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'How to...' guides are short 'TED talk' style videos on key issues facing Messy Church teams. Written and recorded by subject matter experts from across the Messy Church network, these ten-minute videos are for time-poor Messy Church teams to get some top tips for tackling particular challenges.

Our first four subjects already underway are 'Team: doing more with less', 'Food and eating together at Messy Church', 'Advertising: making your Messy Church loud!' and 'Messy SEND'.

If you have a suggestion for a topic we should be covering or would like to offer your expertise on a particular subject, please get in touch!

1. How to build your team
Download the top tips PDF
2. How to advertise your Messy Church
Download the top tips PDF
3. How to welcome people with SEND
Download the top tips PDF
4. How to feed your Messy Church
Download the top tips PDF

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'How to...' guides are short 'TED talk' style videos on key issues facing Messy Church teams. Written and recorded by subject matter experts from across the Messy Church network, these ten-minute videos are for time-poor Messy Church teams to get some top tips for tackling particular challenges.

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Exploring the life, faith and legacy of Eric Liddell

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Faith Resources - The Eric Liddell Community

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The Eric Liddell Community is an Edinburgh based care charity and community hub committed to our vision to live in a community where no one feels lonely or isolated.

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Lots of free resources

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What's on at Augustine
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‍Babies and young children are welcome to stay in the service, but we also provide a crèche with PVG-checked volunteers, toys and games.

Junior Church (3-12)
AUC Junior Church offers children and young people a safe and friendly experience of the Christian community where they can feel respected and valued. Our activities range from baking to movie-making, creating collaborative pictures to co-operation games. We meet during the Sunday morning service.

The children participate in the beginning of the main service and then leave for Junior Church, often returning at the end. Four times a year we celebrate all-age worship, and children are invited to participate in delivering the service if they want.

‍Sunday 11am

‍ Where to find us
‍ 41 George IV Bridge, Edinburgh EH1 1EL

Find out more about our church and what we do Find us on facebook.

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Children's Ministry - Welcome to the Children's Ministry page. We hope you enjoy your visit. Use this page to find out what's on in your area, what's happening in Synod, free resources for you to use and more.

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This link is from Eden, but other stockists are availble.

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Get out your coloring tools and pencils! You can draw and doodle along to this fun and interactive illustrated Bible storybook that takes children ages 6-12 through 60 stories from the Old and New Testaments.
In the My Epic Doodletastic Bible Storybook, kids will love following the arrows zipping across the pages, pausing to read the callout boxes with jokes and questions and using their creativity to color in the line-drawn illustrations. The unique format will also guide them through the Bible, helping readers see the parallels and links within the stories, all while drawing attention to wider biblical themes and showing how everything is connected--and that God is the author of it all.

My Epic Doodletastic Bible Storybook is perfect for:

read-aloud, emergent and independent readers, as well as reluctant readers

children who love to express their creativity through art

Easter baskets and stocking stuffers

Sunday school classes, homeschool lessons, road trips, and a quiet activity during church services

With over 250 pages and 60 Bible stories that cover Genesis to Revelation, My Epic Doodletastic Bible Storybook includes all your favorite biblical characters as well as important stories and people that may be less familiar. Give your kids the opportunity to engage with stories from the Bible in a whole new way with My Epic Doodletastic Bible Storybook!

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doodletastic bible storybook: 60 bible stories to read

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My Epic, Doodletastic Bible Storybook: 60 Bible Stories to Read, Color, and Draw: Free Delivery at Eden.co.uk

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My Epic, Doodletastic Bible Storybook: 60 Bible Stories to Read, Color, and Draw: Bob Hartman (9780310142218): Free Delivery at Eden.co.uk

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OutoftheBox uses story and play for personal and community wellbeing. Our storytellers create brave relational space to breathe, trust, listen, feel, wonder, play and love. OutoftheBox is a form of Deep Talk and so we are a community of Deep Talk practitioners. OutoftheBox stories are in use in a range of, including schools, care homes, workplaces, community groups, families, therapeutic settings, chaplaincy, spiritual accompaniment and faith communities.
provides access to our 49 core Wisdom stories and ongoing support through our online community, as well as access to self-led and trainer-led learning and the opportunity to purchase our beautiful storytelling . Additional genres of stories are being developed: History, Arts, Nature, STEM, Religions and Faith. Become a Member .

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Welcome to Foundationstones Resources. We’re passionate about producing resources for churches and family ministries which are Biblical, flexible and spirit filled.

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Welcome to Foundationstones Resources. We're passionate about producing resources for churches and family ministries which are Biblical, flexible and spirit filled.

Our vision is to see adults and children united in praying, serving and learning more about God by equipping churches to equip their children!

​

Our range of Sunday School Materials are all designed to be used alongside a Bible Timeline so that children get a real understanding of where the stories they are studying fit in God's Big Plan. Each week contains a story, discussion, craft, game and an activity to connect with Holy Spirit.

​

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We've been resourcing churches with free Faith at Home materials during the Covid19 Pandemic.

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Find out more and access all the resources at our sister site
www.TatH.co.uk

Can't find what you're looking for?

​

Get in touch

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We're always adding and creating new resources or can customise something to match what you are exploring as a church community.

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Foundationstones Resources: Church Syllabus Materials - Equipping Churches, Equipping Children.

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Ideas to get under-5s chatting to God

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Parenting for Faith | Ideas to get under-5s chatting to God

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What does chatting with God look like if your child is still young? Here are 4 simple ideas to inspire you to have a go today.

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Welcome to Muddy Church...

Muddy Church is a place for people to gather together, outside and to connect with the space and God. The heart of Muddy Church is to offer spaces to

This site is full of resources designed for use by individual groups - these are all available free to download or use online (there are pre-printed copies available to buy).

'wander and wonder' together.
Muddy Church is an intergenerational idea, based on groups discovering the gifts in their community.

RESOURCES

We have a huge range of resources including reflection sheets, activity ideas and trails. All are FREE to use and adapt to your setting.

Most Muddy Church resources are available to download for free, to make them accessible to all. You can support Muddy Church and help with the ministry through donating any amount via Ko-fi.

CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO BUY

ALL ABOUT MUDDY CHURCH

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Every Muddy Church is unique designed around your community. Find out more about our ethos, values and how Muddy Church happens.

Muddy Church has grown into a collection of people and groups looking to build worshipping communities and opportunities outside. Muddy Church is intergenerational and unique to each space and event as people connect with the places they are in and others around them. Everyone is welcome to journey together, talk, explore, grow, have fun and be.

Muddy Church is a fun and engaging place, enjoying creation, nature and being together .

Find out more, join in and share the journey .

SUBSCRIBE NOW AND WATCH THE LATEST VIDEOS

For the latest news, ideas and information join us on our social media channels

Get in touch with us.

WHO IS WHO?

WHO WE HAVE CONNECTED WITH

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Muddy Church is a space for wandering and wondering with God. Communities exploring faith together in adventure and outdoor spaces. Children, families, pets, all ages welcome

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Lutheran Church Australia: Grow Ministries exists because as a team we are compelled to share the gospel with eternity in mind. We are passionate about growing our own personal faith journey in relationship with God and others. Deuteronomy 6 and Matthew 28 are the foundation and motivation of our work together.

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Four online Parenting for Faith sessions just for parents and carers of under-fives based on bite size videos

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13, 20 and 27 June and 4 July - This summer, we are running four online Parenting for Faith sessions just for parents and carers of under-fives based on these bite-size videos. Sign up as a church or group and invite as many people as you like from your church, community or toddler group to join you. The sessions are suitable for those new to faith or just exploring as well as regular churchgoers. You will have your own breakout room throughout the session so that parents and carers can get to know each other better. We also have ten spaces for ten dads to sign up as individuals (not part of a church or group).

Booking opens on 21 March 2023 - Booking closes on 9 June 2023.
7.45pm (call open), Content 8 - 9pm
There is an information session for church/group hosts the week before on 6 June on the same Zoom link. It's not compulsory but will be helpful for anyone who wants to better understand how the sessions will work.

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13, 20 and 27 June and 4 July - This summer, we are running four online Parenting for Faith sessions just for parents and carers of under-fives based on these bite-size videos. Sign up as a church or group and invite as many people as you like from your church, community or toddler group to join you.

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Fun and Creative Tools to Deepen Your Love for God

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How can church be more less like a dentist and more like IKEA!

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Parenting for Faith | The Dentist vs IKEA

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How can we help the parents in our ministries feel understood and equipped rather than worried that they’ll be judged?

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How do we grow the number of children and young people.

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How do we grow the number of children and young people in our churches? | Growth Research

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What do we think about kids in worship? Put this message in your pews.

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Arts & crafts materials/resources

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JavaScript seems to be disabled in your browser. For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser.

POPULAR Craft Activities

Autumn Crafts

Get creative with our latest autumnal coloured cards, stickers, trees and leafy crafts

Halloween

Be afraid.... our spine-chilling spooky crafts and treats
are here!

Festive Porcelain Painting

Create fun gifts and decorations with our latest range of festive porcelain

Christmas Crafts

From stockings and coasters to crackers and snowstorms, we've got designs the kids will love

EXCLUSIVE Great Value BEST SELLERS

HUNGRY for more ideas?

Nip over to our Creative Station and browse hundreds of FREE ideas for kids, teachers and grown-ups

FUN step-by-step craft projects for kids

Learning resource for school and home

Creative ideas for home, wedding, gifts and more

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JavaScript seems to be disabled in your browser. For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser. POPULAR Craft Activities Autumn Crafts Get creative with our latest autumnal coloured cards, stickers, trees and leafy crafts Halloween Be afraid.... our spine-chilling spooky crafts and treatsare here!

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Church of Ireland - Board of Ministry with Children & Families

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Church of Ireland - Board of Ministry with Children & Families

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Intergenerational Prayer Cards - 52 A6 prayer cards - EGIPC22

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Buy Intergenerational Prayer Cards 52 A6 prayer cards from Methodist Publishing - ISBN: EGIPC22

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Free to use resources

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Skip to content

‘Full Armour’ is a short film produced by Out of the Box (Scotland) Ltd, set in 90AD during the reign of the Roman Emperor, Domitian.

Full Armour Family Series

A fun, 5 episode, resource for families to use at home, based around the Armour of God.

This series will give you an opportunity to explore the Bible together as a family and find out about what it means to be a follower of Jesus today.

Honkey and Trek Family Series

Join Chris, Carol and Bob for this 4 episode series full of fun, songs, crafts, stories and lots more.

A fun, 5 episode, interactive resource which explores the Fruits of the Spirit using songs, challenges, puppets, and lots more.

In partnership with Scripture Union Scotland, this resource, which is fun and interactive, will help those moving up to Secondary School consider some of the changes, challenges and choices they might face

A collection of parodies made with a number of our cool puppets. Puppet Parody Music used with permission.Music Parody Copyright: Creative Ministry Solutions.

Purchased from www.onewayuk.com

A collection of Christmas parodies made with a number of our cool puppets. Puppet Parody Music used with permission. Music Parody Copyright: Creative Ministry Solutions.

Purchased from www.onewayuk.com

A collection of Easter parodies made with a number of our cool puppets. Puppet Parody Music used with permission. Music Parody Copyright: Creative Ministry Solutions.

Purchased from www.onewayuk.com

Lockdown Stories from the Bible

A collection of stories exploring characters from the Bible who experienced being in lockdown.

A brand new, hilarious, 4 episode Christmas series for all the family!

Our latest, 4 episode, online family series investigating Easter. Resource material available too.

Go to Top

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Cheeky Pandas™ provide free songs, music videos, TV cartoons and free resources to help children and families grow in their faith.

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The songs, music videos, episodes and devotionals are fun, bright, professionally written and produced. Churches and ministries around the world are using the videos in their online services while parents can directly download resources for their children at home.

100% of all donations given to Cheeky Pandas are ploughed into creating online resources. There are currently no staffing costs for the Pandas, or overheads!

Cheeky Pandas is a project of Swell Revolution, a charity that commissions and produces artistic and educational content (music, literature and film) to promote the Christian faith.

