How to… help children & young people think through faith
As a parent or church volunteer, you may be supporting a lunchtime Scripture Union group. In this context, where children and young people choose to get together to explore their faith, you can draw on a variety of resources which would be less relevant in the classroom.
Above all, children and young people tend to want to get involved:
- Scripture Union Scotland www.suholidays.org.uk have holidays targeted specifically at various age groups, as well as leadership training for S5-6 volunteers (see https://www.suscotland.org.uk/volunteers-and-training/commission/ ) and Study Camps https://www.suholidays.org.uk/finder/availability.php
- “Soul Survivor” organises weekend/week-long events for older teenagers. They use various venues in England, but great news is they also run in Scotland. Go to https://soulsurvivor.com/summer/soul-survivor-scotland/about to find out more. A lot of their online resources are video clips. They have a You-Tube channel, an online magazine, and also lots of resources if you’ve just become a Christian. Have a look at https://soulsurvivor.com/soul-resources
What about some more online resources? Many of these are for older teens:
- Youth Alpha has some great resources. Look at their film series: twelve episodes filmed in Vancouver, London, Paris and Jerusalem: https://www.alphayouthfilmseries.com/#inviteageneration
- For good online apologetics for young people try REBOOT https://www.reboot.org.uk/ Aimed at Mid/late teens & students, it has online video clips on topics like “Why Does God Allow Suffering?” and “How can I talk to my friends about my faith?”, an online magazine (Fresh – Thoughts) with links to lots of stories/interviews etc about art, music, fashion, leadership etc. Interesting point: What do Daniel, Queen Esther, Mary, Timothy, Jeremiah and you have in common? They are all teenagers!
- S4-6 pupils might also like some of the Ethos UK videos https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJskmtC8sYCCSsS7gtSBbog Some are way better than others, but at their best they deal with edgy questions that Christian pupils are bound to be asking
- For ages 7-11, try some of Youth for Christ’s materials. See https://www.bigministries.co.uk/resources/category/books