Big Changes in how we connect with you!

We want to be better at communicating with the whole diocese through every platform you engage with. We want to be better at supporting you and your ministry and let you all know about the great things going on across the diocese.

So from January 2018 we will be active and available through the following:

School of Mission (SOM) Newsletters which will come out every month (on the 3rd Friday of the month) and have loads of information about what we are up to and how we can support you and what you’re doing. We would also love to share testimonies of what is going on around the diocese, so if you have any stories you want to share then please let us know by sending them to schoolofmission@winchester.anglican.org.

Because we are trendy we will also be active daily over the following social media platforms:

School of Mission Facebook | SOM Twitter | SOM Instagram | SOM Vimeo | SOM Blog

The current YCF brand will be disappearing after Christmas but all relevant news on Children, Families and Young people’s ministry will still be sent via our SOM platforms.

Lent 2018

This year we are excited to announce new Lent Resources for both Adults, Inter-Generational Church and Young People. These resources are available free from:

sally.dakin@winchester.anglican.org (Adults)

Paul.smith@winchester.anglican.org  (Youth)

Andy.saunders@winchester.anglican.org  (Inter-Generational)

Prayer Spaces Events

We are looking forward to running a number of Prayer Spaces training events over the coming months.

These are aimed at those looking to start a Prayer Space for the first time in their local school, or have new team member(s) who would value hearing more about the ministry of Prayer Spaces. We are pleased to have Ian Hayes-Anderson joining us at these event, and his knowledge as a trainer and practioner in this area will be great to be part of whatever event you come to.

So whatever event you come to you will find resources, and an opportunity to get involved and be inspired to offer this to your  local school, or church group.

Saturday 3^rd March 2018, Wolvesey, Winchester, SO23 9ND – 10.00am – 3.00pm

Thursday 22nd March 2018, Wolvesey, Winchester, SO23 9ND – 7.00pm – 9.30pm

Saturday 10^th March 2018, Prayer Spaces Training, St Peter’s Church, Boyatt Wood, 10.00 – 3.00pm

Please contact Andy Saunders for more information / booking on andy.saunders@winchester.anglican.org, or call him on 07703 186693

Safety online

The proliferation of Apps offers a remarkable range of opportunities to connect, share, learn and build community on-line. But what are Omegle, Dubsmash and Tango? And what do young people (and parents) need to know about privacy settings when using them?

The following sites offer helpful advice:

• Netaware
• Internet Matters
• SnapChat Maps
• The Icebreaker email series

The Resource Room is now online!

Are you looking for a Godly Play set?  Or material for your home group? Sunday sermon? Teaching resources?

The Resource Room holds a wide selection of faith-related books, artefacts, DVDs, posters and Godly Play sets that you can look at free of charge, or borrow for a modest fee.  You can now browse and order online at: http://resourceroom.winchester.anglican.org

Found what you need?

The Resource Room is located on the 1st floor of the Learning Centre, in the Cathedral Close, Winchester SO23 9LS.  Enter through the main door, then use the intercom and wait for the second door to be opened.

Opening Hours: Monday and Thursday, 9.30am to 4.00pm (or by prior appointment). For further information contact William Cole on 01962 857262 or williambookaholic@gmail.com

Off to University!

As a youth worker and then as a parish volunteer, my favourite evening of the year was the evening we had the 18 year olds round for dinner before they headed off to university. We’d cook a huge meal, offer them a wine or beer for the very first time, eat until we couldn’t meal and talk about their hopes, dreams, fears and excitements for their upcoming trip to university. They thought it was about the food… For us it was all about having conversations around this next stage of their lives.

The exact numbers are disputed, but its reckoned that a huge number of students who rock up at university calling themselves Christian fail to connect with church while they’re there. For many this marks the end of their relationship with church for the rest of their lives.

The young people that we may have spent 7 years investing in, a significant proportion of them may not end up connecting to a church when they get to university. They may shelve their faith, for months, weeks, years… forever? I don’t think that’s what any of us want for them.

So how can we help our youth group be the ones who transition well?

Prep them well
Before students head off to university they’ll go on a thousand shopping trips for bedding, pans, and cutlery. They know there’s loads they need to get sorted, from finance to food, text books to towels. So why should their faith be any different? What do they need to be preparing in advance for this next adventure?

Why not consider running some special sessions for the future students in your group to give them space to talk about this new experience they’re headed into? A chance to pray for one another? A chance to think through the challenges and opportunities ahead?

Fusion have pulled together some resources to help you do just this.

They also have the following resources available
Gift packs and resources for young people – with things to help them think about university life, faith and mission
Church Link Up Service – young people can sign up to receive information and invitations to churches in their university town. A great way of getting them hooked up and linked in before they’ve even packed their bags and headed out the door.

And they’re not the only ones:
UCCF
Starting uni Resources – a whole host of resources to help young people navigate starting university (and some resources for youth leaders as well)
CU Link Up – a way for young people to link up with their university CU before they even arrive. Many even run residentials bfore term starts so young people can get away with the CU and make friends before the madness of Freshers week.