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Cheeky Pandas™ provide free online resources to help children and families grow in their faith. The songs, music videos, episodes and devotionals are fun, bright, professionally written and produced. Churches and ministries around the world are using the videos in their online services while parents can directly download resources

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Songs have the power to express and change how we feel as individuals and within groups - no matter what age we are. We believe in the transformative power of song in children's lives to improve their health and wellbeing.

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"Together at Home" resources be shared with families to continue their Faith at Home journey.

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With many churches now returning to buildings or holding 'hybrid' services, we are delighted to launch "Journey Together" a new Sunday School syllabus based on the Common Worship Lectionary Calendar. Each week includes a "Together at Home" sheet which can be shared with families to continue their Faith at Home journey.

​

TERM 2 is now available here
You can learn more about the materials and download free colouring sheets here.

Acts 2:46
The believers met together in the Temple every day. They ate together in their homes, happy to share their food with joyful hearts.

While we are unable to meet in our church buildings we can still be 'Together at Home'. We've been providing free resources for churches to share with their families to help them explore the Bible and learn about God together whilst in their own homes during the COVID Pandemic.

​

We're winding down offering multiple packs each week but will still be sharing a range of seasonal resources and would love to keep connected with you all. All our previous resources will continue to be available on this site and we are looking at ways to rearrange the pages to help you find what you need more easily.

In 2020, Jess who produces all our resources launched her new business, Foundationstones Resources, Do have a look if you are in search of Sunday School Syllabus and Resources for helping children explore the Bible. We'd love for you to take a look.

All the 'Together at Home' resources are made by Jess - you can find out all about her on our new ABOUT US page.

You can look ahead to see what Bible stories we will be covering in our Sunday Packs on our

LOOKING AHEAD page.

Together at Home will be here for as long as churches need it, but we know that some churches are beginning to reopen. We've created a new page to help and support those churches who are opening their doors once again.

In these difficult times we will need to help some of the families in our churches and communities to say goodbye to people that they love.

We have created a resource in two parts; one for children to spend some time saying goodbye and a second to help parents as they love and support their children in the midst of their own grief.

Many of us are struggling to find the right words to respond to the global outpouring of pain and anger following the death of George Floyd. These are big topics to unpack and discuss with adults let alone children.

However, our God is a God of Justice and we are called to "walk justly" in this world. As Christians and church communities we all have a role to play. We've created a page of resources and links to help families and church communities as they seek to address and discuss racial inequality.

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With many churches now returning to buildings or holding 'hybrid' services, we are delighted to launch "Journey Together" a new Sunday School syllabus based on the Common Worship Lectionary Calendar. Each week includes a "Together at Home" sheet which can be shared with families to continue their Faith at Home journey.

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Weekly activities to do church at home with your little one.

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Useful tools for inspiring faith at home.

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Daily inspiration for discovering faith together as a family

Many of us want our children to develop their own personal relationship with God that will last. As mums and dads, we are the greatest influence in our children's lives, and we have the amazing privilege of joining them in this adventure of faith.

Full of daily inspiration, encouragement and ideas, the calendar will help you to find new ways to weave faith into the everyday moments of family life. What a great way to naturally explore faith together as a family - without adding more to your to-do-list!

* Full colour pages
* Free-standing and spiral bound
* 366 dated pages - can be used year after year
* Size: 11cm(w) x 12cm(h) x 9cm(d)

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Many of us want our children to develop their own personal relationship with God that will last. As mums and dads, we are the greatest influence in our children's lives, and we have the amazing privilege of joining them in this adventure of faith.

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Kitchen Table Project - Mothering Sunday resources

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Kitchen Table Project - Mothering Sunday resources

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Many churches like to take the opportunity on Mother’s Day to celebrate mums but also all those who have an impact on children’s lives, whether as Sunday school leaders, foster carers, family friends, grandparents or in many other roles.

It’s a great time to invite the church to think about how they are impacting the next generation. Whether as parents themselves or as part of the wider church family, why not encourage people to focus on the most precious thing they could do for the children in their lives – to nurture and inspire a love for God in their hearts.

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Many churches like to take the opportunity on Mother's Day to celebrate mums but also all those who have an impact on children's lives, whether as Sunday school leaders, foster carers, family friends, grandparents or in many other roles.

It's a great time to invite the church to think about how they are impacting the next generation. Whether as parents themselves or as part of the wider church family, why not encourage people to focus on the most precious thing they could do for the children in their lives - to nurture and inspire a love for God in their hearts.
Honouring mums
As we express our appreciation for mums on Mothering Sunday, we can encourage them that research shows that parents have the greatest influence on their children developing faith. We may feel our children never listen to us, or that we don't have enough Bible knowledge, or we aren't a good enough example. But God knew what he was doing when he entrusted our children to us!

Ultimately, he wants them to achieve their full potential as human beings - to enjoy a deep and lifelong relationship with himself. Parents have the wonderful opportunity to show their children what it looks like to connect with God and walk with him in the everyday ordinary moments of life, in good times and sad times. God wants to be involved in our daily lives and a great way to show this to those we love, especially our children, is by talking about God as we go about our daily routine.
Involving everyone
You'll naturally want to preach in a way that is relevant to everyone present at the service, whether or not they are mums themselves. As we acknowledge mums in their role, we can also use this day to encourage our church that everyone has a part to play and we can all have a positive input in someone else's life. We can become mothers and fathers in the faith - informally assisting in mentoring the young (or spiritually young) on their journey to spiritual maturity.

Our children and young people can really benefit from this significant input from others alongside their parents. The 'Sticky Faith' research stresses the importance of intergenerational relationships and has shown how each young person is greatly benefitted when surrounded by other adults who influence their faith. We can all become godparents, in the best sense of that word: as people who actively enrich and enhance the spiritual life of the young.

In fact, we can all benefit from having stronger relationships with friends of all ages. It's great to have people who will speak into our lives, pray for us, teach us, challenge us, and who will help us transition through the different seasons of our lives. As we live in this close community, we can all learn from each other, and that doesn't always mean that the adults will be teaching the children. Children's innocence and childlike faith can be inspiring, especially because often children don't have many of the barriers to faith that adults can build.

