STAR
Support, Training And Resources
An e-bulletin from the Diocese of Peterborough's
Children's Missioner, Rona Orme
Email: rona.orme@peterborough-diocese.org.uk
Website: www.peterborough-diocese.org.uk/children
I think I have the best job in the world! There is a similar post being advertised in the Diocese of Worcester. The closing date is 30 June, so e-mail Judith Nex jnex@cofe-worcester.org.uk for more details now if you might be interested. Or look at item 6, if you want to apply for a similar post in Ely Diocese. Do get in touch with me if you want to talk about applying for such posts.
I would like to set up a network for all of you who use Godly Play.
Why? So you can share your insights and ask questions of other practitioners, even borrow resources
What? The group may decide to gather to share a story session together – so don’t miss out!
When? Any time – I will set up a GP contact group and you can immediately post your comments and queries to each other
How? If you want to be part of this group (which will be an ‘e’ community in the first instance), reply to this e-mail so you can be added to the GP group
Tomorrow! Saturday 14 June 2pm St Marks, Wellingborough
Afternoon on ‘Effects of loss on children and families’
Whilst this session has been arranged primarily for pastoral assistants, it will be highly relevant for all who work with families. I will be there! Will you?
Next Saturday 21 June 10-4 St Mary’s Junior School, High Barns, Ely CB7 4RB Day on Children and Fresh Expressions with Lucy Moore, Dave Male, and me! Further details from dm432@cam.ac.uk
In this issue:
What do Bishops do?
Church and Community Fund
Photosymbols
An ABC of Reminders
Narrative, Illustrated Bible
Children's Work Adviser, Ely Diocese
Lectionary Material on the Web
Free Advertising
Prince Caspian Resources
CORE Skills Conference
STAR Thought
What Do Bishops do? Top
Share http://www.bishopsinaction.com/ with primary school age children so they can find out what bishops do. Produced in connection with the Lambeth Conference.
Church and Community Fund Top
Under the Church and Community Fund (CCF) grants of up to £15,000 are available to community projects run by parish churches, deaneries, dioceses and other bodies connected to or working in partnership with the Church of England. The CCF awards over £500,000 in grants every year and all CCF grants seek to take the church out into the community, bring the community into the church and strengthen the relationship between the two. Typical projects supported by the CCF might include:
· Employing a youth worker;
· Renovating an old church hall for use as a community centre;
· Providing hot meals for the homeless in a church room;
Recently the CCF awarded £3,000 for a University Outreach Project in Southwark which is attempting to address the problem of underachievement amongst local teenagers. The next application deadline is the 13th August 2008 http://www.centralchurchfund.org.uk/index.html
Photosymbols Top
Photosymbols are pictures used by people with learning disabilities, including children. They help make written information easier to understand. For more about how they work go to http://www.photosymbols.com
An ABC of Reminders Top
And top tips for working with children can be found at: http://www.childrensministry.com/article.asp?ID=1813 .
Some of these will chime with what you naturally do, and some may challenge you to develop your practice. Why not discuss some of the points with the other children’s leaders in your church?
Narrative, Illustrated Bible Top
A new version of the Bible, that proceeds in a narrative format from Creation through to the arrival of Paul in Rome (without any of the repetition), has been produced. It is suitable for older children and parents who are hazy about the Bible story. You can read more about it here: http://www.wtlbiblepublications.com/ including the chance to look through some of the pages to see how it is laid out. Individual copies cost £8.99 + p&p. There will, shortly, be sample copies in both the Bouverie Court and Cathedral Resource Centres for you to examine. I include further details about this project at the end of this e-bulletin, after STAR thought.
Children's Work Adviser, Ely Diocese Top
Bishop of Ely wishes to appoint a Children’s Work Adviser to inspire and support parishes across the Diocese of Ely and to provide strategic leadership to the further development of mission with children.
“We seek a theologically competent person with good communication skills and who will be confident in relating to parishes in different settings and traditions and also to central bodies such as synods and external agencies.
The Adviser will have skills in adult learning and be able to train and motivate volunteers and those in ministry at all levels. The post includes some responsibility for Child Protection training and policy. There may be opportunities also to work with Local Authorities and the Cambridge Theological Federation.
The Adviser will be a member of the Education and Training Team which supports parishes and schools and the work is assisted by a Children’s Council as well as the main Board. Candidates should support the tenets and practice of the Church of England.
This is a re-advertisement and previous candidates should not apply. Lay and ordained applicants are equally encouraged.” Incumbent’s stipend + house or salary between £24-30k (according to qualification/experience).
