Participation and Contribution...

Those two words have been on my mind lately. In the Anglican church, we believe that children are fully part of the church family. When they are baptised, the whole congregation joins in and says, 'We receive and welcome you as a fellow member..." I've been thinking about what that could look like. It's a bit of a foreign concept to some church-goers, who grew up on the 'Children should be seen and not heard' principle - which I think sometimes really means, "Not seen and not heard"!
But the Lord Jesus is in the business of breaking down barriers and bringing together people who have nothing in common except him.
In 2010 I am committed to working harder at including our kids as PARTICIPATORS and CONTRIBUTORS. By the time they reach High School age, I'd like them to be totally at home, understanding everything we do, enjoying taking part, confident that they belong, and knowing that they have something to offer that's truly important to everyone.
We're starting small, building on what's already happening. Already, some of the high school kids, and one of the Year 5s is helping run the pa system. Some of the kids help serve communion. Two of the kids groups are rostered on to prepare and serve morning tea. A couple of the Youth boys play the drums regularly during morning services.
There's lots more that could happen. Kids could take turns reading the Bible, or leading parts of the service. They could encourage us by telling us about service projects that they are involved in in the local community. Often during services we have 'open prayer', when anyone can come up to the microphone and lead the congregation in a prayer. I'm looking forward to being led by one of the little ones.

2010 - A Fresh Year Begins!

Wow! Christmas came and went in a crazy rush, and the 'quiet' summer period is almost over - where did it go, and what happened to all the projects I was saving 'til then? Victorian schools start back next Monday, families are gearing up, and kids are maybe excited, maybe apprehensive, maybe ambivalent... Here is some helpful advice from "Parents Inc." - the folk who wrote the excellent "Toolbox" course (if you click on the heading of this post, it'll take you to their website and more parenting tips):

New Year, New Classroom...

• Whether your child is about to start school for the first time, or you’ve been through it all before, here are a few tips to help make the transition out of holidays a little easier on the whole family:


• Get back in the habit of homework by having regular reading time every day. Ask questions about what they’ve read, and get them to write a little bit too.


• Start gradually making bedtime earlier; late sleep-ins or bleary-eyed children won’t help stress levels in that first week back.


• Get the family thinking about ways to make school mornings run more smoothly. A personalised chart is a great way to make sure kids know what they need to do and can check it off as they go. They’ll grow in responsibility, and you can break the nagging cycle!

With school starting, term-time program resumes this Sunday for our kids groups. This term we're thinking about the early church - what happened in the first few years after Jesus lived, died, came back to life, and then went to live with the Father. That would have been an exciting time - for the first time people were hearing that God loves us, and made it possible for us to be his friends - lots of these people had only ever heard of gods who were fickle and violent and selfish, and the only way to relate to them was to beg and plead, make bargains, and butter them up.

Imagine hearing for the first time of a God who wants to do us good, who is more eager to give us good things than we are to ask him for them! It would have been a scary time too - because not many people believed in Jesus, and the early Christians were often viewed with suspicion, even thrown in gaol, or beaten up, or even killed because of their beliefs. What a privilege to live in a country where we can openly worship Jesus, talk about him, meet together, and tell other people about our beliefs.

While we think about the early church, we're also thinking about our church - St Jude's wants our kids to know that they are truly part of this Christian community, so we're looking at ways to encourage kids to participate and to contribute. This year the Diggers are joining the morning tea team, rostered on together to prepare and serve morning tea a couple of times each term - many hands make light work, and they loved the trial runs we had last year!

Our MCs are also looking for ways to include kids in the whole-church part of our services, to encourage them to join in with the rest of the congregation, and to take part in leading prayers, Bible readings, etc. Ideas welcome!

Pizza, Rats, and Edible Christmas Decorations

Two weeks ago we had our last Film & Pizza Night for 2009 - it was a different feel to usual, because we held it in the main part of the church, instead of our usual location, the crypt - but I think the kids enjoyed the opportunity to play games and munch pizza in amongst pews and traditional stained glass windows!
It was a creative night - 22 kids (mostly boys) started by eating pizza, then mixing up batches of Dutch Pepernoten - kids worked in groups of 4, and lined up to melt butter in the microwave, then collect sugar, went off to mix it all up thoroughly, lined up for the flour, then the spices, and so on. Once it was all mixed, they divided it between them, and kneaded and molded and patted and thumped their dough into something which might be hung on a Christmas tree...
While the Pepernoten was baking in the church kitchen, we watched "Flushed Away" - it's lots of fun, and voice-stars Hugh Jackman, Ian McKellen, Kate Winslet and a few others you might recognise too!
We discovered that the more you work the dough, the better the finished biscuit holds its shape. Hmmmm - something for our young MasterChefs to remember for next time.... Not many ornaments were recognisable - or hang-able! when they came out - the picture above is definitely NOT what they looked like - but they were put to the taste test, and even the reluctant kids said they tasted good!
Not to worry, you can't have too much craft, so we finished off the evening by making edible Christmas wreaths - we handed out sturdy paper plates with the middles cut out - so they were just the outer rim. The kids decorated them with Christmassy colours of crepe streamer, in all kinds of creative ways, then used hot glue guns to attach caramels in foil wrappers - they looked fabulous at the end - I'm really regretting that I didn't take my camera along this time!!

