Aaron Douglas

The children of Aotearoa, New Zealand are our treasure, our taonga. We long to see them grow into the people God has in mind when he looks at them - mature disciples living God-shaped lives, connected and contributing in their faith communities.

Do you wonder how we are going with this responsibility?

SUNZ took a look to find out. We gathered responses from a cross-section of churches around the country - different regions, different sizes and different denominations.

The research found much to celebrate. It found creative passionate leaders and children and young people growing in faith. But there were areas of concern too. It also found that many of our churches are finding it hard to connect with large numbers of children and families.

Many of us who work with children and families already know this. We feel it deeply and worry about it. We want it to change. But change is hard and we have begun to recognise that it will take more than

just the children and families workers to bring it about. In

order for things to change the whole church must work together: parents, children’s ministry leaders, church leaders and church members. He waka eke noa – we’re all in this together.

Issue 51

Welcome to the WAY2GO

magazine. It’s full of

ideas for people who

work with children in

their churches and local

communities.

Pull it out and pass

it around.

From He waka eke noa: Children’s Ministry in Aotearoa, New Zealand 2015. If you would like a copy of this research, email us at way2go@sunz.org.nz with your name and address, or download it from our websitewww.sunz.org.nz Check out our Children and Families Blog (childrenandfamiliesnz.blogspot.co.nz). We are going to put more detail up there as well.

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Around 10% of New Zealand children will be found in a church on Sunday morning.

A typical Sunday morning programme will have 20 children or less in its primary-aged programme.

More than half of churches surveyed had 2 or less leaders in their Sunday primary-aged programmes.

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RELATIONSHIPSSteve Taylor says “Community development is like Velcro, creating lots of relationships to help things stick.”1

local shops. They are our neighbours and our friends.What can we do about them? How can we connect these children and their families with the life of our faith communities?This is an important question for us to think about. It is one we need to ask God to help us with. As you read this edition of our WAY2GO magazine, please be in prayer about your community. How are the children and families in your community programmes connecting with your church?

How are we doing when it comes to getting to know the children in our communities?

Our research found 60,000 children across New Zealand who are involved in activities run in their community by the local church. 40,000 of these children were involved in one-off activities like Light Parties or maybe holiday programmes. The other 20,000 were involved in regular community ministries such as clubs and classes in their local schools or regular after school programmes. Sixty thousand. That’s the size of Napier! That’s a significant number of children and we can celebrate what we are doing in our communities.The problem is, that while many of these children are attending our programmes,

they are not connecting with the churches who are running them. When we asked about those children who have found their way into the life of the church through the church’s community programmes we discovered something sad. 34% of the churches we surveyed had no children join the church as a result of their community programmes and the majority of the rest of the churches had only one or two children who became regular attenders at church. We feel the sadness of these statistics and we know you do too. They reflect real children and real families; ones that we meet in our schools and at the

Be available – Take time to sit around and talk - don’t be so busy with the programme that there is no time to have conversations with people. Some of your leaders may need to step back from more active roles in order to do this and you can encourage church people to come along and do this as well. And of course, relationships need to happen outside the programmes as well.

BUILDINGWhen it comes to our community programmes, we need to remember that it is the people that are important. That means relationships are a vital part of connecting children and families with church and the quality of the relationships will be what makes the relationships stick well. The programmes are only tools to enable this to happen.

Take a look at these key principles and use them as you build relationships with the children and families.

Be genuine –We want to build relationships with people because we care about them. Make sure you are building genuine two-way friendships and enjoying the people you meet.

Be real – Our role is not to model perfection or to offer quick answers. It’s to be honest about our own journey and the joys and challenges we find as we relate to God, and to allow people we get to know to share their ideas with us as much as we share with them.

