What is the Growing Faith Adventure? 
Growing Faith seeks to bring together the three spheres of church, school, and household – in how we think and in what we do.
The resources listed below reflect the child-focused ministry through these three spheres.
Read on for resources to use in church.
Click here for resources to use in schools
Click here for resources to use at home
S.A.F.E.R. Parish toolkit for keeping children safe
Local Diocesan toolkit offering practical, sensible and accessible guidance for your own churches teams, in addition to, and not instead of the recommended safeguarding training modules.
Please ensure that the appropriate safeguarding training modules are completed BEFORE working with, or enabling others to work with, children and/or vulnerable people.
Safeguarding Training Modules - Diocese of Peterborough
Communion before Confirmation
As many as 36% of parishes in the Peterborough Diocese now welcome children to Communion before confirmation, more than twice the national average! This means that, with a good programme of preparation and with the permission of the Bishop, admitted children can participate fully in the Eucharist. The Children and Youth team have a number of resources to help parishes encourage children in their faith journey. Some of these are outlined below:
The new Parish Handbook is designed to help parishes consider the history, theology and practical details for admitting children to communion before confirmation.
This resource can be used for PCCs and other meetings.
A short video, ‘One Bread, One Body', was produced by the children and young people of the Living Brook Benefice in Northampton, outlining their reasons for wanting to be admitted. A copy of this video is included in the PowerPoint but can also be accessed here.
Click here for a copy of the Baptism Handbook.
Resources to use for work with under-fives and their families
Setting up a toddler group - A template to help teams to successfully plan this venture together.
Care for Family website - Playtime provides support and advice for anyone interested in engaging with young families in a toddler group setting.
Talking Toddlers research report - Includes revealing statistics relating to people coming to faith before the age of 18.
Toddler Booklet - Helpful to share with your PCC/Vision team about why running a Toddler group is a no-brainer
Resources to download;
Building a sustainable team (Chad Chadwick)
Reading the Bible, telling stories
Techniques for telling stories well (4 P’s)
Online Resources
We have selected some on line resources which will help you in your work with children and young people in church.
Engage Worship - lots of creative ideas that you can adapt
Messy Church - ideas for messy church activities
Rend Collective's brilliant kids album (that adults love too) -you can also visit their Facebook page here
The Lily Jo Project | Your Online Mental Health Resource
YoungMinds | Mental Health Charity For Children And Young People | YoungMinds
The Youthscape Podcast | Youthscape
Godly Play
Godly Play is an imaginative approach that supports, nourishes and guides spiritual growth in children and adults. Through it participants can enter into parables, sacred stories and liturgy in order to discover God,themselves, one another and the world around us.
We have a selection of Godly Play resources to borrow. Find out what we have available here.
Grandparents
Grandparents can play a pivotal part in the faith formation of their grandchildren. The joy of grandchildren cannot be understated, and it is one of those relationships in which unconditional love is exchanged. Christian grandparents have a crucial role to play in passing on faith from one generation to the next.