Thursday 28th of August 2008
February 2005 Youth News
The Christmas bowling trip to Taunton went rather well. 18 youngsters bowled and we filled three alleys. The champions were Sam Hopkins, Ceinwen Hatrey and Daniel Hopkins. We are already planning our next jaunt, to see the Crispin School production of 'The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe'. Three of our youngsters are in it: Dan Jones is the mad professor (!), Fran is a spirit and will be treating us to some singing and Helen is ... ahem ... a musical tree. If there's anyone else who'd like to go, performances are on the evenings of Wednesday 2nd March, Thursday 3rd and Friday 4th and tickets are available from Crispin School Reception.Discussions are ongoing about how to cope with the huge age range in the Cyfinders, which is everything from 11 to 18+. The monthly evening Event, which is aimed at the older teenagers, has proved a success and we are wondering whether to build on that - accepting that it means these youngsters are then less likely to attend on Sunday mornings - and then aim the 'Sunday School' slots more at the younger teenagers. We want to get it right, so prayer, advice, suggestions and offers of help would all be most welcome - please speak to Sarah McConnaughie.
Just to give you a flavour of the current Sunday morning group, I can report on a discussion they had before Christmas which got lots of people very engaged. During the American elections, Adrian led a session on Christianity and politics. Topics discussed included 'Do politics and faith have to be separate areas in our lives?', 'Should there be a Christian party?' and 'If Jesus were running a political party today, what would His manifesto be?' I think you'll agree that these are all questions most adults would be hard-pressed to answer. If you like a challenge, consider working with the church's youth!
Marian Jones
May 2005 Youth News
32 people - not all of us accurately described as youth! - went to Strode Theatre to see Crispin's production of 'The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe' and what a top-rate performance we were treated to! The younger members of the group especially enjoyed picking out Dan, Fran and Helen from the cast and were entranced by the lion, the other animals and the musical trees. Personally, my favourite moments were some of the songs, especially the Lion's specially written song about his impending sacrifice and the moving version of 'Love that wilt not let me go' sung by the Professor, Susan and Lucy and the Spirit.
The Cyfinders have also had an African Evening, held at David and Jenny Collins' house and led by Jane, who showed slides and gave a talk about the medical work she has done in Africa. Some of her most memorable words centred on the dilemmas of everyday life. If you have a water supply in your home and your African neighbours don't, how do you react when they come asking for water from you? Do you give it all away, until you have none left either? Do you refuse everyone? Do you agree to fill cups, but not buckets? Jane's talk was followed by a shared meal of African recipes.
More recently, the Cyfinders, helped by some of the younger children, baked scones and provided cream teas after the service in order to raise some funds for Edwin Basara, our sponsored Kenyan child. Lots of people tucked in; more bought bags of scones to take home and the grand total of £79.50 was raised, which will provide Edwin's sponsorship for between 4 and 5 months.
Quite a few youngsters joined teams for Adrian and Sarah's Quiz Night and acquitted themselves most honourably. Three teams - The Muppets, Helen's Heroes and the Knee-Highs - had youthful members who managed to bail out the older members on quite a few rounds.
Please remember Children's Fest on May 30th, 31st and June 1st. Plans are quite well developed. The theme will be 'The World' and each of the three days will take a country as its theme. There will be a story from the country of the day; craft work to construct a cross in an appropriate style and a variety of other themed activities such as music, drama and food! Two of the days will centre on Japan and Pakistan and the third will be led by Martyn Payne from the Barnabas Trust and will centre on the Sudan. Lots of help will be needed and if you haven't volunteered yet, please consider asking Sarah what is still needed. Even if you can only make one of the mornings, there will be a job for you!
And finally, by the time you read this, the exam season will be about to start in earnest. Please remember in your prayers everyone who is taking exams and planning their next step over the next few months. Emma, Alex and Becky are taking A Levels, Ceinwen and Ben are doing AS Levels and Alastair, Abi, Dan and Fran will be doing GCSEs.
Marian Jones
June 2005 Youth News
It was lovely to see Helen, Ceinwen, Abi, Tim and Dan joining a motley crew of adults at the lunchtime meeting to prepare for ChildrensFest, signing up for things and practising some of the crafts in advance, so they will be fully prepared to teach others when the festival opens its doors and some 80 children flood in.