St Jude's in December

There's so much happening in December! It's crazy, but fun too. Here's what's coming up:

On Friday 4th December, Princes Hill Primary School has its end of year Christmas bash for all the kids who have been in Christian Religious Education in 2009 - can't wait, my class are going to sing 'Jesus Superhero', looking very spectacular in superhero capes!

On Saturday 5th December, it's the last Film & Pizza night for 2009 - kids in Grades 3-6 will be watching 'Flushed Away', and making souvenirs - or maybe edible Christmas tree decorations... yum! If you'd like to come along, contact me for an invitation - Katie.

On Saturday 19th December, it's Carols on Carlton from 7 to 9 pm - we meet in Curtain Square on Rathdowne Street, North Carlton, and families bring picnics along and sing or listen to lots of carols - the band this year is terrific, I've been listening to them practice! Carols is open to anyone, you can get a candle for a small donation, and I've heard there's going to be a puppet... everyone is welcome. We're hoping for good rain all month - except for the 19th!

On Sunday 20th, we're baptising two very small members, a brother and sister, during the 9am service - yay!

Also on Sunday 20th, we say a huge THANKYOU to all the folk who have been part of the children's ministry at St Jude's in 2009 - all the kids who have come along week by week, and the faithful, caring and creative leaders who have prepared diligently, and met with the kids and learnt with them and cared for them and worshipped with them all year. Celebration time!

Then on Thursday 24th December, it's Kids Carols in the church from 6-7 pm - it's especially for any families with kids in Infants and Primary school (though everyone is welcome), so we sing lots of well-known carols and have a skit or story, it's very casual, and we have lots of fun. This year the theme is Promises...

And of course there's Christmas Day! There are two services, one at 8 am, which is more reflective, and one at 9.30 am especially for families - all ages welcome. This year we'll be thinking about Santa Claus - the man behind the magic!

I do hope you can join us for some or all of our December activities!

"Chicken Run" and UV creations!

I love Film & Pizza nights! Our Term 2 F&P night was last Saturday, and twenty-three kids in Grades 3 to 6 turned up in St Jude's crypt to eat lots of pizza, watch "Chicken Run", and make UV puppets. These pics are from my mobile phone, so they aren't great, but I know a couple of people took better ones (they have groovier phones!), I'll put them up when I get them.

We started with some games - you had the choice of lobbing hacky-sacks onto targets, then doubling your winnings (sweets) by performing a challenge, like standing on one leg, holding the other leg up with one hand while touching your finger to your nose for a count of ten...; or you could try to flick a coin onto a table - if your coin landed in a circle, you won a prize, but if it landed in a circle of the same value as the coin, you won two prizes!

Then it was time to eat - wow, everyone was starving! Don't they get fed at home any more?? - and to start the movie. Once the chickens had escaped safely from the farmyard with determination and terrific teamwork, we started on the UV puppets. They're very simple, but really effective - you just need some flourescent coloured cardboard, black textas to draw your designs, masking tape to hold them together, and a couple of special effects UV lights hired from a dramatic lighting company (it cost us $20 for two - bargain!) and Bob's your uncle.

And it wasn't only the kids who had a good time - it was great weather for an evening out - not too chilly, and only a sprinkle of rain, so some of the parents chose to make the most of being on Lygon Street on a Saturday evening: one couple road-tested a pub that's under new management, and I overheard two dads who hadn't seen each other for a while, deciding on the spur of the moment to catch up over dinner - great idea!

Why People Don't Go to Church

This is a youtube ad for a church in America - I think it's spot-on! Have a look: Why People Don't Go to Church.

School Holiday Program - Gearing up for Vibe!

Time is flying, and we're getting very excited about Vibe!, it's only two and a half weeks away! Chris Young is working on finishing touches to the program. I'm gathering lots of circus-type equipment - hoola hoops, juggling balls and sticks, parachutes, 'diablos' - you know, they look like huge hour-glasses suspended on a string, and you spin them and toss them and do amazing tricks with them.


Verdi the puppet is getting wriggly in his storage box... Julie, who is a mum in our 9am congregation, has offered to help out with food - and that's great, because she's a fabulous cook!

If you'd like to come along to Vibe!, click on the picture of the jumping kid at the top of the page - it takes you to the Vibe! webpage where you can download the registration form and more info about the program. We're looking forward to seeing you there! :)