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ADVENTURE September 2015 17

Steve Taylor says “Community development is like Velcro, creating lots of relationships to help things stick.”1

local shops. They are our neighbours and our friends.What can we do about them? How can we connect these children and their families with the life of our faith communities?This is an important question for us to think about. It is one we need to ask God to help us with. As you read this edition of our WAY2GO magazine, please be in prayer about your community. How are the children and families in your community programmes connecting with your church?

When it comes to our community programmes, we need to remember that it is the people that are important. That means relationships are a vital part of connecting children and families with church and the quality of the relationships will be what makes the relationships stick well. The programmes are only tools to enable this to happen.

Take a look at these key principles and use them as you build relationships with the children and families.

Be open – Pray that God will use you to speak his living words into their lives and share things he tells you. Ask people if you can pray with them or invite them along to church when you think it is appropriate.

1 emergentkiwi.org.nz

Be real – Our role is not to model perfection or to offer quick answers. It’s to be honest about our own journey and the joys and challenges we find as we relate to God, and to allow people we get to know to share their ideas with us as much as we share with them.

A Helping HandYou will need a clear plastic bottle, 2tbsp sugar, yeast, surgical gloves, very warm water and tape. Mix the yeast and water together in the bottle. Put the sugar into the fingers of the glove. Stretch the glove over the top of the bottle and tape it tightly. Lift the glove so that the sugar falls into the yeast mix. The glove will start to inflate but it will take time so begin early in the programme and talk about it later on.

Talk to the children about how Jesus knew we could not do everything on our own and we would need a “helping hand”. The Holy Spirit can be that help for us. We can’t see the Holy Spirit any more than we can see the gas that has inflated the glove, but just as we know the gas is there because the glove inflates, we know the Holy Spirit is there and working in us because we can see or feel the effect of what he does.If you would like to know more about our training, look on our website www.sunz.org.nz

FABULOUS FOAMYou will need a 2 litre bottle of fizz, a

large bowl, glitter, sequins and salt.

Stand the bottle of fizz inside the large

bowl to contain the mess. Pour the

glitter and sequins into the bottle, then

add salt until it ‘erupts’.

Ask the children about what makes

them feel excited when they think about

God. Pray and thank God for these

things.

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ADVENTURE September 201518

Children join world famous explorer, Sir Random Finds on an expedition into the polar wilderness. They take the Great Ice Challenge, chill out with fantastic people and follow in the footsteps of some amazing characters as they discover what it’s like to be on God’s expedition team.

Polar Explorers along with many other great holiday programmes are available from SUNZ. Check them out on our website www.sunz.org.nz then ring us on free-phone 0508 423 836 to order.

POLar

EXPLorers

Wondering how you can connect with the children in your community? Try these ideas.Holiday Programmes are an effective way for children and churches to get to know each other. They are a great place for non-churched children to experience Christian community and make new friends. Deep relationships are formed as leaders and children spend time together having fun, making crafts, playing games, and exploring Bible stories through music, drama and storytelling. Small groups provide space for talking and deep questions to be explored together. Used well, an annual holiday programme can become a part of your overall strategy to get to know your community. SUNZ can help you with advice and encouragement if you are interested in running a holiday programme.

SUPAkidz and SURGE Clubs are community clubs for children and intermediates. There are all sorts of clubs - some meet in schools and some meet down the road in a church, some meet during the lunchtime and some meet after school. SUNZ provide programme material and training & support to help you with your Club. We also help you with safety procedures and leadership applications so that you can assure schools and parents that you are running safely.

SUPAkidz Camps are a fun and safe place for kids to invite their friends along to. There are all sorts of activities and heaps of fun as children in school years 4 - 6 explore the Bible together and learn all about God. The photos in this WAY2GO magazine are all from our camps. Check our website for more information.

Scripture Union wants to work with your church to create opportunities for children and young people to discover and follow Jesus, grow as leaders, and influence the world. Contact us and let us know how we can help you.

Scripture Union in New Zealand – PO Box 760, Wellington 6140way2go@sunz.org.nz – 0508 423 836 – www.sunz.org.nz

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