Closing Date for applications is 30thJune
Interviews will be held on 16/17th July
Full details and Application Form from :
Debbie Jordan, Diocesan Office, Barton Road, Ely, Cambs CB7 4DX
tel: 01353 652724 - Email: debbie.jordan@ely.anglican.org or
www.ely.anglican.org/education/children
Lectionary Material on the Web Top
Thanks to my new colleague in the Diocese of Chelmsford, Steve Kersys, for pointing us all in the direction of this. The Episcopal Church in the States has produced a curriculum for Sunday groups based on the Lectionary readings for the day. There are materials for young children, older children and adults – and they are free to download. This material might not solve all your needs, but they could provide you with a spark of inspiration, or additional ideas if you already use ROOTS or Seasons of the Spirit. If you'd like to see whether they might be suitable for your situation, check them out on the link below. It's worth exploring the rest of the site, too, as there are several other resources available on it. http://www.episcopalchurch.org/50534_50553_ENG_HTM.htm?menupage=50552
Free Advertising Top
Why not use www.WhereCanWeGo.com to advertise any events you are running, for free? Visit the site and search on 28 June 2008, Peterborough to see what I have posted for Peterfest. You could advertise flower festivals, holiday clubs, outreach events, coffee mornings… for free.
Resources for Prince Caspian Top
The Damaris Trust produce resources for children and schools work among other things, and Walt Disney have asked them to produce material exploring the Christian faith to accompany the new film in the Narnia series: Prince Caspian. All details are on: http://www.damaris.org/narnia
AS nearly an hour of the film focuses on battle scenes, I guess the film is going to appeal to older children than the Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe constituency.
CORE Skills Conference Top
Do you want to develop better skills for working with children? Would you like to be inspired and enthused? Would you like a weekend away with like-minded people? Go the CORE Skills conference at the University of Nottingham 5-7 September [the food will be particularly good!]. If you apply for a bursary the cost will be just £75 for the weekend. Find out more at http://www.cgmcontheweb.com/core.htm but places are going fast.
STAR Thought Top
‘What makes the desert beautiful is that somewhere it hides a well.’
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
About The Narrative Bible
This is one of the most radical editions of the Bible since Gutenberg. It has 500 original illustrations, and has been produced for people of all ages from non-Christian and non-western cultures and backgrounds. Text is set crisply and without interruption using a simple method to denote the primary narrative (single column as in a novel or short story). The rest of the Bible (lists, laws, poetry, letters etc) is set in double column. There are thousands of notes in the margins; maps are placed where needed; so that the first-time reader knows help is at hand should it be needed. The Bible version used is the NIrV (created for readers of English as a second language).
Project Background
The idea for this Bible was born in an extended family in the East End of London, UK. It was conceived to enable the Bible text to speak to people “where they are”. So if you are a Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, or a believer in another religion then you may find this Bible a simple way of reading the Scriptures. If you have no background in religion you will find it equally simple to use. Portions of this Bible have been tested for over 15 years with people all around the world. The purpose of this edition is to give every kind of reader what they most need to know to keep on reading through the Bible.
The team that has worked to produce this Bible includes Dr. Keith J. White who wrote the introductions and all the notes in the margins. Notes have been checked by Committee for Bible Translation member Dr. Martin Selman, Vice-Principal of, and Dr. Debra Reid, Lecturer at Spurgeon’s College, London UK. Tony Cantale designed and conceived the layout and produced many of the maps. Andy Bisgrove produced all the illustrations. Andy retains copyright for all art.
Unique Characteristics of this Bible
Format – First it presents the whole Bible in the usual order from Genesis to Revelation, but in a way that makes it clear what is God’s story and what is a different kind of writing. If you start at the beginning you will discover that the first chapters are like a traditional book with the text running right across the page. After a few pages there is a section that uses two columns, and then it goes back to the traditional format. This is the way the whole Bible is set out. If you want to follow the Bible story right through then simply read and turn to the next section of writing across the whole page. If you are interested in details, poetry, proverbs, laws, family trees and letters, you will find these wherever there are two columns on a page. The text version in this Bible is called the NIrV.
Illustrations – 500 pieces. The pictures are all original and created especially for this Bible and, like the maps, are placed where they are needed. The maps help you understand where things are taking place and how far and in what directions people in the stories travel. The whole purpose is that you can read through the Bible without having to turn elsewhere for the information you may need to understand what you read.