Brief for a Working Group on how to engage increased numbers of children and young people in the life of our Church

1. Background

The Implementation Group decided that the issue of Children and Young People was such a strong and significant aspect of the Report that it required the attention of a specific Working Group.

Children in the Church – a key element of the life of the church.

Jesus said, ‘Let the children come to me; do not hinder them ……. whoever does not receive the Kingdom like a child shall not enter it’ This underlines the biblical significance of the place of the child in the church.

The Church of England prioritized the place of children in the church in two key Reports: ‘The Child in the Church’ and ‘Children in the Way’

The nurture of children who have been baptized as infants is a key task of the community of faith. The sharing of faith by adults with the children of the church builds up both adults and children in faith.

The contribution which children make to the life of the worshipping community enlivens the whole. Their ability to be uninhibited, trusting and open reminds adults of what it is to be child-like in faith.

The Diocesan Review draws attention to the following points:

• Our membership is ageing, with few young people.

• Independent research evidence indicates that:

  • Churches with an unbalanced age structure are far less likely to be growing than those with a broad and healthy mix.

  • Decline and growth are not uniform in their effect. As congregations decline, they age, but as a congregation begins to grow, it will become disproportionately younger.

  • The right question to ask is ‘How can this church … win back the younger half of the population? And the older members of the congregation, far from being part of the problem, should be made to feel that they are part of the solution.

  • Younger clergy tend to have younger congregations and it is younger congregations that tend to grow.

  • One important change that leads to growth is better provision for children and young people

A ‘one-off’ Workshop on “Sources of Growth” will attempt to identify the strongest potential sources of congregational growth and suggest how our congregations might attempt to engage with them. Output from that workshop is expected to provide additional guidance on the place of children and young people within the overall strategy.

Nonetheless a separate Working Group on children and young people is considered appropriate because it is so important to change the age balance of our membership. Almost all congregations will find that children and their parents are distinctively the most important potential source of growth, both short & long term.

2. Task

The task is to develop a plan through which individual congregations and the diocese as a whole can achieve numerical growth by effectively engaging increased numbers of children and young people in the life of our church.

The plan should

• set out an approach to engagement with children, young people and [where relevant] their parents that will enhance prospects of sustainable congregational growth

• provide a rationale for the approach

• identify issues in congregational life which will arise eg the nature and character of worship

• offer practical guidance on what should be done by individual congregations, groups of congregations and the diocese

• identify and where possible quantify the resources and support needed at each level to implement the plan

3. Envisaged approach

It is envisaged that the Group will adopt an approach along the following lines.

3.1. Develop a model

In its work the Group should begin by developing a view of what does or would constitute best-practice for engaging greater numbers of children and young people in congregational life. This should draw on research-based evidence where available, and cover

• The needs that churches in general and our church in particular can and do meet for children, young people and their parents

• How children, young people and their parents or guardians make choices and decisions about involvement with the church

• Factors that can represent strengths, opportunities, weaknesses and threats for congregations seeking to engage with children and young people

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• What kinds of provision by churches for children, young people and their parents are most effective in achieving sustained engagement, and why.

Output from the “Sources of Growth” workshop may help the group move through this stage.

3.2. Assess the issues and opportunities

The Group should then move on to review the current situation in the diocese and identify where there are significant differences between actual and “ideal”, considering

• The particular strengths and opportunities that our congregations and diocese could use in their approach to children and young people

• Problems and weakness which they would need to overcome

• The types or groups of children and young people to whom we can make an approach in a way that is relevant, attractive, motivating and “better” than alternatives

• What those patterns of approach should be

• How we might communicate and put into practice those approaches –considering particularly the initiatives, resources and changes which congregations may need to make if they are to give a new priority to the needs of children and young people

Issues that will inevitably come up include:

• The role of the diocese in providing dedicated resource and expertise in working with children and young people

• Staffing and training support which will be required

Again, output from the “Sources of Growth” workshop may help the group move through some parts of this.

3.3 Begin the process of consultation and planning

From that assessment, the work of formulating a plan should begin, focussing on how to move from the current situation to one where every congregation in the diocese is actively working to engage more children and young people in its life and work.

This process will produce some recommendations for immediate change where that is obviously necessary and practicable.

It will also produce a mid- and longer-term plan for changes that will become more actionable over the next 5-10 years as, for example, changes in buildings or personnel provide opportunity.

The key to this is good process. This means that we should not just consult people about changes which are proposed. We should so far as is possible and practicable involve clergy and people most affected in the actual process of identifying and exploring the options that will work best for them.

4. Initial response requested

The Working Group is asked to meet by early September 2007, consider the brief, and request further information from the Implementation Group as required. The Working Group Chair is invited to come back to the Implementation Group on September 11^th make a short (1 or 2 page) outline proposal to the Implementation Group on how the task will be approached. That outline should include an estimate of any resources – human, financial or other – envisaged as being necessary to do the work.

5. Reporting

The Working Group Chair is thereafter asked to follow a 2-stage approach:

1. By end November, come back to the Implementation Group with a short (ie a few pages) interim report on progress and emerging conclusions

2. By end February 2008 present a recommended plan.
   This might take the form of a short (c10 page) document and some PowerPoint slides describing the proposals - emerging, tentative and/or firm – together with rationale, evaluation of the financial implications of what is being done or proposed, and measures that can be used to monitor effectiveness.

Additionally, the Group is asked to confer with the Implementation Group at the end of each significant stage of its work.