Historically, children have perhaps been seen but not heard. But in today's society children are encouraged to have a voice and interact with others. We can help children to feel they belong within the church by proactively giving them a voice and involving them in the life of the church. This can encourage them in their individual faith journey, as well as helping them to feel part of something bigger than just themselves.
Suggested readings
You might be following a lectionary or a similar pattern of readings, or simply looking for suitable Bible readings to use as a starting point for a service on Mothering Sunday. As an example, the Church of England indicates the following readings for the day, which you might find useful:

Exodus 2:1-10 or 1 Samuel 1:20-28

Psalm 34:11-20 or 127:1-4

2 Corinthians 1:3-7 or Colossians 3:12-17

Luke 2:33-35 or John 19:25-27
More ideas
We've put together some sermon outlines based on several of the passages above, to help you think through how you could approach this topic on Mother's Day.
Download: Mothering Sunday Sermon Notes Please note these materials were developed before the pandemic, so please bear in mind that some of these suggestions might need to be adapted to fit in with current requirements, and depending on whether you are meeting in person or online.

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Kitchen Table Project - Mothering Sunday

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Many churches like to take the opportunity on Mother's Day to celebrate mums but also all those who have an impact on children's lives, whether as Sunday school leaders, foster carers, family friends, grandparents or in many other roles. It's a great time to invite the church to think about how they are impacting the next generation.

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The Big Scrumptious Faith-Filled Feast is a fun, easy way to tell the next generation about Jesus. You can run a feast with just you and your kids at home, eat 

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Kitchen Table Project - The Big Scrumptious Faith Filled Feast

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Kitchen Table Project - The Big Scrumptious Faith Filled Feast

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The Big Scrumptious Faith-Filled Feast is a fun, easy way to tell the next generation about Jesus. You can run a feast with just you and your kids at home, eat with other families too, or get the whole church together!

We've got FREE activity placemats that you can order for everyone with questions, ideas and games to help you share your stories. And your feast can be anything from a breakfast bonanza to a three course meal - whatever works for you!

If you're a church leader or families worker, why not use our family service outline and make a whole scrumptious Sunday event?

So what are you waiting for? Start planning your feast today!

Already run a feast and want to do another? We've now got a new Winter activity placemat so you can get together again. Order or download now!

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Kitchen Table Project - The Big Scrumptious Faith-Filled Feast

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The Big Scrumptious Faith-Filled Feast is a fun, easy way to tell the next generation about Jesus. You can run a feast with just you and your kids at home, eat with other families too, or get the whole church together!

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Here are 101 'questions to spark an interesting conversation' which you can use with your family or church.

Questions are great! They get our brains buzzing and as we chew over our answers, they open up new ideas and get interesting conversations going. And we hope that this free resource will help you and your family start some great conversations about God, the Bible, the universe and just about everything else!

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101 questions to ask your kid to spark an interesting conversation

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Questions are great! They get our brains buzzing and as we chew over our answers, they open up new ideas and get interesting conversations going. And we hope that this free resource will help you and your family start some great conversations about God, the Bible, the universe and just about everything else!

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Bible Buds is a fun packed resource for Toddler and Pre-School Groups.

Bible Buds includes 34-sessions, for babies and toddlers, packed with craft and play ideas, puppets and Bible stories, songs and snacks, downloadable resources and even a parachute blessing! Bible Buds has been carefully designed to share the big story of the Bible through popular calendar events across the whole year.

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Joseph and the Triumph of Grace pairs the easy to read NIrV translation of the Bible with exciting comic book illustrations by Jason Ramasami. Joseph and the Triumph of Grace follows the life of a young man as he discovers God’s presence with him, even when things go wrong!

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This is a pack for you to use however is helpful as you transition back to church. There's no right or wrong way to use it - it may just give you some ideas to try or questions to ask, and a place to record how your family is feeling and what you do.

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But whatever your situation, going back to church is something new, and it's hard sometimes to work out how we feel about it - and how to coach our kids to go back well.

So this is a pack for you to use however is helpful as you transition back to church. There's no right or wrong way to use it - it may just give you some ideas to try or questions to ask, and a place to record how your family is feeling and what you do.

Download now

We've included a sheet of conversation starters to get your family talking. You can do them during a meal, throw them in the car for a journey, put them in a jar when conversation gets stuck - whatever works for you. They are for the whole family to answer and when you answer, you show your child that it's okay to have a variety of feelings and thoughts, and to help them feel free to share theirs. There are also some sheets designed for families to work through side by side, thinking about why God designed and loves church, what it's for and how everybody has a place and a role in it, based on the five biblical values of church we love at Parenting for Faith (you can find out more about these in session 8 of our free Parenting for Faith course). And then right at the end, there's a page to record your family's journey as you 'go back'.

Our hope and prayer is that this pack is a springboard to help you transition well back into the church, and that you and your children gain insight into the beauty and purpose of this great family we are part of.

With love from the Parenting for Faith team.

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But whatever your situation, going back to church is something new, and it's hard sometimes to work out how we feel about it - and how to coach our kids to go back well. So this is a pack for you to use however is helpful as you transition back to church.

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Grace Gatherings
Grace Gatherings is a new resource designed to help you, your church, family and friends to discover God’s grace through nine stories from the book of Genesis.

Each session contains simple activities, questions and opportunities for conversations as people meet together to talk about the Bible. Grace Gatherings can happen in a range of post-lockdown settings from a couple of families in a garden, all age house-groups, Messy Church activities, or a traditional church setting where people are sitting in households or small groups or any other place you can imagine where a safe and permitted number of people are able to gather.

Free to download, Grace Gatherings can be a part of your summer, wherever you are and who ever you are with.

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Scottish Bible Society | Life Transformed through the Bible

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Grace Gatherings | Scottish Bible Society

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Grace Gatherings is a new resource designed to help you, your church, family and friends to discover God's grace through nine stories from the book of Genesis. Each session contains simple activities, questions and opportunities for conversations as people meet together to talk about the Bible.

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Care for the Family - Journeying Together

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Care for the Family - Journeying Together

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A free training resource to help strengthen and develop your toddler group

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A free training resource to help strengthen and develop your toddler group

In every community we will find families in need of love, friendship and support. Parent and toddler groups have the incredible opportunity to open their doors to welcome and serve families as they journey through the ups and downs of family life.

