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Support: Children & Youth

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COVID-19 response support: Scroll down for resources and information

The Diocese of London employs a team of people whose role is to support those working with children and youth in local communities. We provide direct support and guidance, create online resources and develop partnerships with ministry specialists to help churches reach the full potentional in engaging children and young people.

If you are interested in developing children or youth work in your church, have a look around the webpages here, then talk to your vicar or safeguarding lead or email the children and youth support team at youth@nulllondon.anglican.org or children@nulllondon.anglican.org.

Double the number of young people involved in local Christian community

Children's Ministry

We are committed to support those who work with children in our churches. Click below to view what support we can offer.

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Youth Ministry

We offer help and advice to support the church in engaging young people, through Capital Youth and our partnerships with specialists.

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COVID-19 response support

In our aim to support those working with children and youth, we’ve been curating resources and guidance that will be helpful and practical for those adapting their regular activities. This page is your go-to source for key information specific to working with children, youth and families.

If you have any suggestions for what can be added to this page, please feel free to email us at youth@nulllondon.anglican.org.

Consolidated guidance for working with children, youth and families

Last update: 7 Oct, new version on national Church of England website

The most direct advice we can give at this time is to continue to follow government guidelines. Please review the guidance from the Church of England, who are updating their guidance daily based on direct conversation with those providing the national guidelines from our government.

A group of diocesan children and youth ministry advisors from around the UK have consolidated the Government, Church of England and National Youthwork Association guidelines, in order to provide a quicker summary of what is expected as we return to face-to-face meetings. This document and flow chart should be used to help you make informed decisions locally, in conjunction with the full guidelines.

Please note, where ‘creche’ is referenced this typically refers to children aged 0-5.

Download the PDF

Online meetups for those working with children and youth

We started gathering anyone working with children and youth online in March, to provide community, encouragement and a platform for exchanging ideas to those feeling isolated in their roles. To receive updates on these, subscribe to our email list and follow us on Twitter and Facebook. You can watch most of our livestreams over on our Facebook page.

Almost The Most Wonderful Time of The Year...

20 October, 11:30-12:30

Who makes the best mince pies? More importantly, how are we going to do Christmas, especially at church?! We hope to offer answers to both these questions with a bit of live tasting and panel discussion as we’re joined by friends from across London, maybe in fancy dress, but I didn’t tell you that…

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Intercession for children and youth

Wednesdays 09:00-09:30

Join us and the team behind With (All Hallows Ditchingham) as we pray every Wednesday morning for children and young people. There will be a simple liturgy and space for silence and personal prayer.

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More upcoming events

Academy Basics

17 Oct, 10:00-13:00

The Academy Basics course will give you fresh ideas and confidence for working with children in church.

The course covers:

  • Children and faith: child spirituality and faith development
  • Storytelling and spiritual space: helping children connect with Jesus
  • Being a leader: leadership, teamwork, planning a session
  • Managing behaviour and supporting additional needs: helping all children meet with God safely and inclusively

There will be plenty of opportunities to ask questions and chat with peers. You’ll have to supply your own coffee and biscuits though!

REGISTER

Safeguarding guidance for working online

Our safeguarding guidance during the COVID-19 crisis remains the same. Follow the Diocesan Safeguarding Guidelines and talk to your vicar or safeguarding lead if in any doubt. Any concerns raised in parishes should be brought to the attention of the Church Safeguarding Officer, who can seek advice from the DST. Other areas of the Diocese (e.g. chaplaincies) should contact the DST directly.

For guidance around online video conferencing with young people, see this guide from the Diocese of Worcester – we will release our own version soon.

Safeguarding concerns can be raised by phone or by email. Concerns raised via email should be sent to our Safeguarding Inbox in the first instance: safeguarding@nulllondon.anglican.org. Alternatively, to speak to a member of the DST, please call our Safeguarding Helpline on 020 7932 1224.

Online activities for young people, children and families

Various churches have developed online alternatives to their normal children and youth activities, which may be appropriate for people from other churches to join in with. If you are looking for great online activities to point young people to, HTB Youth, Virtual Sunday School and Worship for Everyone have been consistently producing live and recorded content.

If you’re making things specifically for children and/or youth, email us!


Online content for youth

Online content for children/families

Online resources for families

Ideas for activities to enjoy together

  • Go on a virtual museum tour whilst on a video call
  • Have a group Netflix film night (everyone needs a subscription)
  • Have a “3,2,1, play” YouTube watch party on a video call
  • Record a video together to share with your church
  • Write a song together
  • Have a poetry slam contest

A letter to children from Bishop Sarah

It is our joy to share this letter to children from the Bishop of London. Please circulate to parents and carers in your communities and encourage them to send their names in for prayer.

Resources on racism

We have compiled a short list of resources that are suitable for helping you engage children and youth in discussions about racism. Download the PDF and let us know if you come across any other resources that are particularly helpful with younger age groups.

Supporting Children and Youth Through Grief

No two people grieve in the same way. In this time where support for children and youth is increasingly important during a loss of loved ones, those who work or volunteer with them should feel confident and knowledgeable on how they can help.

The Diocese of London’s Children and Youth Support ran this online workshop to cover the key areas of supporting people through grief. The session used additional breakout groups throughout to create a more comfortable environment for sharing from experience. These were not recorded but are noted so you can reflect for yourself.

LINKS TO RESOURCES

Other resources related to COVID-19

Resources database for children & youth ministry

In recent months we have been developing an online database of resources for working with children, youth and families, to save a bit of time on the discovery process. We’ve added a column to flag resources you can use or adapt remotely. Below you can filter and sort the resources we’ve added, and if you think any are missing, submit one here.

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