Youth & Children Update

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March 2025

Welcome to the latest Youth & Children Update!

For Young People (12-18)

Church Bagging: How many churches can you 'bag' in one year?!

This is a way for our young people to meet together monthly whilst experiencing the range of worship we enjoy in Edinburgh Diocese. Details for each meeting will vary, depending on location and start time of the service.

On 16th March, we will meet at the Jeffrey Street entrance to Old St Paul's from 6:15pm for a service that starts at 6:30pm.

OSP is in central Edinburgh. If anyone is unsure of the location and wants to meet at Waverley Station beforehand, please contact Fee by the Friday beforehand to arrange 😃

We are trying something new this spring. As the older teenagers knuckle down to their exams, we are inviting younger members of the Diocese to join together and make new friends from different churches. We will come together at Fountainpark in Edinburgh on Saturday 26 April to share in some crazy golf fun, eating, and chatting together. Please encourage young people in P6-S2 to join with us and to see how SEC Youth events welcome everyone. A registration and consent form must be completed ahead of time, and we are asking for a £5 contribution per person.

Booking is now open for this summer's Provincial Youth Week ('Yeek'), which is taking place 27 July until 2 August. There is a small early bird discount for you and your vestry f you book before Easter Monday (21 April). All information at yeek.scot.

Ring Out is a youth-initiated event for all aged 11-16 concerned about the impact of the climate crisis.

On the 4th Saturday of each month, between 11:30am and 2pm, there is the chance to come together for discussion and creative action, with the bells being rung between 12noon and 12:20pm.

Future dates: 22 Mar; 26 Apr; 24 May; 28 Jun 26 Jul; 23 Aug; 27 Sep; 25 Oct; 22 Nov.

If you'd like to find out more:

please contact A+E or phone 07954123543.

For Young Adults

We are so excited: the Diocese is heading to Taizé this summer! Our group visit is for those aged 18 to 35, and will be led by two Diocesan priests who have visited regularly before and can attest to its transformative impact.

▶ When? The week in Taizé itself will run from Sunday 29 June until Sunday 6 July, with at least 24hrs required either side for travel.

▶ Cost? The week itself is paid for on a contribution basis of around £100 for the week. Travel will be extra, and we have different options to choose from based on numbers of people travelling, etc. We also hope to do some joint fundraising to reduce individual costs and enable wide participation.

▶ What is the registration deadline? We need to know if you are joining us by midnight on Thursday 10 April 2025.

▶ Where can I find out more information? On our website, via tinyurl.com/EdTaize.

▶ Ready to register? Clicking on this link will take you to the registration form.

The BBC is looking for people aged 18-35 to join the Scottish Advisory Committee on Religion and Ethics for lunch and an informal round-table discussion about the BBC’s coverage of religion, faith and ethics in Scotland. The event will take place at Pacific Quay, Glasgow, on Wednesday 5 May, 12:45pm-2:15pm. If you are at all interested in attending, please contact Fee before 5pm on Wednesday 19 March.

L'Arche is a worldwide movement, with a community in Leith and 10 more across the UK. Following the success of the pilot, they are again offering year-long Soulful Internships. Interns live in intentional community with people with learning disabilities, spending 4 days a week supporting members with disabilities, and one day on a reflective practice programme. Applicants need not have any particular experience or professional background, but should be open to growth and relationship. The 2024/25 cohort includes school leavers taking a gap year, university students on placement years, and people taking sabbaticals. Read more here.

Other Events - for all ages!

Supporting Youth & Children's Ministry

We are excited to offer congregations access to ROOTS on the Web, an ecumenical resource for Lectionary-based worship and learning. There are 2 sets of resources each week: ‘Worship Together’ and ‘Children and Youth’. The Diocese has permission to be a subscription ‘hub’, enabling congregations to sign-up for online resources (including the 20year back catalogue) for the subsidised cost of £20 for the year. Interested congregations should register via this form.

Lent and Easter

This year's Bishop's Lent Appeal is, once again, focussing on helping children in the Holy Land. Last year, some of our Diocesan young people raised funds amongst their congregations through activities like bake sales. Cards were also written to the children being supported by the chosen charity. Perhaps your children and young people might want to do something similar this year? Or perhaps learn about the charity Abraham's Children in Crisis and pray for those they support? Get in touch with Fee if you want some more ideas or to let us know what you have chosen to do.