As we serve our communities, it's so good to take time to reflect upon why we want our toddler groups to exist and to think about the impact we have on families' lives.

This resource has been designed to help us to do that. We want to equip you as toddler group teams to come together to dream, discuss and plan what your unique group could become.

Throughout the four sessions we will discover:

The importance of vision - writing, cultivating and communicating the vision to the whole group and toddler group community.

How developing a culture of support and well-being brings health and longevity to the whole group.

How to work well together as a team - having clear expectations about the different roles and responsibilities and a focus on developing every team members' strengths and interests.

What we want our group sessions to look like, what areas of community support we want to provide, and how we can connect our toddler group families to a faith community.

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Journeying Together - Care for the Family

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A free training resource to help strengthen and develop your toddler group In every community we will find families in need of love, friendship and support. Parent and toddler groups have the incredible opportunity to open their doors to welcome and serve families as they journey through the ups and downs of family life.

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A Mind of Their Own

£12.99
In A Mind of Their Own, Katharine Hill discusses the important ways in which parents can nurture their children’s resilience and emotional wellbeing.

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Overprotected 'snowflakes', 'entitled', a stressed generation addicted to social media? Only a matter of months ago concern about rates of anxiety, depression and self-harm among young people was considerable. Now with the added uncertainty, stress and anxiety that the pandemic has brought with it, concern has multiplied.

The difficulty our children face is how to navigate the complex world of the 21 st century - one full of both opportunity and challenge, potential and risk. As their parents or carers, we are the people most able to help them, but if we are to do this it's not enough for us just to be aware of potential issues and their impact on mental health; we also need to know how we can best prepare them to meet life's inevitable challenges and setbacks head-on.

In A Mind of Their Own, Katharine Hill discusses the important ways in which parents can nurture their children's resilience and emotional wellbeing. Honest and practical, with tried and tested strategies, it covers key areas including body confidence, dealing with failure and disappointment, school and exam stress, social media, bullying and handling strong emotions. This is a roadmap that acknowledges the pandemic of 2020 but goes beyond that, offering support for the challenges which have been faced for decades prior.

" It is the best parenting title I have read... It's the first book of its kind that helps us parents navigate the world our kids have been plunged into since Covid turned their lives upside down. A brilliant insight into building your child's emotional well-being in a post pandemic world." - Suzanne Baum, Journalist

" This book isn't about defining mental illness or how to treat clinical conditions, it is about key strategies for parents that we know work in the home, at school and in everyday life. It is also about putting this topic on the table. We can't talk about flourishing families without talking about good mental health. " - from the Foreword by Dr Rob Waller Consultant Psychiatrist MA MSc MBBCh FRCPsych

" As a psychologist and a Mum I can confirm the latter is much harder! Reading this book is like sitting down with a wonderfully experienced, well informed and beautifully calm and practical friend. " - Kate Middleton, Psychologist, author and Director of Mind and Soul Foundation

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A Mind of Their Own - Care for the Family

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Overprotected 'snowflakes', 'entitled', a stressed generation addicted to social media? Only a matter of months ago concern about rates of anxiety, depression and self-harm among young people was considerable. Now with the added uncertainty, stress and anxiety that the pandemic has brought with it, concern has multiplied.

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What does it mean to be a Dad in 2021? | The Dad Cave Podcast - Ep 1

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What does it mean to be a Dad in 2021? | The Dad Cave Podcast - Ep 1

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This is an American site, but still has lots of great ideas and inspiration!

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We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking "Accept", you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.

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Orange | Church Curriculum and Ministry Strategy for Kids and Students

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We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking "Accept", you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.

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Care for the Family - Date Night in a Box

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Care for the Family - Date Night in a Box

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Date Night in a Box sets couples up to win! This event is everything you need to connect, communicate and commit to setting new sparks alight. Along with engaging content streamed directly into your home, you’ll get a mystery box* delivered straight to your door, including goodies and activities which accompany the event. We’ve also thrown in some fun extras to help you plan out future date nights.

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Putting time aside to invest in our relationships can be a challenge - there always seems to be something else vying for our time and attention. We may have jobs, be parents or carers, finances might be tight or babysitters unavailable, and there are probably a whole host of other responsibilities we need to give ourselves to. But there's no denying spending quality time together is vital to the health of our relationship.

Well, Date Night in a Box sets couples up to win! This event is everything you need to connect, communicate and commit to setting new sparks alight. Along with engaging content streamed directly into your home, you'll get a mystery box* delivered straight to your door, including goodies and activities which accompany the event. We've also thrown in some fun extras to help you plan out future date nights.

There are three opportunities to catch this unique event and only one hour of your time is required, so there really are no excuses! Pick a date, stick it in your diary and enjoy a - hopefully - undisturbed evening of 'us time'!

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Date Night in a Box - Care for the Family

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Putting time aside to invest in our relationships can be a challenge - there always seems to be something else vying for our time and attention. We may have jobs, be parents or carers, finances might be tight or babysitters unavailable, and there are probably a whole host of other responsibilities we need to give ourselves to.

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Do you want your kids to grow up to know Jesus?

Have you found a way to nurture their faith?

Do you want to make faith fun for your kids?

The Dad Adventure Challenge is for you!

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"Train up a child in the way he should go. Even when he grows older he will not abandon it." Proverbs 22:6
Every Christian dad knows they should be helping to nurture the faith of their children. You may feel like the 92% who feel they could be doing more...

We have found that faith adventures are a fun way of engaging with your children. And we want to help you make them part of your family's routine.

Over five weeks we will challenge you to do an adventure with your children and engage them in a short story and question time afterward.

The Challenge will include a weekly Zoom call (hosted by Andy Frost) where you will join with other Dads and kids who are taking part. It will feature special guests, competitions and stories to inspire yours and your children's faith.

The Dad Adventure Challenge starts May 7th. RSVP Today.