And what a festival it will be if even half of what's planned comes off! Just to whet your appetite, here's the plan for the first day, Bank Holiday Monday. After registration, the children will sit on the floor in the shape of an aeroplane and prepare for take-off. Monday's destination is Japan, and during the flight they will be entertained by aircrew who will tell them the story of Sadako, the little girl in whose name the Children's Peace Monument in Hiroshima was built.
Sadako, like so many children from the area around Hiroshima, had leukaemia and was told by a friend that if she folded a thousand sheets of paper into cranes she would be cured. She managed to do this, despite her illness, but grew weaker and weaker and died in October 1955. Her friends were so inspired by her bravery that they began to collect money for a monument in her name. The movement grew and money came in from all over Japan and from abroad. With it, a monument was built in the Peace Park, right in the middle of Hiroshima and on it is inscribed:
This is our cry, this is our prayer, peace in the world.After the story, the plane will 'land' in Japan and the children will have a wonderful choice of crafts and activities to try. A group will make paper shapes, including cranes, using origami, and these will be used to decorate a huge cross which will stand in the Parish Church for the duration of the festival. There will also be a chance to try Japanese writing, make a fan or a kite, do face-painting or make a mask and try some archery (that will be outside!).
The remaining two days will follow a similar pattern, but be based on Pakistan and the Sudan, with a story, a cross and craft activities all designed around the country of the day. By the end of the third day, there will be three giant crosses in the church which will serve as a focus for the re-telling of 'the greatest story ever told.'
I hope to report on the two final days next month. Sarah has gathered an impressive team, but if you are reading this before the ChildrensFest gets underway, and are not already enlisted, please consider offering to help out or popping in to the Parish Church to see how things are going. Each of the three days (Bank Holiday Monday, Tuesday May 30th and Wednesday June 1st) will run from 10.00 am until 12.00, although there will also be plenty to do before and after each session!
And everybody can pray for the success of the ChildrensFest.....
.. can't they?
Marian Jones
July 2005 Youth News
You may remember that I reported on the first day of ChildrensFest last month. So what happened after that?
Well, on the second day, which was also attended by over a hundred children, the theme was Pakistan. Everyone boarded the aeroplane again and during the flight they were entertained by Dan, who told them the story of the Pakistani street children who worked long hours making carpets for export to the west until one of them heard a preacher talking about childrens’ rights and persuaded them that they should stand up for themselves and refuse to be exploited. Dan being Dan, there was quite a bit of audience participation, including the creation of a playdough elephant. After the flight, there was an enticing selection of crafts and activities with a Pakistani theme and one of the highlights at the end of the morning was a performance of Stomp, a street dance in which the children used a variety of lids and brushes to make the dance rhythms. During the morning, a large cross was decorated with items of rubbish, to illustrate the fact that many Pakistani Christians live in the poorest shanty areas.
On Wednesday, the plane took off to Sudan. The in-flight entertainment was provided by Martyn Payne from The Barnabas Trust. He told the children about the problems in Sudan, illustrating his talk by getting them all to make an origami Sudanese house which opened out to form the shape of a cross. Crafts on a Sudanese theme including making drums and rainmakers and the cross of the day was decorated in black and gold. The black represented ebony, which is the wood used to make crosses in Sudan, and the gold represented the metal casings from bullets, with which their crosses are decorated to symbolise the laying down of arms and the quest for peace.
I think anyone who went to ChildrensFest will agree that it was - again! - a huge success and our thanks are due to Sarah, for master-minding the whole amazing set-up, and to all her many cheerful helpers. Here, it’s especially appropriate to thank the teenagers who gave up their holiday (and revision!) time to help out: Dan, Ceinwen, Abi, Tim and Helen.
Marian Jones
August 2005 Youth News
Quite a lot has happened since I wrote last month’s page, so stand by for a slightly breathless round-up and apologies if I forget anything or anyone ...
