Monthly Online Children's Meeting
Children (aged 0-12) and their families meet online, at 5.pm on the first Sunday of each month to connect, explore themes, wonder, worship and journey alongside each other through stories, craft and stillness. Contact cypadmin@quaker.org.uk for more details or to register sign up here.
All-age community online
As Quaker communities we need to find ways of connecting with and supporting children, young people and families. We need to include them in our worship and find opportunities for nurture and nourishment. The Youth, Children, and Families Team have produced 'A simple guide for online all-age meeting for worship' which can be found on Woodbrooke's website.
Children's meeting online
A lot of Quaker communities around the country are organising online children's meetings, activities for parents, children and families and all-age worship. There are also a number of parents and families who have been in touch with us who haven't yet been able to find Quaker children's activities in their locality. Please do keep in touch and let us know what you're doing. We would love to hear from you if you are:
- a meeting who would be happy to welcome other families to your children's meeting
- a family wanting to connect with a children's meeting.
We would be very happy to put you in touch with each other, by asking an offering meeting if they are happy to contact a request made (and if not by asking another). Please contact us via cypadmin@quakerorg.uk
Guidance for online children's meeting
The Youth, Children, and Families Team have produced some guidance for online children's meeting for worship. This can be found on Woodbrooke's website. Staff host a monthly network meeting on Zoom for anyone involved in children's meeting and all age worship to share ideas, questions and challenges. Find out more here.
Guidance for running a youth group session online
The Youth, Children, and Families staff team have produced some guidance for holding a youth group session online. This also can be found on Woodbrooke's website.
Parents and families
This is an ongoing challenging time for a lot of parents, many of whom are juggling lots of different needs and pressures. The Quaker Parenting Network offers opportunities to connect with other Quaker parents in Britain. It has a Facebook group which has been busy with parents seeking advice and sharing encouragement over the last few weeks. It is also running Zoom meet ups for parents. If you are interested visit this Facebook page.
Safeguarding
It is vital that any online spaces and opportunities we offer are safe spaces. Please remember that meeting online needs to follow the same safeguarding guidance as meeting face to face. The guidance for children's meetings and youth group sessions both include safeguarding advice specific to these activities happening online. You can find this safeguarding guidance on Woodbrooke's website.
Resources and ideas
Journeys in the Spirit, resources for children's meetings, can be adapted and used for online children's meeting for worship.
There are also some helpful ideas and resources from other Yearly Meetings. You might want to look at this list of resources on Philadelphia Yearly Meeting's website.
There are some interesting ideas and resources around at the moment for use at home, that can be adapted for online children's meetings. You can access free RE resources for you and for home learning with children on the National Association of Teachers website.
Image: © Mike Pinches