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Dad Adventure Challenge - Dad Adventure Challenge 2021

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"Train up a child in the way he should go. Even when he grows older he will not abandon it." Proverbs 22:6 Every Christian dad knows they should be helping to nurture the faith of their children. You may feel like the 92% who feel they could be doing more...

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Encounters with Jesus is a pilot, mini series of videos in which Andy shares some of his favourite stories from the Gospels. Using footage from Lumo he gives five practical ideas to engage with the Biblical text as a family. The hope is that local churches will find these useful in encouraging families to journey deeper with God together.

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Andy Frost, the director of Share Jesus International, also works with Care for the Family on the Kitchen Table Project

During the pandemic many local churches are unable to provide children's work in person and have adopted online videos instead. These are a great stop gap but the danger is that children's work becomes just 15 minutes of screen time. Andy believes that the content we produce for children needs to act as springboard into the week, providing parents and carers with ideas to take the conversation forward!

Encounters with Jesus is a pilot, mini series of videos in which Andy shares some of his favourite stories from the Gospels. Using footage from Lumo he gives five practical ideas to engage with the Biblical text as a family. The hope is that local churches will find these useful in encouraging families to journey deeper with God together.

Please note these videos have been created on a shoe-string budget and are very much a pilot. If you find these useful or have any feedback do get in touch here.

These videos are also available to download, email Lucy and she will send you a link to the videos in a dropbox file.

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Encounters with Jesus | Share Jesus International

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Andy Frost, the director of Share Jesus International, also works with Care for the Family on the Kitchen Table Project During the pandemic many local churches are unable to provide children's work in person and have adopted online videos instead. These are a great stop gap but the danger is that children's work becomes just 15 minutes of screen time.

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A podcast called Talking Faith is a series of conversations with Christian parents about how they have inspired faith in their children. Discover lots of great wisdom in these authentic, honest interviews.

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Talking Faith with John Mark Comer

Our UK Director Katharine Hill had the opportunity to catch up with John Mark Comer while he was over from the US earlier this year.

John Mark is a pastor, author and dad and is well known for his latest book The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry. In this interview he shares wisdom and insight into reducing busyness, being intentional and embracing the Sabbath as a family.

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Kitchen Table Project - Talking Faith Series

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Our UK Director Katharine Hill had the opportunity to catch up with John Mark Comer while he was over from the US earlier this year. John Mark is a pastor, author and dad and is well known for his latest book The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry.

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Be refreshed: A journey through the Psalms for busy mums and dad

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Helping our children find a faith that lasts

Raising Faith : £4.99

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Helping our children find a faith that lasts

As parents, we all want our children to grow up to be healthy and happy. But do we ever stop to think about how we can help them grow up to love God?

Raising Faith is full of stories and encouragement to help us feel enthused and confident to nurture faith in our children. Full colour throughout, it's packed with bite-sized articles and helpful ideas to try out even in the middle of the busyness of family life.

Katharine Hill and Andy Frost's honest and practical advice will dispel the guilt, show us how much we're already doing, and inspire us with simple new ways to help our children love God while they are young.

Buying in bulk for your church?

Take advantage of these great discount codes to save almost 50% on orders of 20 or 40 books:

FAITH20 (20 copies for £50 - saving £49.80)
FAITH40 (40 copies for £100 - saving £99.60)

1. Add Raising Faith to your basket

2. Update your basket to either 20 or 40 copies

3. Add your discount code

4. Complete your order

"This book is super-easy to read and digest. It gives us parents confidence to own our critical role in passing on the great gift of faith to our children."
Tim Hughes, singer-songwriter, leader of Worship Central, and vicar of St Luke's, Birmingham
"A challenging, inspiring, hopeful and practical book that every Christian parent should read straight away. This is a vital resource for all of us who desperately want our children to find Jesus for themselves."
Gavin Calver, Director of Mission, Evangelical Alliance and Chair of Spring Harvest

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Helping our children find a faith that lasts As parents, we all want our children to grow up to be healthy and happy. But do we ever stop to think about how we can help them grow up to love God?

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Daily inspiration for discovering faith together as a family.

366-day family faith calendar

£9.99

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Daily inspiration for discovering faith together as a family

Many of us want our children to develop their own personal relationship with God that will last. As mums and dads, we are the greatest influence in our children's lives, and we have the amazing privilege of joining them in this adventure of faith.

Full of daily inspiration, encouragement and ideas, the calendar will help you to find new ways to weave faith into the everyday moments of family life. What a great way to naturally explore faith together as a family - without adding more to your to-do-list!

* Full colour pages
* Free-standing and spiral bound
* 366 dated pages - can be used year after year
* Size: 11cm(w) x 12cm(h) x 9cm(d)

Example pages:

A great gift for parents in your church!

Why not order copies to help parents you know nurture the faith of the next generation. Order five or more calendars and receive a 25% discount.

- Add the calendar to your basket
- Update your basket to the number of copies you require
- If 5 or more are present, the discount will activate automatically.
- Complete your order

Take a look at the Kitchen Table Project's website to find out more about how you can inspire and encourage your children's faith.

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366-day family faith calendar - Care for the Family

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Daily inspiration for discovering faith together as a family Many of us want our children to develop their own personal relationship with God that will last. As mums and dads, we are the greatest influence in our children's lives, and we have the amazing privilege of joining them in this adventure of faith.

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A parent’s journey to inspiring a faith that lasts in their children

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Raising Faith is a flexible, six-part resource that explores how Christian families can create strong and healthy foundations of faith in their children.

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Each session provides the content for a two-hour, stand-alone session and gives parents and carers the opportunity to discuss their own experiences and explore some key parenting principles. It's warm, friendly, fun and designed to dispel the guilt and give lots of practical ideas for nurturing faith at home.

Raising Faith is presented by Katharine Hill and Andy Frost and features wisdom from a range of guest experts including Dr Krish Kandiah (Home for Good), Rachel Turner (Parenting for Faith) and Mark Chester (Who Let the Dads Out?).

In these exceptional circumstances we are now making this resource available digitally at no charge. It's ideal for parents and carers to watch and discuss with a few friends or as a small group, whether that's meeting in person or online. Or you may simply want to view the content yourself at home.

Simply fill in the form below for access to the download page where you will find everything you need to run a session or watch at home.

