Children's work - you know your group best

I hope the children’s teaching material you use helps you teach the Bible well and faithfully. But no matter how good the material is, still expect to make changes. I’m the UK editor for the CLICK teaching syllabus, but even so, every time I’ve used it, I’ve changed it!

There’s so much that writers of published material, myself included, simply don’t know. They haven’t met the children in your group, or the team who teach them. They don’t know how long your session lasts (sometimes, you don’t get much warning of that either!) or the space you meet in. They can’t see that your group is full of active boys, or that you have to keep the noise down because the crèche is next door. They don’t know if your group is mostly younger ones this year, or an after-school group where the children have little Bible knowledge. They don’t even know whether you have two children or twenty.... continue reading

Children's work - always start with the passage

Most children’s groups use some kind of published teaching syllabus. An intrepid few write their own. But the beginning point is the same for everyone: Always start with the passage.

Published teaching material will have chosen the passage for you. So you open the manual/website just long enough to find out the passage; then shut it again.

If you read the leader’s notes and session outline at this point, you’ll be looking at the passage through someone else’s eyes. But you don’t need their eyes. If you’re a Christian, if you’ve put your trust in Jesus Christ, then you have the Holy Spirit living in you. And one of the things He does is help us understand God’s living Word. So don’t start with the manual – start with the passage.

Here are a few practical suggestions to help you do this:... continue reading

Children's work - there's no such thing as just a helper

“I just pour out the juice, and help with cutting and sticking”,
“I’m only on the rota twice a term”,
“I’m not one of the leaders – I’m just a helper.”

I hear these so often at training events. But the Bible doesn’t see it that way – and neither do the children in our groups.

You won’t find any direct reference to children’s work in the Bible. Children were taught the faith in their families. And the responsibility for the spiritual education of children still lies with their parents, and especially fathers (eg: Deuteronomy 6 v 4-9; 6 v 17-25; 32 v 46; Psalm 78 v 1-8; Proverbs 1 v 8; 22 v 6; Ephesians 6 v 4; 2 Timothy 3 v 14-15)..... continue reading

Children's work - Why newts are more important than children

They’ve closed the allotments near the office. The gate is locked. The sign says a new pond is being created for a colony of great crested newts. No access allowed while the work is done. However, we are reassured that a licensed newt handler will be on site at all times.

Intrigued, I checked out how to get a licence. You need plenty of experience of working on great crested newt surveys – and two referees who’ve worked with you and can confirm you’re able to handle the newts safely and do surveys correctly. You can then apply to Natural England for a licence – though you may not get one.... continue reading

Meet the Bloggers - Alison Mitchell

Hi, I’m Alison Mitchell, and I’m the Children’s Editor at The Good Book Company. I’ve been here for twelve years, during which time we’ve grown from five of us (all getting involved with whatever job needed doing – I was pretty good at packing books) to more than 25.

My claim to fame is that I’m the only person in the company who has a Computer Science degree. But it’s from early 80’s when computers filled whole rooms and programs had to be translated onto punched cards before being fed into the machine. Later, as a research assistant, I developed educational software for one of the very early microcomputers. It was the bee’s knees with a whole 32K of memory. None of us could have imagined an iPad back then.... continue reading

Fighting The Monday Feeling

But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters loved by the Lord, because God chose you as firstfruits to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth.

2 Thessalonians 2 v 13-17

Living as a Christian is a wonderful privilege, but it is not an easy calling. We’ve seen the Thessalonian church was under huge pressure, facing serious persecution. Paul doesn’t resort to blind optimism or cliches, nor does he counsel despair. He simply points his believing friends to what God has done for them. These truths don’t change with circumstances, nor fluctuate with feelings. When life is tough, it is to these truths we need to point ourselves, and others.

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