Children’s and Youth Ministry report by Claire Naylor

This ministry consists of:
On Sundays: small groups for students aged 11-18 which meet from 9.30-10.30am.
Sunday School classes for students from 3 to 11 years old. These are split into three age groups: 3-5’s; 5-7’s; 8-11’s.
Sunday school classes for 11-18 year-olds. These are split into 2 age groups: 11-14’s; 15-18’s
On the first Sunday of the month:
a special worship service for 3-11’s.
On the last Sunday of he month: a special worship service for 11-18’s.
For 3-11’s: the Christmas pageant; a trimestrial party.
For 11-18’s: Youth weekends (normally 3 per year), fundraisers, outings etc.
A note on attendance
Interestingly, there is a direct link between increasing age of a class and increasing consistency in attendance.
Sunday School classes for students from 3 to 11 years old. 52 children are registered as being associated with our church and not part of our official “part-time attenders”. Of these we have 33 children who attend on days other then the first Sunday of the month; and of these children, only 18 are “regular” attenders”, ie., attend an average of two sessions or more per month.
Sunday school classes for 11-18 year-olds. 25 children of this age group are registered with church families and we see regular attendance from 21 of them. 13 students attend the small group meetings before church.

THE TEAM:

On behalf of the church council and the whole church I want to thank the following people :

teachers and small group leaders: Keeley Piech, Loreena Plouse, Lara Confort, Cathy and Neil Roth, Marian Coffin, Sara Aponte-Wilkins, David Bailey, Tara Smart, Jen Bateman, Cathy Roth, Dan Wilhelm, Mark Lewis, Lionel Vacherand, Lucie Kolar.

Prayer team: John and Nell Stinton, Tracy Adamson, David Bailey, Marie Colbert, Lara Confort, Nathan and Theresa Rozenboom, Joseph and Maureen Agu, Craig Alciati, Montserrat Mane, Alan and Val Golton, Fred and Suzanne Breant, Tara Smart, Dan and Chris Wilhelm, Segun and Stella Odunlade, Labena Simmons, Dave Kolar, Frank and Betty Jenkins, Stephen and Marian Coffin, Brian and Julie Howard, Norma Fogelsong, Jen and Jon Bateman, Neil and Julie Brownrigg, Brian and Julie Howard, Anne-Marie de Simone, Tara Smart, Gloria Ugwonali, CJ Walker, Victor and Amani Wang, Neil and Cathy Roth.

Assistants: Nell Stinton, Montserrat Mane, Jean-Philippe Vincent, Victor Wang, Dan and Chris Wilhelm, Kevin Frost, Fred and Suzanne Breant, Lara Confort, Tara Smart, Val Golton, Peju-Joy Odunlade.

Helpers for set-up/clear-up: Alan Golton, Brian and Julie Howard, Larry Baltz, Penny Vicent-Sweet, Dave Kolar, Joseph Agu, Neil and Julie Brownrigg, Dan and Chris Wilhelm,

I also want to thank Cathy Roth for her beautiful redecoration of our 3-5’s room; and Jen Bateman, who put together our Christmas pageant.

Areas which have been developed this year

Prayer support for the ministry and for families.
we now have

• a group who pray for the children’s programme for the 3-11’s (now called Stepping Stones); and a group who pray for the Youth work.
• a person or a couple praying for each teacher.
• a person or a couple praying for each family (except that there are some new families who need to be paired up with a prayer supporter).

A recruitment policy and children and youth ministry policy and procedures was written and developed by Marie Colbert in conjuntion with ministry workers and church council

FOR ‘STEPPING STONES’ (3-11’s)
Practical support for teachers in the classroom. We now have:
· a team of assistants who help each week in each class in the 3 to 11 year-old age bracket
· a team of people who help set up and clear away Sunday school and creche items.
· on-site “teacher training”. One of our members with a great deal of teaching experience has kindly offered to observe each teacher with a view to giving them positive feedback and some pointers for improvement.
Development of a biblical image for Stepping Stones
· the 3-11’s group now has a name, Stepping Stones, which implies a journey toward God, and links in with the water-theme of their class names from Scripture Union – Bubbles, Splash, X-Stream
· Stepping Stones children take material home which re-inforce their learning -- folders, C Ds and memory verse flyers
· by decorating the noticeboard (in progress)
· by developing a classroom and church code of behaviour, based on love, respect and safety

FOR THE YOUTH GROUP
The development of an understanding of Spiritual discipline
· through teaching
· events, such as our fast, service challenges and opportunities
· encouragement to study, memorize and journal at home
· prayer challenges and younger children to pray for
This may be look to be “less” than the work done for the younger children, but this is just a very brief summary.

Some areas for development in the future

Family ministry to strengthen and support parents, especially of younger children, and with the goal of getting more consistent attendance.
Children’s events outside Sunday morning lessons
Outreach to all age groups, but especially to teens – specifically, outreach to the approx.1000 English speaking international school students.
Further development of teen mentorship programmes.

We continue to thank God for these children and pray that they grow closer to Him as they mature.