Student Christian Movement
Freshers’ Hub – all sorts of resources for young people who are off to become freshers
Free Freshers Packs – free and easy to order – another great gift for your young people

Fresh – Krish Kandiah

(Know of other great resources? Leave a comment below!)

Keep in Touch
It’s tempting to think our role is over once we’ve launched these 18 year olds out into the big wide world, but one of the best things we can do as youth leaders is to keep the contact open. That might mean:
•    sending a card for their new room
•    asking for prayer requests once a term
•    heading off to visit them for a day

Or it might be members of your congregation. There’s a brilliant group of retired ladies based at the Church of the Good Shepherd, Four Marks. They call themselves the Fairy ‘Cogs’-mothers. They’ve taken it on themselves to adopt the students of the church, sending them birthday cards and Christmas cards. Asking for prayer requests. Sending out chocolatey care packages. All to help the students remember they have a home church who loves them. Maybe your parish could do the same?

Chances are they’ll have new experiences and questions to ask about faith as they journey into university life – a connection to the church that loved them through their teenage years can be a powerful resource in these times.

Stay in for the Long Haul
Sometimes the young people we send out to university don’t connect with church or faith groups in their first year, or even their second year. By keeping in contact, connecting with them when they’re home, continuing to be available to chat about life and faith with them, we keep the door open to them to continue to connect with church and with faith. We’re in this for the long haul – not just freshers’ week!
These days, with pressures on recruitment and finances, it’s not uncommon for young people to return back to their parental home after graduating, sometimes briefly and sometimes for several years. Knowing their church family is here, waiting to welcome them back can be such an encouragement for young people in the midst of this.

And.. Don’t forget about the parents!
This is a HUGE time of change for parents, watching their children grow up and leave home for the first time. It’s a key time for your church to think about supporting them.

Care for the Family have a great Top Tips Leaflet free for download for parents facing the ‘Empty Nest’ for the first time

Starting College

 

Sweet 16. It’s a funny age with a romance attached to it. One of those key transition periods for young people.

The jump from GCSE to A Levels, from School to College or apprenticeship, from year 11 to year 12. The cusp of adulthood. Almost grown up and ready for independence, but still very much a young person with lots of growing to do.

There are over 75000 sixth form and college students in Hampshire – many of those fall into the Diocese of Winchester, along with all of those in Bournemouth and Dorset, not to mention those at school sixth forms! Come September a whole new raft of young people will be navigating this change.

But how often do we think to help them prepare for it in church?

The step change in responsibilities, opportunities, pit falls, and relationships, is huge. There’s so much we can do to help the young people we work with, and those in our local schools, to grapple with the life change about to hit them. Here’s some practical thoughts around how you can help the young people near you manage this transition…

Key issues to explore through ongoing conversations

• Parties – as social lives open up so do a whole range of questions and choices. How are they going to approach alcohol? What decisions are they going to make around relationships and sex? What kind of friends will they be looking for in their new college?
• College work – as young people hit sixth form there’s a handing over of responsibility from teachers to the students for them to take a greater role in getting their work done. There’s less hand holding, less chasing, more decision making and the consequences that follow that. How are they going to cope with that change? How does their faith help them decide how to handle that? How might God be wanting to walk with them in this new world of responsibilities?
• Priorities – There’s much greater freedom for young people to choose their priorities once they get to college – choosing their focus between work, socialising, paid employment, rest, hobbies and even church. They have two years at college to play with – why not spend time at the start helping them dream about what they want to do, see and experience in that time. And then help them explore what the role of their faith is in the midst of that. What priority are they going to put on spending time with their church family in the midst of that?

For young people of faith this next period of life is likely to throw up all sorts of things:

• Bigger philosophical questions – thrown up by their studies. They may need even more robust spaces to explore apologetics, concepts and theology. Why not check out The Road as a resource to help with this.
• New ethical challenges – from parties, to sex, to alcohol, to speeding while driving and all sorts of other things. With broadening horizons comes a wider range of questions. Our activities and spaces need to be safe spaces for exploration, with answers given that can be explored and chewed over, not just expecting them to be accepted. The Bridge UK has some great articles on ethical issues to help you think things through as a leader, or to provide a basis for discussion in your group.
• More space to question parents – This is a key period of growing independence – but they’re still at home under their parent’s roof. Tis can mean significant levels of conflict between parents and young people. Be aware of the need to support the parents of young people as well as the young people themselves. Care for the Family have a great course called ‘Parenting Teenagers’ to help parents navigate this period. They also release regular podcasts for parents on topical issues they may be facing
• More opportunity to choose for themselves whether they attend church/groups – young people are likely to have a growing opportunity to choose for themselves whether they attend youth groups or church during this period. As leaders we need not to take it personally should they choose not to attend as regularly. But we need to be steadfast in our care for them. That might mean contacting them regularly to keep them up to date with what is going on, keeping inviting them along. Or simply checking in to see how they’re getting on. Sending a card at key moments of exams and life for them. Offering opportunities to talk. It’s a powerful witness of God’s love for them, when we remain faithful to young people when they choose to take some space.

  Further helpful resources for this age group
  Festive
  Schoolswork UK 16-19s resources