Two families have had new additions! Phoebe, Rohan and Angelus Collins have a new baby brother, Lorien. Luke and Jessica Hudson has a new little sister, Naomi Rebekah. Congratulations all round! At the other end of the age range, congratulations are also in order to Tim Decamp, who graduated from Cambridge this summer with a degree in History. He’s moving straight into his first job as a Civil Service graduate trainee and at the time of writing is waiting to hear where exactly he will be working. London or Sheffield seem the most likely options.
July saw a number of end-of-year festivities. The Cyfinders and friends had a hot tub party and barbecue at David and Jenny Collins’ house and a great deal of damp fun was had. My favourite moments included the sight of 5 Hopkins men (young and not quite so young) all in the hot tub at once and the sound of Caolan, having just transferred from hot tub to cool pool, shrieking to his brother: ‘Dewi it’s absolutely FREEZING in here. You must come in!’ Thanks to Adrian, who did another stint of barbecuing - is this typecasting?
Not to be outdone, the Explorers had a sleep-over at the Mission Church. They got together on a Friday night and ate pizza together, then they planned and rehearsed a show before bedding down on the floor for the night. I’m told the children got quite a bit of sleep, but some of the adults found it rather exhausting! The next morning, everyone got up nice and early so they could perform their version of ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’ for the parents who came to collect them. Jenny had made huge wardrobe doors as props, people brought costumes and everyone made crowns to wear for the final scene. After much discussion it was decided to concentrate on three scenes: the opening scene where Edmund and Lucy first go through the wardrobe into Narnia, the battle scene and the crowning scene from the end of the story.
The Mums and Toddlers held their summer party at the Mission Church on a gloriously sunny day. Adrian and Sarah treated about 20 children to a puppet show and there were party games like pass-the-parcel and musical bumps and a bouncy castle. Another 20 or so children came to the Sunrise! Picnic, held at the Parish Church, where they enjoyed face-painting - especially when the children painted their mothers as well as vice versa - and also had picnic food and a go on the bouncy castle.
Dates to note for the future include Saturday 3rd September, when a Christians Together Picnic and Family Outing to Great Wood will take place. There will be activities and games for all ages, from 11.00am to 4.30pm. Also, on Sunday 11th September Delyth will be taking a group of 5-11 year olds to the diocesan Children’s Festival at Wells Cathedral. This year’s theme is ‘Who’s the King of the Jungle?’ and there is sure to be the usual great mix of activities and worship. Further details of these events are available from Sarah McConnaughie and Delyth Wride respectively.
So, life is not dull! Although we are very blessed with people who give up their time and energy to work with our children’s and youth groups, we are currently having a mini recruitment drive to add to our number of helpers. If you feel you would like to be part of the team which runs the crèche and teaching groups on Sunday mornings, or if you would like to help plan and run some of the social activities or ‘specials’ (think Christmas, plays, camps, music group, or anything you are good at and we haven’t tried yet!) then please do speak to anyone currently involved to see what it’s all about. There is always room for more help and you will almost certainly find that you learn at least as much as you are able to teach. In addition, you might enjoy it!
Marian Jones
September 2005 Youth News
Children’s and Youth work took a sort of break over the summer, but please don’t think that meant nothing happened! The usual Sunday morning teams had a rest during the six week school holiday, but plenty of people stepped in to provide alternatives. Our thanks to Andrew and Del, Julie Day and Sarah Woodward and the Hatrey ‘youth’ team of Ceinwen, Abi and Tim, who all ran sessions during Sunday morning services. I’d love to tell you exactly what they all did, but not a single one answered the phone when I rang to investigate!
Quite a few people were out and about doing new things during the holiday. Fran went on a residential course with the National Youth Choir, which culminated in a concert in ‘a Welsh cathedral’, although I didn’t quite catch the precise location! Alexa did a gym course at Strode and Gareth, Dewi and Jonty tried their hand at tennis and enjoyed it very much! Dan spent three weeks rehearsing a production of The Comedy of Errors at Warwick University and made lots of interesting new friends at the same time. Caolan took part in three performances of ‘The Wizard of Oz, Over the Rainbow’ at the Bristol Hippodrome and Emma and Becky helped Jenny and David Collins at their stall at the New Wine Festival. Ben, Sam,Tim, Daniel and Joseph took Mum and Dad plus two Labradors camping in Wales and while they were away Helen looked after their remaining pets: cat, two guinea pigs, gerbil and two fish.
