This is Denise’s last entry in the Junior Church blog created in 2005. It will remain available indefinitely as an archive (Blogger permitting) but Graham will be opening up a new one shortly.

We started the blog with a party so it is fitting to end with one as well!

Pot luck party at the Fishers (15 September 2007)

The party took the form of a Pot Luck lunch at the Fishers’ house in Laeken, with everyone bringing something to share, so we had quiches, mousssaka, meze, salad, pasta, tuna empanada and - the most exotic - African bean stew with fried plantain! To follow there was cheese, cake, various fruits and an excellent trifle.

time for an apéro

Chatting over drinks

The youth of today

Down to the serious business

A spot of good-natured thuggery!

Workaholic in the making?

Robinson eats lunch on the tractor!

Presentation - funds to go to Multiple Sclerosis societies

Karen presented Denise with a beautiful file with all the children’s signatures and suggestions of charities to which the funds collected as a farewell present could be put.

Denise chose Multiple Sclerosis charities in Belgium (yes, as in everything else, there are Dutch-speaking and French‑speaking ones!).

Denise admires Vittoria's handiwork

In addition, Vittoria had compiled an amazing album of photos of both children and adults so that I won't forget you – it is a real work of art!

Thank you, each and every one of you - it's been great! Do look me up if you come to Scotland! I'm sending you all my e-mail address so do keep in touch.

Congregational BBQ and games

Sunday 17 July was the Congregational Picnic. This event is, as the name implies, supported by everyone in the congregation, in particular the SOC, who as usual did all the hot work at the barbecue.

Junior Church involvement is limited to the games. Feedback from this year’s event included “the races were a roaring success!” so I am delighted that this event has been resurrected, as it was once nearly lost.

It was lovely to see mums and dads joining in the games with their tinies.

SOC hard at work

Sia and Jacqui - what a lot they ate!

Daddy gives some advice on potato and spoon tactics

The sack race is a firm favourite

Fraser partners Michael

Daddy giving encouragement

Some were determined to win!

Butter wouldn't melt . . .

One abiding memory of a previous Congregational Picnic is of Josephine from the choir, resplendent in African gown, bouncing up and down in the sack race – how I wish I had had a photo!

Peekaboo!

It's a topsy turvy world!

I like nothing better than to see mums and dads coaxing tiny offspring wielding outsize spoons in the potato and spoon race or teenagers tied to a parent in the three‑legged race and knowing that this is an event that binds all generations.

The church family

Time for a nap!

A short Passover movie for parents and teachers

A Jewish friend of mine sent me a link to a Passover meditation which I thought so suitable for all us parents and teachers that I am sharing it with you:
http://www.aish.com/movies/4sons.asp

And it's fun!

Happy Easter (Spanish style)

Wishing you all a very happy and peaceful Easter with lots of family time!

Denise

The Magic Carpet!

Siân had just asked me to put rugs on the agenda of our last Planning Meeting (because the rugs which have served us well to keep the littliest children off the cold tiled floor had got too dirty to use), when lo and behold! a lovely big oriental rug appeared with the ones we use!

Please would the kind donor own up so we can check that it really is for our use?

A BIG THANK YOU!

Sunday 18 March was Lions Heraldic SPLASH 2007

It was a busy weekend for us as, not only did we host the Training Day, but the Junior Church was well represented by both a teacher (well done, Neville!) and several teenagers. More photos on http://2007splash.blogspot.com/

JUNIOR CHURCH Training Day on Saturday 17 March 2007

The Church of Scotland sent a team of three to help us host a training day for Junior Church teachers here at St Andrew’s. The Training Day was a stimulating occasion, an opportunity to meet people involved in youth training and teaching from other churches in Brussels and beyond and, of course, to brush up on our teaching skills!
It was open to everyone, whether they had taught or not. Despite unwittingly competing with Jonathan Aitken’s visit to St Paul’s, Tervuren, our training day was fairly well attended, especially in the morning.

The Rev. Linda Pollock is a Regional Development Officer specialising in work with children up to the age of 12 years.
At the beginning of the day, Linda placed a tiny chair in the centre of the room. It was to remind us that our children should be at the centre of our minds and activities, not behind, not in front, but right in the centre.