Alternatively you can buy a pack which contains all the material on a DVD, a Group Leader's Guide booklet and eight copies of the booklet for parents.

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Raising Faith Sessions Sign Up - Care for the Family

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Each session provides the content for a two-hour, stand-alone session and gives parents and carers the opportunity to discuss their own experiences and explore some key parenting principles. It's warm, friendly, fun and designed to dispel the guilt and give lots of practical ideas for nurturing faith at home.

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After running an Inspire session, meeting regularly with parents can be really helpful to keep the conversation about inspiring faith at home going.

We are creating short videos and discussion questions that you can use to facilitate this.

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After running an Inspire session, meeting regularly with parents can be really helpful to keep the conversation about inspiring faith at home going.

We are creating short videos and discussion questions that you can use to facilitate this.

May 2021: Praying for our children - Pete Greig
April 2021: Talking Faith with Girma Bishaw March 2021: Making connections February 2021:Easy wins in lockdown

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Kitchen Table Project - Small group discussions

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After running an Inspire session, meeting regularly with parents can be really helpful to keep the conversation about inspiring faith at home going. We are creating short videos and discussion questions that you can use to facilitate this.

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Inspire is an easy-to-run small group discussion to start us thinking about how to build faith in our children. It’s designed to be a fun, relaxed and interactive format allowing parents to share ideas and experiences.

All the materials are free to download – you just need a group of mums and dads, and off you go!

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A few mums, dads, carers and others get together at someone's home or church. There are two short five minute video clips that help introduce the topic and what the Bible says about faith at home, and the leader's guide gives some questions to help you discuss your thoughts and experiences.

The questions help to get you thinking about why it's important to share our faith with our children at home.

You can then choose from a pack of 28 questions that help you to think about specific examples of how we can do this more intentionally in the everyday things of life, and what would work best for your family. There are enough questions that you could meet up again to talk through more if you'd like to!

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A few mums, dads, carers and others get together at someone's home or church. There are two short five minute video clips that help introduce the topic and what the Bible says about faith at home, and the leader's guide gives some questions to help you discuss your thoughts and experiences.

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Family First Life's Gary Pegues "It all Starts on the Phones"

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Babies & Toddlers - Nurturing your child's spiritual life. Some useful resources

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Right from their very earliest days, babies and toddlers can meet and know God. Parents and carers get to be a key part of helping them to do that, and churches, friends and family all make up the supportive community that encourages and equips them on the journey.

The book

Parenting for Faith's new slimline book, Babies and Toddlers: Nurturing your child's spiritual life by Rachel Turner, helps you go on this journey and support those in your church and community to do the same. It costs just £4.99, and we also offer discounted prices for multipacks.

Find out more Read sample pages Buy multipacks Buy now

The videos

We have five short videos, all about nurturing your baby or toddler's spiritual life, available completely free on our website. On the bite-size babies and toddlers page, you'll also find a free downloadable guide to help you use them to run bite-size sessions at pregnancy, baby or toddler groups. They are designed to work for online and in-person groups and to be accessible to those who are new to faith or just exploring as well as those who have been Christians a long time.

The five sessions are:

Infant baptism, dedication or thanksgiving service preparation

We have three videos and a leaders' guide for families bringing babies or children for infant baptism, dedication or thanksgiving. They aim to affirm the commitment and decision that the family are making and give them simple, practical ideas to nurture faith at home. They don't assume any prior knowledge of church or Christian language. They are available free on our website, so they can emailed to the parents, watched with them, written into a card and referred back to at any point. They don't cover the theology, symbolism or significance of these services or the details of what will happen in the service, so you can customise them to your church and denomination.

The three videos cover:

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Right from their very earliest days, babies and toddlers can meet and know God. Parents and carers get to be a key part of helping them to do that, and churches, friends and family all make up the supportive community that encourages and equips them on the journey.

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Messy Church is a way of being church for families and others. It is Christ-centred, for all ages, based on creativity, hospitality and celebration.

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Messy Church Goes Wild is the movement within Messy Church which aims to encourage Messy Churches to meet God outdoors, love the natural world, experience a sense of awe and wonder there and to be more eco-aware in all we do, both inside and out, as gathered and dispersed church, for the good of the planet.

Watch the video below to hear all about Messy Church Goes Wild in action!

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Sometimes, it’s helpful to have some ideas of things to help you start chatting and catching with God, so here are 101 for you.

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Sometimes, it's helpful to have some ideas of things to help you start chatting and catching with God, so here are 101 for you.

As usual this free resource is for you to use however works for your family or church - use what's helpful and ignore anything that's not.

Here are a few ideas for ways to start using it:

pick an idea at random to try as you eat breakfast

stick an idea on your kid's mirror

let them choose an idea to do in the car

leave the sheet on your child's pillow to spark ideas as they chat to God at bedtime.

Download now
If you'd like to know more about helping your child have a two-way conversation with God, check out our Key Tool page or sessions four and five of the Parenting for Faith course.

A few other helpful links:

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101 ways to start a conversation with God

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Sometimes, it's helpful to have some ideas of things to help you start chatting and catching with God, so here are 101 for you. As usual this free resource is for you to use however works for your family or church - use what's helpful and ignore anything that's not.

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Families at the Center of Faith Formation

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Families at the Center of Faith Formation

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Life Long Faith

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Becoming a parent -discipling church workbook

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Information on The Kitchen Table Project

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Talking Faith Series

Talking Faith is a series of conversations with Christian parents and church leaders about how they inspire faith in their children.

Watch the whole series including interviews with Pete Greig (24-7 Prayer), and John Mark Comer (The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry) on our YouTube channel.

In the latest episode, we talk to Ian Henderson, CEO of the Naked Truth Project, about how we can help our children be safe online, and how to handle difficult conversations about the content they might be exposed to.

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Talking Faith is a series of conversations with Christian parents and church leaders about how they inspire faith in their children. Watch the whole series including interviews with Pete Greig (24-7 Prayer), and John Mark Comer (The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry) on our YouTube channel.

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Signs of Life...
We’ve got three great ways for you to explore Psalm 100, in a pandemic-friendly way, with your family at home, with other families online – and even as a whole church.

