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This page is predominantly about work with school-aged children. It contains:

• Two examples;
• Things to keep in mind;
• Some resources.

Two examples are:

• A messy church congregation for children and their families on a deprived estate in Sheffield. Sister Alison Wooding developed Manor Messy Church for children and their parents to come to after the afternoon school run. Meeting once a month on a Thursday in St Swithun's Church, each messy church gathering works to a theme, ie Mother's Day or Easter. People arrive in time for a drink and a snack followed by craft activities in the church hall which parents, grandparents and children can work on together.

  A 20-minute worship service then follows in the adjacent worship area. This involves the lightening of the Manor Messy Church candle, three or four songs with shakers and actions, in between a short refection on the given theme and a prayer time. A cooked meal then follows back in the church hall which a number of dads turn up for.

  This congregation started as a response to a perceived need for a child-friendly service at an appropriate time and day for families. People have heard about it through baptism enquiries or friends and family that attend. An opportunity for adults to explore discipleship issues further has since arisen, meeting together in the evening. Inviting people to join a weekly 12-week discipleship course doesn't work in this context, so finding an appropriate content and style of follow-on group is their current challenge.

• A Sidewalk community on a deprived, multi-cultural estate in Sheffield. Inspired by a year working with Metro Ministries in New York, Barry and Camilla Johnston are connecting with non-churched children and youth in their area by going to where they are.

  Every Saturday for eight months of the year (spring/summer/autumn), they take their yellow Sidewalk van to the same local park where local children gather to play. The team run an hour of activities that include songs, games, a memory verse, a drama based on a Bible story, three object lessons and a life lesson (cartoon story tying it all together). Though aimed at the children, parents and older siblings tend to watch from the back. Some are increasingly helping in minor roles and making suggestions of what would make it better.

  For all the children they befriend, appropriate longer-term discipleship of those who want to know more about the Christian faith is one that the Sidewalk community takes responsibility for. They make regular visits to the families of the children that come and are starting to look to establishing a community house as a base for some who are involved.

  The Sidewalk community who facilitate this ministry meet weekly for food and fun. They meet in the park to continue to build relationships with families there and then gather in a team member's home. In terms of the fresh expressions journey, they are now preparing for the stage of what kind of worship will sustain them. What kind of deeper spiritual disciplines or input is appropriate for the community that is made up of seasoned Christians, new Christians and not yet Christians that all play a part in making Sidewalk happen?

  Being a multi-cultural area, they have found many of the kids coming to Sidewalk are from Muslim families. As cross-cultural mission engagement with Muslim children and their families is not common, there are limited resources available for this kind of ministry. Therefore, they are pioneering something very precious and learning as they go.

  There is more information here.

Things to keep in mind:

Never underestimate how labour intensive it is to involve crafts or a cooked meal. It is rare that this type of fresh expression is run by a full-time leader. Therefore, think carefully about the resources you need and how often you should meet. Invite people to help with specific contained jobs. If you decide to hold your main gathering monthly but live in an area where people don't keep diaries, text member's mobiles a few days before as a reminder. Or consider a Facebook group if that's appropriate for the people you're working with.

Always work with a team and encourage your team members to grow in confidence in their ability to lead and organise. Remember that investment in your team is time and money well spent. Consider how to build people of all ages into the team and how to develop their skills.

Connect with other leadership teams who are doing the kind of thing you are. Practical resources such as craft and food ideas can be shared, as well as the chance to reflect together on deeper issues.

Many fresh expressions working with this age group have a valuable team of church volunteers who help make the main gathering happen. If you are aiming to grow a sense of this being church in its own right, it will be helpful to have volunteers who understand this aim and are willing to consider committing to this fresh expression as 'their church'.

If volunteers belong to another congregation and only 'help out' at your fresh expression, the sense that what you are doing is just a programme or activity will be harder to shake off. As your fresh expression grows and becomes more established, invite your volunteers to consider whether this fresh expression could be their primary place of belonging if it isn't already.

Give careful thought to how the discipleship needs of both children and adults can be responded to. It is rare that one gathering can do both well, though by building a church of all ages, we are building tolerance, diversity and celebration of the other into the very DNA of the church, so it's worth putting effort into.

Discipling different age groups (including adults) separately needn't break the all-age nature of the venture if there are regular gatherings that bring everyone together.

If you or others are concerned that what is developing is unhelpfully segregating the generations in your church community, consider making connections across the generations through community events such as harvest suppers and easter egg hunts. Or consider evangelistic events such as organising a 'labyrinth' at a local community fair that families can experience together. Jane Leadbeater of Liverpool Diocese set up a prayer tent in the shape of an enormous caterpillar.

Public worship needn't be the only option for expressing overall unity across a diverse set of congregations. Indeed, sometimes worship is the most limiting dimension of church to engage all ages well and create space for interaction.

Try to encourage a sense of 'looking outward' as soon as possible. Even if some of the members of your fresh expression wouldn't call themselves Christians, it is still important for members to think of ways to engage with others outside the fresh expression.

What ways can your fresh expression offer loving service to their neighbours, friends and family who don't attend? Are members themselves encouraged to tell their friends, neighbours and school contacts about their fresh expression and invite them along?

Encourage children to see their faith as 'whole-life' faith – keep asking how the themes and Scriptures you explore are relevant to life at school, at clubs, at home, with friends; children are the best evangelists to other children.

Think about what will happen when the children turn 11. If children are used to being part of a community that is attractive and relevant, it is unrealistic to expect them to transition to traditional church as they grow older.

How can you keep the cohort together as they enter adolescence? Can your existing fresh expression develop to accommodate them or a might something new be needed? How will each stage be consistent in style and content to enable children to make a smooth transition from one to the other?

Encouraging longer term joined-up thinking will reduce the tendency for connections to be lost with families when they outgrow the stage of life the fresh expression seeks to connect with. Some churches employ a generational worker who stays with a group as they grow up to ensure continuity.

Resources:

• George Lings, Encounters on the Edge 11: Never on a Sunday?, Church Army, 2001.
• Lucy Moore, Messy Church, Barnabas, 2006.
• Lucy Moore, Messy Church 2, Barnabas 2008.
• The Messy Church website.
• Kathryn Copsey, From the Ground Up, Barnabas, 2005.
• Margaret Withers, Mission-shaped Children, Church House Publishing, 2006.
• Philip Mountstephen and Kelly Martin, Body Beautiful?, Grove Books, 2004.
• Rona Orme, Rural Children, Rural Church, Church House Publishing, 2007.
• Margaret Donaldson Children's Minds, Fontana Press, 1978.
• David Wood, How Children Think and Learn (2nd ed.), Blackwell Publishers, 1998.
• CGMC, Core Skills for Children's Work, Barnabas, 2006.
• Children Matter - online resources for Christians working with children.
• Children's Work Advisers' Network - this Church of England website has a section of useful resources available for public access.
• Mothers' Union Resources for Children.
• A resource from the Diocese of Liverpool to help churches review how child-friendly they are.

This page was written by Claire Dalpra. She has worked in Church Army's research team The Sheffield Centre for more than ten years. Her role as assistant researcher involves writing, editing, consultancy and conferencing in the area of fresh expressions of church.

What are some examples of fresh expressions?

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