“It was a refreshing, uplifting and useful day. I love children and I agree with Linda that they should be “in the centre”. Let’s show them that they are!” (Isabelle)

Linda showed us that what we all crave is a sense of belonging and that what we can give our children on a Sunday is something that cannot be bought: a big welcome to show them that there is at least one other person besides their parents who is pleased to see them at church. The least we can do for the children in our church is to learn and use their names. Linda urged us not to be embarrassed to give them that welcome and, if it felt risky, to “be a fool for Christ”!

Linda invited us to consider how we cuddle and care for our babies physically. “If we do all that for them,” she asked, “how can we fail to nurture them spiritually?”

“Thank you to everyone for making it such an encouraging day. We believe in young people! Let’s help them keep the faith!” (Graham)

In response to the question: “How we can juggle our busy lives in which the modern child is expected to take part in all sorts of sporting and cultural activities?” there was no way round the straight answer: “Prioritise!”

“I found it very worth worthwhile. Each of the speakers was really inspirational. They gave good ideas and lots of food for thought. . . . I really appreciated meeting and talking to members of other churches too.” (Siân)

We were delighted to have Brigid from St Anthony’s, Nancy from the International Baptist Church and Niels from Amsterdam. Group work was all the richer for the input of teachers from other backgrounds, with different experiences to share with us.

“Coming to Brussels was well worth the travel. I found Linda’s training and the group discussions very inspiring. How to give our young church members a sense of belonging and how to know their world were the most important lessons I learned.” (Niels)

Linda urged us to get away from the idea of “Sunday School” and educating our children in favour of connecting with them and giving them praise and recognition.

“My understanding of the difference is the "Sunday school" has an emphasis on education whereas "Junior Church" is a continuation of worship. If we focus just on education then we deprive the Junior Church members of the "worship" part of their church experience. The Junior Church is made up of education and worship, while Sunday School is oriented around education only.” (David)

Rather than “dismissing” them from a worship context to an educational context, Linda would like to see children being given responsibilities within church and letting children feel loved taking precedence over studying a lesson.

“It was great for me to find out how things are done at other churches. We all want what’s best for he children and it’s great to get other perspectives. The day opened my eyes about children and worship. At my church we have Sunday School for one hour, and then ‘Children’s Church’. We call it ‘Children’s Church’, but it is just an extension of Sunday School with different activities. I am rethinking how we are going to do things for the fall. I am leaning towards ‘Children’s Church’ being just worship time.” (Nancy)

Linda also commended Fischy Music to us. In fact Fischy Music came to St Paul’s, Tervuren last November http://standrewssundayschool.blogspot.com/2006_11_01_archive.html

Linda left us with plenty to think about and also a stack of documentation to look at including “Godly Play” http://www.godlyplay.org.uk/ which is a Montessori method of asking “wondering” questions and leaving room for open responses. (How many children know that the bets are on that the answer to any question has to be either “God” or “Jesus” in traditional educational settings!)

Graham Allison and Steve Mallon, associate secretary of the Mission and Discipleship Council with responsibility for education and nurture, talked more specifically about teenagers and young adults. Together Steve and Graham emphasised the importance of connecting with young people through music, affirming them by listening to what is important to them and giving them permission to talk about difficult subjects such as gun violence and rape in a place of safety in which they will receive a responsible response.

“The training day showed me the importance of creating a trusting and safe environment for the members, where they can feel comfortable in discussing what is on their minds.” (David)

Graham gave us an example of a different way of treating the stories we know so well. With one group of older teenagers he had plates depicting scenes from the Creation. After telling the story the conventional way, the group experimented with the order of events: “what if?” which gave rise to creative and refreshing ways of looking at it.

John Fisher closed proceedings with a short talk on Child Protection, which expanded into an informative and revealing discussion on fire procedures, which need to be refined for periods when the Junior Church is meeting (more on that shortly).

