All NexGen Pro articles – Page 97
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Issues
Feedback: Mike Pilavachi
Well, last month’s interview with Soul Survivor’s Mike Pilavachi certainly got people talking. And when we say interview, we’re really talking about one line in it: “Generally, the quality of youth workers has gone down dramatically.” Blimey. There’s been a heap of response to Mike’s comments, and here’s some of it, as well as some further thoughts from the man himself.
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Issues
Five features of a successful Sunday School
Sunday school comes around week after week, and month after month. But how do you actually know if your Sunday School is going well? What does a ‘successful’ Sunday School look like? Premier Childrenswork’s staff writer Alex Taylor suggests five hallmarks of a thriving children’s group, and which of the Sunday School resources out there best equip you to create it.
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Issues
Favourite toys
A new report has suggested that the toys children play with can have an impact on their career choices. We decided to put that to the test by asking the Childrenswork team what their favourite toys were growing up.
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Issues
Ready-to-use Movie: The Fault in our Stars
The Fault in our Stars is the latest teenage film filled with vampires and set in a post-apocalyptic… wait, hang on. The Fault in our Stars is actually an adaptation from a successful teenage book that explores what it’s like to be young and in love, and does so successfully without any need to dress things up. This is a glossy yet real look at what it looks like to know that you’re dying.
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Issues
“They grow up so fast”
Youth work has got pretty proficient at talking about sex and mental health, but as Cliff College’s Carolyn Edwards explains, the ever-changing world that children live in means that children’s workers need to start having these, and other awkward conversations as well
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Issues
Modern Family
There's a new family on the block: gangs. CEO of XLP, Patrick Regan, outlines the state of gang activity in the UK, and explores how the Church can be the hope – and the family – these young people need.
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Issues
Happy Families
It doesn’t take long in the real world to realise that crude assumptions about nuclear families with 2.4 children no longer ring true; but what is the reality of family life and what impact does that have on our ministries? Gail Adcock recently led a study in this area and shares the results.
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Issues
False Intimacy
We all know the worrying statistics: teenagers in your youth group are regularly accessing internet pornography – through curiosity, boredom or addiction. Neuroscientist Dr William Struthers explores why this cultural epidemic is so damaging, and provides a practical resource to open up the issue with young people.
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Faith at home
Faith at home introduction
Welcome to Faith at home, a brand new resource for those seeking to develop children’s faith... at home. We know that seeking to raise the next generation of Jesus-followers isn’t easy, but hopefully the ideas and stories inside these pages can help us all along the way.
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Issues
Stretch of Faith
My church has just launched a capital campaign. It’s not sexy, but it’s needed. Several years ago, the church’s landlord (we were leasing space) informed us we could move or buy the place, as they had plans to level it and sell it to a condo developer.
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Issues
Project: Faith Forward
A revolution is underway in the Church, and it begins with children and young people
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Issues
Faith to Faith
In an increasingly multicultural society, many of us feel the need to broaden our youth work and engage across cultural and religious boundaries – but don’t know how. CEO of The Feast, Tim Fawssett, explains what our relationships with those of other faiths should look like, and gives some practical pointers for nurturing healthy dialogue between people of all backgrounds and cultures
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Blog
Five foundations for faith that lasts
How do we equip young people to serve God faithfully for the long haul? Tim Alford, national director of Serious4God, shares his thoughts on how to create a faith that lasts.
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Issues
Helping faith to grow
Encouraging faith to develop at home can be a tricky experience. Time, resources, imagination and willingness can all be lacking, and parents or carers may have been put off by their own experiences as children – or may have had no experience at all when they were young. Over the next few issues, we want to help parents and carers to include faith exploration naturally, so that it fits effortlessly into daily life. Writer and children’s specialist, Victoria Beech, gives us some pointers to explore as we begin to think about this.
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Issues
Women of faith
Inter-faith specialist Lois Gallagher provides an informed guide to understanding the culture and the needs of young Muslim women, and suggests practical ways in which youth workers can begin to journey alongside them, and reach them with the love of Christ...
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Issues
Faith schools
“It’s right to encourage faith communities to play their full part in building the capacity of our schools.” That’s the message from Prime Minister Theresa May who is ready to relax the laws on how faith schools select pupils. She wants to scrap the current rule which forces any oversubscribed faith school to limit the number of children it admits on grounds of them sharing the religion of the school. Some faith groups, including the Catholic Church, have been put off opening new schools for this reason. The Prime Minister’s comments have reignited the debate on faith schools and whether they work in today’s society. Here’s two conflicting thoughts: