Hearing and responding to the voices of children and young people

A resource to help 8 to 18 year olds take an active andparticipatory role in the life of the Church is now available to download from the Methodist Church website. 

The Methodist Big SleepOver pack has four main aims:to create a feeling of belonging to something bigger; to helpchurches engage with 8-18 year olds; to enable children andyoung people to take an active role in the life of the church andto create a link between 3Generate (Methodist Children and YouthAssembly) and the local church and circuit. The Big SleepOverevent itself gives children and young people from differentchurches a chance to get to know one another as well as have theirvoices heard and responded to.

Penny Fuller, Children's Ministries Development Officer, said:"The Methodist Big SleepOver gives children and youth workerseverything they need to organise a residential for one or twonights for children and young people. There are sessions outlinedin the resource that can be used as a tool to help the local churchhear the voices of children and young people within theircontext."

Tickets for this year's 3Generate event at the Pioneer Centre,Cleobury Mortimer, Shropshire, on 15-17 November will beavailable from the Methodist children and youth website on Friday (7 June).

The Methodist Southampton District will be running their thirdBig SleepOver event at the end of June. Children and young peopleaged 8 to 17 will bring their sleeping bags and pillows to a localchurch within their District. 

Nicola Briggs, Youth and Children's Officer for the MethodistSouthampton District, said: "Children and young people wouldn'twant to go to a church council meeting, so we were aware thatwasn't the way to hear their voices. What we want to offer with theBig SleepOver is a whole mix of fun, food, fellowship and faith.The resource pack is really helpful to people who haven't organizeda Big SleepOver event like this before. It encourages them to putthe children and young people first and guides them on what thingsto do."

Abi Uzzell, Children and Families worker for the Tilehurst andEmmanuel Methodist churches, ran a Big SleepOver for 8 to 11 yearolds in the Reading Circuit earlier this year. "The resources arebrilliant for us as leaders," she said. "We can factor them intothe framework we already know. They help us not to feel overwhelmedby the prospect of organising such a big event."

ENDS

Notes:

1. Download the Big SleeopOver resource  here.
2. From Friday (7 June) tickets for 3Generate will belive  here.
3. Download photos of 3Generate here