Edward, Alfie, Laurence, Alexa, Gareth, Saida and Flo all went to the Baptist Church Holiday Club, along with Jan and Sonia who joined the team of helpers. About 120 children came every day to enjoy ‘Treasure Seekers’, a set of activities with a pirate theme which took in plenty of crafts, singing and drama on Christian themes. Held this year at the URC, there was lots of space and a great time was had by all. Equally importantly, it was another successful example of Street churches working together and achieving something very worthwhile.
By the time you read this, several of the younger children will be just about to start their first term at school. Jonty and Dewi are following Caolan to Butleigh Primary School and Isabelle Barber will be joining her sister Olivia at Millfield Prep School. Oliver Steeden is going to Cossington School, along with his brother Alex who is changing schools this term. In addition, three people - Delaja, Amelia and Daniel Hopkins - are moving up to Crispin this year. Please pray for all of them, and their families and for all those whose exam results were due out just after the deadline for this issue and who will be finalising their plans for the next stage of their education as you read this. I hope to report on who decided what in the next issue. Meanwhile, perhaps you could give some special thought and prayer for all the youth and children’s groups as they start another new year of learning and for those who lead and work with them as they resume their responsibilities after the summer break.
Marian Jones
October 2005 Youth News
Did you go on the Family Day Out to Greatwood, which happened on Saturday September 3rd? I’m afraid I missed it, but I got Dewi and Jonty to tell me all about it. A number of families went and enjoyed a picnic, plenty of cricket and football and a treasure hunt, which sounded rather complicated. You had to run round a wood collecting numbers, turn them into a code to open a safe, find the safe and ... open it! But it was all worth it, because inside was a cache of Jelly Babies! Lots of children enjoyed themselves, but the best time of all may have been had by Toby, the McConnaughie dog, who managed to steal some sandwiches for his lunch.
Another good outing was the visit to the Children’s Festival at Wells Cathedral. 15 children went from the Mission Church, stopping off at church first for the beginning of the Family Service, so that books could be presented to all those either starting school this year or moving up to secondary school. Then they drove off to the cathedral, where they got stuck straight into an outdoor animal aerobics session to kick-start the theme for the day: He’s the King of the Jungle. There were plenty of other activities, all on a jungle theme, including singing, dancing, badge-making, face-painting and a bouncy castle. The event finished with a service in the cathedral itself, during which quite a few of our youngsters performed in the singing group and sat at the front facing the very large congregation. Caolan and Alexa also took part in a dance performance. Many thanks to Delyth, and all her helpers, for organising the trip.
As you read this, all our older teenagers will be just settling into their new routines for this academic year. As ever at this time of year, there is plenty of change and plenty to pray about. Please remember especially: Alex, Emma and Becky who have just moved on to new places to continue their studies. Alex is at Warwick University, studying for a degree in Maths and has a room on campus for his first year. Emma is starting her three-year degree in paediatric nursing at Buckingham Chilterns and will be living on campus in rural Buckinghamshire and studying full time for the first 6 months. In February she will transfer to a London hospital to start the practical part of her training. And Becky is at Sheffield Hallam University studying for a degree in Occupational Therapy. She too has a place in hall. Now would be a good time to thank them for their contributions to church life. Becky and Emma have both been invaluable regular helpers with the Sunday groups for some of the youngest children and Alex has played the violin with the music group. We will miss them all, but they will be home for Christmas, so do take the chance to ask them how things have been going.
Ceinwen and Ben are returning to Strode for the final year of A Levels, so they will have lots of work to do and some big decisions to make about the next step. Ceinwen will be continuing with Chemistry, Biology, Maths and French and is thinking about applying to studying medicine. Ben will be taking A Levels in History, Biology, Geography and Archaeology next summer and thinks he might go on to study History.
Abi, Alastair, Dan and Fran have left Crispin and are all just starting A Level courses. Abi will be starting courses in History, Archaeology, Biology and Geology at Strode and Alastair is also going there to do A Levels in Geography, Business Studies, Government and Politics and ICT. Dan and Fran have chosen to go to Richard Huish College in Taunton. Dan is starting A Levels in English Literature, English Language, French and Drama and is currently training three times a week in the hope of making the hockey team! Fran has chosen Music, Music Technology, Religious Studies and Drama and she will continue to take lessons in singing and piano at the same time.