As you may be aware, this year's Diocesan Lent Course is entitled Christ has no body now, but yours. There is much in here that would work well with young people, at any time of year, if you wish to explore further.

On the Mondays during Lent, there will be a post on our Facebook Page (@EdinburghDioceseYouthandChildren) that gives some snippets to think about in relation to what the Lent course is doing that particular week. It may be one way for the adults doing the Lent course to engage with the children in the congregation...or for families just to have an intentional moment together with God!

This month's Just Try This... from Claire Benton-Evans is all about Easter Story Stones. More information on how to make these stones can be found on the lovely website Out Upon the Waters. Will you go for the snack size or main course option?! Please share your photos with us, either way!

There are lots more places to find Lent, Holy Week, and Easter activities and ideas, quite beyond those listed above. Here are some links and ideas for you:

▶ Word and Wonder. Holy Week cards can be used with any age, with reflections for each day from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. Purchase coloured ones for a small price or download free black and white ones for people to colour.

▶ Muddy Church has lots of ideas and resources, with an outdoor focus.

▶ Sun Hats & Wellie Boots provide ideas which are particularly good for younger children, but which can be for all ages.

▶ Flame Creative is also a great resource.

Enhance your Skills and Build your Toolkit

Godly Play Scotland are running the core training "Storyteller and Door Person Accredited Course" in the Godly Play Room at Duddingston Kirk, Edinburgh. It starts at 1pm on Friday 21 March and finishes at 5pm on Sunday 23 March. The course costs £315. More information and booking here.

OutoftheBox uses stories and play as a way into contemplation and dialogue. It gets us in touch with our feelings, deepening our connection with ourselves, with each other, and with God. If you are curious about what OutoftheBox is like, you can join an online Taster Session on Thursday 3 April at 9am.

There is online training available on the art of telling stories in the OutoftheBox style on Wednesday evenings in September and October.

Both events can be booked online.

The next session of Safeguarding Training to be delivered by Rachel Cooney, Children's Director at Ps&Gs, will be on Zoom on Thursday 5 June from 8-9pm. This is for those who work with children and young people. Please save the date and be register when the link is available. The next in-person training session will be in September.

You may have heard of the Sanctuary Mental Health course...well, there is now a Youth version. Over 8 sessions, young people are guided through pressing questions about faith and mental health. It provides space to engage these questions and start important conversations young faith communities. Follow this link to find out more and access the free resource.

Churches Together in Britain and Ireland recently shared an easy-to-read summary of research, which shows that young people want to be more involved in church. Please have a read and see how it might apply in your congregation. ROOTS has some interesting podcasts and recent webinars on intergenerational church, whilst the new-ish group IntergenerateUK have a fresh website with more resource suggestions.

Rachel Cooney, Children's Director at Ps&Gs, warmly invites you to a Youth & Children’s Ministry Training Day @ Ps & Gs Church on Saturday 27 September from 9.00am to 1.00pm. There will be tea/coffee and pastries to start, followed by training on topics such as Play, Mossy Church, Neurodiversity, and worship with Beth Croft. Save the date and be ready to register soon!

Grants

The Diocesan Grants Committee next meets on 9 June. If you wish to make an application for funding from the Youth & Children's Grant in time for this meeting, please send your completed application form to the DMMC Team by 2 June. The following meeting will be at the start of September. More information, and forms, can be found on the Diocesan website.

The Provincial Enable Grant can be used to access up to £5000 in any one year. It aims to enable SEC congregations to develop new projects, or to support existing projects with an SEC connection, address increasing poverty amongst families in their community. More details are on the SEC website.

Adventures in Faith

REMINDER: You can find lots of information under the Adventures in Faith headline on our website, including a list of Awareness Days that used to be included in this Update. Links to the Adventures in Faith pages can be found via the gold-coloured menu items below.

Keep up-to-date with Diocesan news & events

The Communicant

Events Calendar

Adventures in Faith

Youth & Children's

Rev Fiona (Fee) Reynolds, Advisor for Christian Life
0131 346 9089, [email protected]

Kristine Administrative Assistant (M&M)
0131 346 9085, [email protected]

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