Moorlands College have a special 5 day course designed to equip children, family and community workers in the local church that will be of interest to those looking to deepen their knowledge and expand their biblical framework with respect to working with children. Click the link below for more information.
Link: Diocesan Children's Work Advisers' Resource Site Home.
Find out more about Dave Walker cartoons at www.weblogcartoons.com
Link: Christian Today
The controversial Christian Left Behind game series has received a 'T' rating, which means the game is for children 13 and older because of violence.
The game, Left Behind: Eternal Forces depicts a crusade of violence by Christians, set in post-apocalyptic New York and featuring God's army battling the Antichrist. Based on the bestselling Christian fantasy Left Behind series created by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins, the game puts players in command of brainwashed legions fighting the "good fight" for Christianity.
Critics, including a Florida clergyman, have demanded the game be banned, and one leading retailer has already pulled it from its shelves, sources reported.
“There is killing of course, it is a video game. But the basis of the game is spiritual welfare," said Troy Lyndon, CEO of Left Behind Games Inc.
More at the link above
Link: Christian Today
Following on from the success of last year’s Narnia-themed Christmas service, MethodistChildren have come up with a selection of new services for use in churches across Britain designed to illustrate the gospel through sounds, stories and prayers.
Christmas services will be brought to life through the use of the sound props, or ‘sound story’, which uses sound clips such as ‘clip-clopping donkey’ or ‘crying baby’ to illustrate each section of the Christmas narrative. The sounds will bring people into the story and help them to imagine what it was like for Mary and Joseph.
The sounds could be used to enhance the feel of a traditional service, or leaders could even get congregations to guess the story from the noises that are played.
Link: Kidology - Idea.
Some of you may be aware of the debate that has surrounded a documentary about a summers childrens camp in the USA. Click the link above for a review written by a non pentecostal - but generally positive in tone. You'll also find links to other discussions on the subject
This is a movie review submitted by Kidology member Heather Scott. For more Jesus Camp resources, be sure to read the Transcript from the Kidology Forum Q&A Series or join the discussion in the Network Forums.
I was very impressed by the level of faith displayed in the children that Jesus Camp focuses on, especially Levi and Rachael. (I thought Tori had the least screen time, and it was hard to get an accurate read on her). While I was uncomfortable with the speaking in tongues and I wished that instead of using the term "Evangelical" the makers of the film would have used the word "Pentecostal". I would say that it was a good camp led by great children's pastor. However, I think that these kids' tremendous faith had more to do with the fact that they were home schooled than the camp.
Link: Christian Today
The controversial Jesus Camp in the US has shut down after a documentary film which featured events of children praying in tongues and sobbing with repentance in the camp met with a negative response.
Camp director Becky Fischer commented to Christianity Today: "Christians go after me because of doctrinal issues, whereas the world is going after me because they think I'm another Adolf Hitler."
She added: "They're accusing me of raising a Christian jihad."
The documentary “Jesus Camp” was launched last September, featuring kids worshipping at Bible camps and youth events in the US.
But the film has caused a scare to some audiences for its raw depiction of white evangelical children being ‘radically trained’ to lay down their lives for the gospel.
Many condemned Fischer, accusing her of ‘manipulating’ or ‘brainwashing’ children.
More at the link above
Link: Christian Today
A Christian children’s ministry has launched a free texting service for children to help them get more involved in Church life.
MethodistChildren launched mctxt4, a service for nine-to-13-year-olds, with the aim to keep children in touch with what's going on in the world and give them food for thought.
Children who subscribe to the service will receive texts under eight different topics: Links, UrWorld, Challenge, World, Action, Prayer, DaBuzz and Headsup.
Penny Fuller from MethodistChildren said: "Church can sometimes seem boring or irrelevant to young people and we want to show them that there are loads of exciting ways to get involved."
Link: Guardian Unlimited
Catholic bishops in England and Wales yesterday launched a retaliatory strike against the BBC's Panorama series, claiming that a programme due to be shown last night highlighting the cover-up of alleged child sexual abuse by priests was unwarranted and misleading.
Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, the head of the Catholic church in England and Wales, is to write to the BBC's director general, Mark Thompson - a practising Catholic - to complain about the programme, called Sex Crimes and the Vatican. The programme claimed to have unearthed Vatican documents aimed at preventing the proper examination of claims of child abuse and accused Pope Benedict XVI, in his previous post as enforcer of church doctrinal orthodoxy, of shielding priests from investigation.
Link: Kidology Network Forum: Using Teens in Your Ministry.
It's a new poll in the Kidology Network Forums! Member jamie496 wants to know how you use teens in your children's ministry? Do you have a training program for them? What age group seems to work the best? How many are you using, if any?