Sam and Pete are starting Year 11 at Crispin, so they will be taking GCSEs next summer and also need to decide what their next step will be. Helen and Tim Hopkins are starting Year 10, and therefore beginning the work for their GCSE courses. Tim Hatrey is in Year 9 at Crispin and Tara is in the same year at Sexeys in Bruton, so they will soon be choosing their options and beginning to think about the future.
Let’s wish them all the best of starts to the new academic year.
Marian Jones
November 2005 Youth News
I wonder how many people know what an intricate plan there is for the format of the 4 (possibly 5) Sundays in each month. Did you realise that as far as the children and youth groups are concerned, each Sunday has its own distinctive flavour?
The 1st Sunday of the month kicks off with Sunrise! at the Parish Church. 50 plus people usually attend, made up largely of the under-8s and their family and friends. At Sunrise!, they have been thinking about the prophets, looking at Elijah in September and Samuel in October. There are songs, an active storytelling, prayers and an activity such as colouring or making something to take home. The theme has been ‘listening to God’ and this will continue in November with the story of Isaiah as a lead-in to Christmas. Interestingly there are lots of Dads at Sunrise! and one of their roles is making coffee afterwards!
Also on the 1st Sunday are the usual groups at the 10.30 Mission Church service. One exciting development is that on this week, one of the younger groups is led by Ceinwen and Abi. They both have experience of helping with groups last year and decided to go for it, combine their talents and run their own group. On their first go they re-told the story of Joseph and his coat, got the children thinking about families by drawing their own and started a collage of the multi-coloured coat. Phew! The evening of the 1st Sunday is the slot for "The Event", a meeting for the older teenagers usually held at Dave and Jenny Collins’ house. Last month they discussed easy options, including junk food (which provided a suitable theme for the refreshments!) and what God might make of these. Should you, for example, check your horoscope in a bid to know what’s coming, or should you trust that God has a plan for you and that if you let Him, He will gradually unfold it to you?
The 2nd Sunday is, of course, the Family Service. Tim, Helen, Ceinwen and Tara join the music group when they are free and there’s usually something aimed at the younger ones in part of the service. In October, they gathered at the front to watch the Tearfund video about the Tuareg in Niger and share their thoughts with the congregation. Their impressions of the desert before and after Tearfund’s project were ably captured on flipcharts by Ben and Abi and provided the basis of the two talks. Genuinely an all-age service - thank you, Adrian and Sarah!
On the 3rd Sunday the various groups run as normal: crèche, Sparklers, All Stars, Explorers and Pathfinders. You will work out that quite a lot of leaders and helpers are required and in this third week Helen is helping Jan with All Stars. In October she was a live visual aid, donning a dressing gown and leading the active re-telling of the story of Joseph.
On the 4th Sunday, the children and young people start the morning in the service and go off to their groups after something aimed to include them. It is perhaps at this point that people realise quite how richly the church is blessed with families and youngsters. On this Sunday there is also an extra discussion group for the older teenagers where they are encouraged to look at issues of interest to them from a Christian perspective. October’s discussion was on the environment.
And, in addition to the routine described, there are the special events. This year’s Harvest Supper was very much an all-age event, with a great variety of crafts and activities to try, including glass-painting, candle-dipping, jewellery-making, a rain forest quiz, biscuit-icing and exotic fruit-tasting, all topped off with a ploughman’s supper. At the time of writing, planning is continuing for a Pirates Party on October 31st when, together with the Baptist Church, we will provide an evening of fun, food and games for children who’d like some harmless fun on ‘that’ evening!
We hope that there is something for youngsters of every age and that we can keep pace with their developing needs. Comments are always welcome, as are offers of help! If you have read anything to inspire you, do consider finding out more from Sarah McConnaughie or anyone else involved. Or, you could come to the next Youth Committee meeting to see what’s in the pipeline. It’s on Tuesday November 8th and you can get the exact time and venue by phoning Sarah or David Collins.
Marian Jones
PS Spare a thought for Jan, who masterminds the Sunday groups rota every month! It can’t be easy!