Check out the scavenger hunt, online family challenge and all-age service now!

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Use this all-age service template for an online Sunday service.

This outline service has ideas for helping the whole congregation get involved, whether it's a streamed service or on Zoom.

Pick and choose the ideas that will work for your congregation and explore Psalm 100 while connecting as the big family of God.
Download the service outline

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Use this all-age service template for an online Sunday service. This outline service has ideas for helping the whole congregation get involved, whether it's a streamed service or on Zoom. Pick and choose the ideas that will work for your congregation and explore Psalm 100 while connecting as the big family of God.

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Lament' is a short film addressing the grief and anxiety caused by the pandemic, and the message of hope found in Jesus Christ.

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Lament - a spoken word - Evangelical Alliance

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When rumours of a virus turn to evening government updates...When headlines move to daily news of fresh infection growth rates...When schools are closed, then holidays postponed. Everyone is asking, ​"Who has been furloughed?"A slight change of plans, just wash your hands, ​"It's like the flu, remember?"Let's stay at home, do PE with Joe, it'll be over by September.How long, O Lord?

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Equipping parents to raise God-connected children and teens

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The Original Parenting for Faith course

Based on the book Parenting Children for a Life of Faith, the original Parenting for Faith course is a free video-based resource for communities. It's normally run in a church or home group, but can be used by individuals as well.

The goal of the course is to help parents and carers discover that they are perfectly positioned to show their children the reality of a life with God and to empower them to have their own vibrant two-way relationship with him.
Find out more

Discover five easy tools for ordinary parents to raise God-connected kids

Sign up to Parenting for Faith emails

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We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking "Accept", you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.

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Parenting for Faith | Equipping parents to raise God-connected children and teens

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The Original Parenting for Faith course Based on the book Parenting Children for a Life of Faith, the original Parenting for Faith course is a free video-based resource for communities. It's normally run in a church or home group, but can be used by individuals as well.

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New research shows that young families with children under five could be a vital element for church growth.

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Under-fives key to significant church growth

New research shows that young families with children under five could be a vital element for church growth.

The Talking Toddlers report, usingresearch by Savanta ComRes*, released on Monday 18 May, shows that 74% of all parents with children under the age of five have attended a church-run activity in the past year.

This new research was commissioned by HOPE Together, the Church of England, and the Evangelical Alliance to highlight the potential for sustained church growth if the church nurtures the faith of under-fives and their parents. Download a summary of the research here.

Webinar: Talking Toddlers - Next Steps - October 9th

Talking Toddlers webinar

A webinar to discuss the findings of the report was held on 26th June 2020.

Dr Rachel Jordan-Wolf, HOPE Assistant Director Introducing the Talking Toddlers research

Talking Toddlers research origins

In the 2017 Mapping Practising Christians research, commissioned by HOPE Together and the Church of England, 40% of practising Christians said that they came to faith before the age of five. In fact, of all generations, the under-fives were the generation where the church has the biggest impact. This statistic led to the commissioning of our Talking Toddlers research.

Dr Rachel Jordan-Wolf, assistant director of HOPE Together said of the Talking Toddlers report, 'We so often hear about an aging church, but here is something new - very young church. Can the church reach a generation of under-fives and their parents? Could they be the missing link for church growth?

'The church has the most extraordinary reach and a huge opportunity to help a generation begin in faith if they start with the under-fives and their parents - they are already in touch with us, many are open and questioning and the opportunity is now.'

74% of parents have contact with a church

The Talking Toddlers research shows that churches are already in contact with nearly three-quarters of all parents of under-fives in Great Britain:

74% of all parents with children under the age of five have attended a church activity in the past 12 months

12% of all parents of under-fives are practising Christians, double the number of practising Christians in the population

62% of all parents of under-fives are not active Christians, but they have attended a church activity for this age group in the past year

Over half of these parents, 55%, say that they have explored their own beliefs because of attending these activities

Only 25% of all parents of children aged 0-4 are currently not in contact with a church, but 35% of them would welcome an invite to a church-led activity for them and their children

Dr Jordan-Wolf said, 'I was praying at the age of three and singing my own worship songs. My hope is that the church will see the incredible opportunity it has to help as many under-fives as possible to experience faith for themselves.'

She added, 'The opportunity to turn round decline in the church might be right in front of us - a long-term strategy starting with the very young.'

Rachael Heffer, head of mission for the Evangelical Alliance said, 'This research offers a real challenge and opportunity for church leaders to prioritise mission and ministry amongst the very young and to keep the Christian distinctiveness high within our groups geared to families of the under fives.'

Revd Canon David Male, Director of Evangelism and Discipleship for the Church of England, said, 'This important research offers complimentary data to the 'The Toddler Group Research' in 2017 and should ensure that every church leader is considering how they are helping faith to grow both for parents and their children.'

How can toddler groups connect online? Here's an example below from Katie Wilson, Belfast City Vineyard children's pastor.

What's the secret to a thriving toddler group? The Evangelical Alliance have resources to help on their website.

* Savanta ComRes interviewed 1182 British parents of children aged 0-4 years old via an online (CAWI) survey between 6 - 28 February 2020. Data from the main sample have been weighted by gender, age and region to be representative of parents with children under 5, at a GB level. Further booster interviews were employed to explore in detail three key groups of parents: Fringe parents, Active Christian parents, and Unreached parents. Fringe parents are defined as parents who attended at least one activity for children organised by a church group or taking place in a church in the last 12 months; boosted sample size of Fringe parents is 1020. Active Christian parents are those who define as Christian, who engage weekly with the Bible / prayer and attend the church monthly, and who attend at least one activity for children organised by a church group or taking place in a church; boosted sample size of Active Christian parents is 202. Unreached parents are those parents who did not attend any activity for children organised by a church group or taking place in a church in the last 12 months; boosted sample size of Unreached parents is 309. These three boosted parent groups are reported in separate, unweighted data tables.

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New research shows that young families with children under five could be a vital element for church growth. The Talking Toddlers report, usingresearch by Savanta ComRes*, released on Monday 18 May, shows that 74% of all parents with children under the age of five have attended a church-run activity in the past year.