“I must say that for me the day was both inspiring and encouraging. It's reassuring to be told that whatever we do or don't manage to teach the young people we work with, the most important thing is that we be there for them and take an interest in them. I should think that we all came away inspired to do at least that” (Sia)

“I thought Saturday was useful and even though our church set-ups are rather different, there’s a lot to be learnt from listening to how others do things. I thought Linda, Graham and Steve had a really good approach. I took away the bit about aiming to be a prophetic voice and about being positive about our young people. Thanks for organizing the event.” (Brigid)

“Thanks for a great day and for inviting others in the religious community. I hope we can reciprocate someday. I so enjoyed Linda’s presentation and would love to have any information she sends.” Nancy

Looking good!

Two weeks ago I was like Job tearing my hair out because only one participant had enrolled for our Training Day and there was a serious risk that the trainers would outnumber participants!

So I said to God,

Look, I've done my bit - so how about You doing Yours?

And He did!
Now we have a very respectable 15 or more participants, including two from Amsterdam and two or three from other churches in Brussels.

We're looking forward to this Saturday immensely!
Welcome to all participants and the training team!
If you are not joining us in person, please be with us in spirit and pray that Training Day will be enjoyable and useful for all.
Thank you!

Training Day on Saturday 17 March

We are extremely fortunate to have a Church of Scotland team of three to lead a training day for Junior Church (Sunday School) teachers at:
St Andrew's Church of Scotland, Chaussée de Vleurgat 181, B-1050 Brussels, Belgium.

The Training Day promises to be a stimulating occasion, an opportunity to meet people involved in youth training and teaching from other churches in Brussels and beyond and, of course, to brush up on our teaching skills!
Training Day is open to everyone, whether you have taught or not.

If you are interested, please sign up by 10 March! The cost for the day will be €20, which includes a light lunch.

Reserve your place now by transferring €20 to St Andrew’s Church of Scotland bank account 310-0709308-33 (IBAN: BE79 3100 7093 0833 BIC: BBRUBEBB) marking it:
“St Andrews Training Day”.
The day will run from 9.30 to 16.30. You are welcome to come and go for the bits of particular interest to you (but you still have to pay €20!).
Please be sure to inform me of your name and that you have paid by sending an e‑mail to jccoordinator@yahoo.co.uk to make sure of your place.

There will be group and general sessions covering work with children from for 3-6 years, 7-11 years and young people from 12-25 years.

Steve Mallon, Associate secretary of the Mission and Discipleship Council with responsibility for education and nurture, explains the importance of this area of the council's work: "Education and nurture are the key elements that equip the Church for mission. We cannot be a missionary church if our members are not learning, discovering and moving deeper into their knowledge and experience of God.”

The Rev. Linda Pollock is a Regional Development Officer specialising in work with children up to the age of 12 years.

Children - 3-11 year olds: Basic introduction to children’s ministry in general - asking questions relevant to working with 3-11 year olds. Also asking why bother doing this kind of ministry and whether we can possibly compete with all the other things that demand the attention of children. Looking at basic psychological development for this age group. Information about Training Programmes and resources.

Young people from 12-25 years: Steve and Graham Allison (Youth Worker) will be looking at the results of a year long study with youth about their insights and similarities/differences in youth ministry between your group(s).

Need any further information? Send an e mail to jccoordinator@yahoo.co.uk

Our youngest Junior Church teachers

We are very lucky to have two young people helping out on a regular basis in our youngest Junior Church class, the 3 – 4 year olds and, increasingly, taking responsibility for it. This is of course excellent experience for them and invaluable to us.
They are both 16 (the minimum age) and extremely capable. Both of them have come through Junior Church themselves (apparently surviving!), thus proving that the Junior Church is bearing the fruit to regenerate itself.

Joëlle Permentiers

Joëlle Permentiers is following in her mother’s footsteps, Karen having been the mainstay for many years in this important class. Right now the 3 – 4 year olds is often the biggest class, rivalling in number the 11 – 13 year old group, but Joëlle and Kate form a team well able to cope with the tinies.

Kate Hannay

Kate Hannay is also known to the congregation as she is frequently to be seen helping her father, David, at social events. Joëlle is intending to stay in Belgium as she goes on to study music at the Conservatoire and we shall be delighted to have her assistance for as long as she is willing to give it. Kate, on the other hand, expects to pursue her further education in the UK, as her big brother is currently doing, so we are glad to have her help for as long as she is able to give it.