen’. The Corrymeela Centre provides a place for sharing stories, most importantly – in safety. To share one’s story is an act of trust – you put yourself out into the middle of the group.

The whole place is designed to reflect community through gathering, spending time together, joining in and feeling secure. The newest accommodation is called the Ray Davy Building, after the inspired founder. Sadly, this architect of the Correymeela Community died only a few weeks ago.

We were well fed and we experienced a variety of worship styles winding our way down into the Croi (Cree) – which is the Irish word for heart. The centre was begun by people of courage, humanity of faith.

Nicola from CTBI, (for whom CMN is the official children’s group) presented CMN’s place within the organisation and how we can find opportunities for work across churches, supported by CTBI.

We heard from Yvonne Naylor who is a long standing Correymeela community member, teacher, and children’s worker. She shared memories of how she has learned, often in a powerful way, from the children she has worked with. The centre in Ballycastle became a sanctuary for families and youth in times of conflict. Correymeela is where children often met those from other communities (Protestant and Catholic) for the first time. During storytelling, they used small group work, agreed house rules and often puppets, as a way to bridge the chasms previously created. We had some practice using the same and enjoyed hearing one another’s stories.

The conference was a truly inspiring 48 hours among those who really care about the future of children and young people. We too, like the Corrymeela Community, are people of courage, humanity and faith.

ECCE 2023 – Deep Cries Out

From across Europe, delegates involved in Children’s Ministry and Religious (Christian) Education gathered together in May 2023 for a week of fellowship and sharing on the shores of Lake Balaton, Hungary. This was the three-yearly (four years, in the case of a pandemic!) European Conference on Christian Education (ECCE)

Lorraine Webb, Programme Officer for Children’s and Youth Work in the United Reformed Church, had the privilege of being part of the steering group for this event, representing the Children’s Ministry Network (part of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland) and the UK/Ireland region and was joined by six colleagues from other UK/Ireland denominations.

It was an opportunity to step outside the usual networks and experience other cultures, new approaches, discovering what challenges we share and what are different. Each region led an act of worship, as varied as using natural resources to create an image of ministry, creating origami boats, and walking down to the shores of the lake at sunset to sing music from Taize. The irrepressible Bob Hartman joined us for the week to lead Bible Study with his own particular style of story-telling. We had lectures – leading theologian Balazs Siba spoke on hospitality while psychologist/psychotherapist  Zsófia Csáky-Pallavicini provoked much thought on the theme of child protection.

Several delegates volunteered to lead workshops and people could choose to explore, amongst other things,  Japanese paper theatre, a new Bible card game from Hungary, the role of silence in spirituality, and workshops on children’s discipleship in school and intergenerational ministry.

An excursion by boat across the lake to visit a local vineyard, to go on a bike ride, or simply to sit and eat extremely good ice cream, gave an opportunity to cement some of the relationships formed during the week and to talk more casually about life and ministry and faith and culture. And a highlight of the week was a Hungarian evening with band and dancers who soon had feet tapping and even got delegates up and dancing.

In contrasting tone, another highlight was the chance to chat with our colleague in Ukraine over Zoom and hear a little of the challenges his congregation faces. While many people have left the country from his congregation, he was delighted to report the number of teenagers has grown and he is trying to plan a summer camp for them, despite the uncertainty. It certainly put our risk assessments into perspective! He blessed the conference and we were able to pray for him, his ministry and those he ministers to.

Lorraine continues to represent the UK and Ireland on the steering group for the next ECCE conference, which is planned for May 2026 in Geneva and, at the request of all the delegates, there will be two online conferences in the intervening years to maintain those new connections and the joy of worshipping and learning together.  

If you haven’t experienced ECCE for yourself, it is such an enriching experience. Yes, there is chance to share resources and approaches which may stimulate your creativity as you think about how you might adapt these ideas to feed into your own work. But it is so much more than that.

It is a chance to be nourished and refreshed in your own spirituality and creativity as you engage with a different group of like-minded people away from the usual environment that can become mundane or distracting. It’s like a mini-sabbatical in a role where sabbaticals are not the norm. It’s a chance to have your world view challenged by those whose context is quite different to yours. It’s also a chance to feed and encourage others while you’re being fed and encouraged in turn – many people there don’t have the same supportive structure and networking as we are lucky to have in CMN. And it’s a chance to know yourself part of something far bigger and more varied than we usually experience within our denominations, and even within our region.

See you in Switzerland, perhaps?

Highlights from ECCE 2023