Barnabas is BRF's Children's Ministry. It provides a growing range of resources for church-based leaders and primary school teachers who work with children up to the age of 11. Alongside the books we have a professional and experienced
Barnabas Ministry Team ready to help you in practical ways as your church seeks to respond to the call to share the good news with children.
Our aim is both to support the nurture and worship of those children already linked to your church groups and to work with you in evangelistic initiatives beyond the church walls. In addition, we provide positive support and good training for your leaders.
Questions about Barnabas in Churches
We’re looking for new ideas to inspire our Sunday group to work with the Bible. Can you help?
The
Barnabas Ministry team can offer a range of exciting and inspirational ways to open up the Bible with children. Why not invite us to lead an evening training session with your leaders?
We have no children in our church but would like to start up something special for them locally. How do we get started?
Many churches are exploring midweek and after-school clubs in their local area. We can give advice or, even better, come and lead a Bible Unplugged session, using drama, storytelling and games to explore a Bible theme. This will also give you inspiration for your continuing work with such groups. In addition, our website has a whole section devoted to getting going with children’s work—full of practical and workable ideas to get you started.
I am always on the lookout for easy-to-use sessions for my children’s group. Where should I go?
A good idea is only a click away! In the
Ideas section of our website you will find plenty of tried and tested material, set out simply and clearly so that you can use it straight away.
When we worship together in church—adults and children—we just never seem to get it right. Can you give us some advice?
We believe that children need to experience and take part in good all-age worship. We can lead a training session on the principles and practice of effective, inclusive worship in church.
Only a few of our Sunday school team feel confident to lead the weekly sessions. We could do with some practical, user-friendly training.
Many children’s leaders almost fall into their role by default! Our aim is to help you support, train and develop your leaders’ skills. Our training programmes cover a range of topics including the spirituality of the child, using the Bible with children, and also the alternative teaching styles that are needed to match children’s differing learning styles.
We have a regular holiday club and occasional special events around the time of the major festivals. Is your team available to come and help?
Yes, we can help with special events for children and also with holiday clubs. We are keen to work with you on the planning and the running of these days.
Help, I’m stuck for new craft ideas for Easter. What can you suggest?
We have just the book for you! All our books are written by experienced leaders and teachers and they contain tried and tested material.
I’ve recently heard of something called ‘Godly Play’. What is it all about?
Godly Play is a way of working with children in churches and schools and is receiving increasing interest across the country. It starts from the premise of respect for each child’s God-given spirituality and seeks to develop this within a sacred space of nurture and worship, using Bible stories told with 3D materials and the opportunity for a freely chosen creative response. The best way forward is to experience a session for yourself. Our team are all accredited teachers, so why not invite one of us to introduce Godly Play to you?
The staff at our school needs help delivering Bible stories in a creative and interactive way. Can you show us how to do it?
Many teachers quite understandably feel ill-equipped to tackle a subject area for which they have received little training and of which they may have no personal experience. Our full
INSET programme is recommended by local diocesan advisers and covers a range of sessions looking at how the Bible can be used in drama and creative writing, linked to Circle Time and PSHE, and as part of effective collective worship. Maybe this is something you can recommend to your local school to help build positive connections with them in your ministry? Sessions can be twilight, half-day or full-day in length.
We’ve heard about
Barnabas RE Days in schools. What exactly happens and how can I book one?
We have a growing team of skilled performers who will bring a programme of workshops to your school for the day. Using storytelling, drama, dance and music, the aim is to bring the Bible alive, using stories that explore the themes of ‘creation’, ‘compassion’ and ‘our uniqueness’. The team can work with all children in Key Stages 1 and 2. There’s a growing demand for this, so why not plan to talk with your local school to see if this is something in which they would be interested?
Our children’s leaders are always giving! We want to give them a chance to recharge their spiritual batteries. Have you any ideas?
Some sort of sacred space for those who work with children is vital. They often miss out on the worship and teaching with the whole church, so why not show how much you care about their ministry by organizing with us a Quiet Day for them—time out with God—so that they can be re-energized in their important calling. Investing in your leaders in this way is a real investment in your children!
|
