Open the Gospel
Open the Gospel is a learning community for anyone who preaches or teaches on scripture, who listens to preaching, who wants a space to dig into scripture with others.
Through a series of short podcasts, we will look at the coming Sunday’s Gospel from the Common Lectionary, with a conversation between a clergy and lay person, and someone considering the reading from the child at the centre, before opening up the discussion to the online community. The conversation will be available as a podcast that can be used in planning for the coming Sunday, whether you are preaching, teaching or running a children or youth session.
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CYF Blog
- Children, Youth and Families blog: The power of grandparents
17/10/2024 - Children, Youth and Families Blog: Moon Music
16/10/2024 - Children, Youth and Families Blog: Advent and Christmas
19/09/2024 - Children, Youth and Families Blog: Table Talk
15/08/2024 - Children, Youth and Families Blog: Annual Leaver’s Services at Gloucester Cathedral.
20/06/2024
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Connect has an ambitious vision that every parish will put the needs of children and youth at the very centre of its mission and ministry.
To accomplish this, we help churches re-connect with the youngest members of their parish, exploring:
- Who are the children and youth here?
- What are the issues which are most important to them?
- What does their spiritual journey look like?
- How can we as church become relevant to them?
- In what ways can children, youth and their families become influencers and change makers in their communities, and in the church?
Connect is not just about what is happening at a parish level, we are also active in helping deaneries, the Diocese of Gloucester and the national church listen to the voices of children and youth, to shape the church of the future.
Connect Children
We recognise that churches are often doing some amazing things with 0–11-year-olds through both traditional and more innovative activities. Here are just some examples:
- Pre-school
Many of our churches run amazing parent and toddler groups (often referred to as “stay and play” activities) which are a real lifeline to parents in our communities.
- Primary Schools
We are blessed with many church schools, where distinctive Christian values and ethos are the undercurrent of school life. Many churches are also actively involved in community schools too, and we have some great activities like Active RE, Open the Book, iSingPop run by our partner organisations.
- Outside School Activities
Lots of churches are running activities outside of school hours like Messy Church, Holiday Clubs, and All Age Worship.
Youth Connect
The reality is that many fewer churches have links with 11–18-year-olds than those that are connecting with pre-school and primary aged children. There are multiple reasons for this and Connect is helping churches and deaneries explore those that are prevalent in their communities.
We are growing competence and confidence in congregations to build relationships with youth, exploring the issues they encounter, and helping them explore their own spirituality – often formed through their experiences at primary school. We actively recruit and train young leaders to lead inside and outside their church community.
We have a growing network of secondary schools’ ministry, ranging from youth-led Christian Unions, to mentoring, to clergy and lay leaders working as chaplains. We also have some amazing partnerships with organisations like The Rock, The Door, Sportily and Caleb’s Mountain who bring experience and expertise in youth outreach and ministry.
At Connect we help churches explore how all these things can develop and grow into the household, into the school environment, and into our worshipping communities.
We are excited by the concept of intergenerational discipleship, where people of different generations can encounter and experience Jesus together, learning more about him and the nature of God from each other, regardless of age.
