Pick of the month
10-minute assemblies for 4-11s
Rebecca Parkinson
Barnabas in schools
This is a book that does what it says on the cover! The sub-title of the book is, ‘50 ready-to-use assemblies exploring values from a Christian perspective’ and, with so many themes to choose from, it is a useful resource for anyone into schools to deliver an assemblies.
10-minute assemblies for 4-11s begins with a general introduction, followed by a section of 30 value-based assemblies. Subsequent sections include themes for Christian calendar events and other annual events, for example, national days, Remembrance Day and Science Week.
Each theme starts with the aim of the assembly and what you will need. At this point you may be thinking that, as the subtitle suggests, the assemblies are ‘ready-touse’, so you can just pick up the book, spend 30 minutes choosing a theme and collecting props, and head out of the door to your assembly. However, the author does explain in the introduction that some themes need more preparation and may require additional resources or the involvement of more people.
Nevertheless, this book gives you easy, age-appropriate ideas to use and adapt to your own style and group size. There are relevant Bible references in order to give the Christian perspective on the theme and the ‘pause for thought’ section allows pupils the opportunity to reflect on their personal values whether they have a Christian faith, a different faith or no faith at all. Therefore all the assemblies in this book are suitable for use in schools. In summary, this is a useful book of ideas and themes for anyone leading collective worship in schools.
Natasha Wood is a primary school worker for Bridgebuilder Trust in Milton Keynes.
Starting out in children’s ministry
Alison Mitchell
The Good Book Company
This book is aimed at those new to children’s ministry. It is short and very readable, with extra resources available via the Good Book website. The eight chapters are all ministry-focused and cover ‘why work with children’, ‘team ministry’, ‘how to read the Bible in preparation for sessions’, ‘how to link the different parts of the session to the main teaching point’ and ‘child protection’.
It’s a book which can be read on your own or used as the basis for study / training with others. Highlighted within the book are lots of top tips and opportunities for you to pray and reflect on what you have just read. Most of the examples are related to ministry on a Sunday, with not much mention of what could happen during the week.
This is a good book if you want to train up some new leaders; the questions for reflection are helpful and I would use them as part of a team meeting to encourage people to think deeper about issues other than filling the rota! The extra resources mentioned at the end of the book are very Good Book Company heavy – which is to be expected, as they are the publishers – but there are a wealth of other children’s resources out there that would be good for someone starting out in children’s ministry to explore.
Ruth Young is a ‘Growing Younger’ facilitator for the Church of England in Birmingham, working with churches who are keen to share faith with younger generations
