Children and Families - Scripture Union NZ

  The account of Moses on the Mountain in Exodus 33, is full of drama and suspense. It is a great story to tell with all the generations together. This intergenerational activity includes banners, thunder rolls and flashes of lightning! It really brings the story to life in a way that will involve everyone in your congregation. It also works well for community events, allowing the story to speak for itself. This intergenerational activity takes a bit of preparation, but it is well worth the effort. You will need to download the script from the link below. You will need:  Script Music: The Steward of Gondor ( Youtube clip ) A4 Cards: enough for 1 per 4 people 'I have carried you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself' 6 grey banners: one suggestion is to sew a length of grey fabric 2metres long by 50cm wide, with a sleeve to hold a length of dowel approx 80cm long. A quick alternative is to wave scarves. Choose blue or grey or black scarves if possible.  6 yellow stre...

  Our first WAY2GO events have just happened. We gathered together kanohi ki te kanohi, face to face, to be inspired, challenged and equipped in our ministry with children. This word cloud shows some of the highlights from our Auckland South East event.  Why not come and join us at one of the 12 other events coming up soon?  Find out more at  www.sunz.org.nz  Resources from the event  

  We have NEW resources available for Lent and Easter this year. Check out our Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday ideas for family and whānau to explore together!  Our full range of Lent and Easter resources can be found here .  

God could have arrived as a zealot, ready to take on the Romans who held the country under the heel of their boot. God could have arrived as a rabbi with many years of training, ready to confront the religious leaders. God could have arrived as a leader, ready to summon the people to follow him. But God didn’t. God chose instead the danger of pregnancy and childbirth, in a time when many babies and mothers died. God chose to be held in the arms of first time parents and their extended family. God relied completely on them all to feed him, clothe him and keep him warm. God chose a poor family from a poor village, where resources were scarce. With the limited time that Jesus walked on earth, he could have spent much more of it as an adult. Think of how many more miracles he could have done if he’d lived longer. Think of how much more he could have said and done. But God chose to enter this world as a baby. God didn’t skip the baby phase or the childhood phase. God went through puberty! ...

Each year we sing, ‘While shepherds watched their flocks by night’, but what do we really know about these early witnesses to the birth of Jesus? What did it mean for them to experience a sky filled with angels and be the ones chosen to hear the good news? This year, our Christmas resource will focus on the shepherds and their rags to riches story. From the rags of the field to the riches of heaven, let us follow their journey and discover it anew for ourselves. How does God visit us in our rags and bring riches beyond our imagination? An intergenerational church service

This page contains links and information from the 'Creation Care' workshop at WAY2GO 2023. Start here: Arocha New Zealand:  lots to explore and ways to get involved. The best place to start! 'Caring for Creation' - A  free PDF booklet, produced by the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa, New Zealand.  'Exploring Nature with Children' : Department of Conservation free downloadable PDF booklet  Strandz: A great website with lots of links, videos and ideas Materials: Salal and Cedar:  a free curriculum resource, drawing on Messy Church, Godly Play and Forest School methodology.  Lausanne Global Classroom: a study guide and lots of links to extra resources. This video is an excellent resource and worth playing all or part of with your church.  Worship ideas: Renew our world: Sign up for this free download (also available on Spotify) Songs of ecology, creation and hope:  a great collection of options for worship.   Articles: Adventure Church: ...

As we move into Level 3 and more businesses get up and going, great creativity and innovation have emerged. ‘Click and collect’ and ‘contactless delivery’ are now familiar terms . Businesses have had to read the times and adjust —for many, a radical rethink has been needed. I have been wondering what these times mean for the church. It is too early yet to reach any firm conclusions, but let me share with you two conversations I have had recently, and how they are helping shape my thinking about the future of the church in Aotearoa. Friday’s Zoom conversation: a friend in India reflects on the experience of her church In the initial response to the pandemic, most of the energy of my friend’s church was invested in setting up church online and figuring out how to deliver a variety of programmes via technology. Now they are moving into the next phase. Their conversation has turned to how the church can best serve the poor and vulnerable in their community who are suffering greatly a...

Looking after number one v Caring for others The opposite of looking after number one is caring for others.  This 20 min devotion will help your family to explore together what God has to say about caring for others.  Each session includes:  - To do: a simple fun activity (no materials required) - To talk about: a question to get the conversation started - To explore: A short Bible passage to read, and an optional video clip to view - To think about: something for the family to ponder - To respond: choose from a few options (prayer ideas, a song to sing, an action) - To pray: finish by praying a simple blessing together Click here to download this session Click here to see all five in the series

Boredom v Purpose I'm bored! The cry of the bored is heard across many bubbles around this country. This devotion will look at boredom and it's opposite - purpose. What does God have to say about finding our purpose? This 20 min devotion will help your family to explore together what God has to say about boredom.  Each session includes:  -  To do:  a simple fun activity (no materials required) -  To talk about:   a question to get the conversation started -  To explore:  A short Bible passage to read, and an optional video clip to view -  To think about:   something for the family to ponder -  To respond:  choose from a few options (prayer ideas, a song to sing, an action) -  To pray:  finish by praying a simple blessing together Click here to download this session Click here for a copy of the prayer - 'Blessing for the Bored' Click here to see all five in the series

Anxiety v Peace This 20 min devotion will help your family to explore together what God has to say about anxiety.  Each session includes:  - To do: a simple fun activity (no materials required) - To talk about: a question to get the conversation started - To explore: A short Bible passage to read, and an optional video clip to view - To think about: something for the family to ponder - To respond: choose from a few options (prayer ideas, a song to sing, an action) - To pray: finish by praying a simple blessing together Click here to download this session Click here to see all five in the series

Easter Grab it! A simple way to explore the Easter story together as a family, using things you can grab from around the house!  You will need: Your family/household all in one place A Bible or access to a Bible online  Click here for a PDF of this content .  To begin: To tell the story of Easter, send each member of the family on a mission to grab an item. Bring this item back to the kitchen table, ready to be used in the telling of the story.  Grab It! 1. A leaf, small branch or twig 2. A rope, string or dressing gown tie 3. A bowl with water in it and a hand towel 4. A piece of fabric that you don’t mind being torn up (or a piece of black clothing) 5. A jar with a lid 6. Egg timer (or the stopwatch on your phone) 7. A flower from the garden (or click here for a virtual one ) When everyone is back from their ‘Grab it! mission’ begin the story. **You could choose a different member of the family to read each section **You could spread th...

"If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers - most of which are never even seen - don't you think he'll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you?" Matthew 6 (The Message) Welcome to this series of five devotions for families and households. These sessions are designed for all ages, and are simple to use. They don’t require lots of set up or materials, just you and your family. This series is specifically written for families confined to their homes during the Covid-19 pandemic of 2019-2020. Each session includes: - To do: a simple fun activity (no materials required) - To talk about: a question to get the conversation started - To explore: A short Bible passage to read, and an optional video clip to view - To think about: something for the family to ponder - To respond: choose from a few options (prayer ideas, a song to sing, an action) - To pray: finish by praying a simple blessing together This series i...

  5 November On the 5th Nov 1881 government troops marched on the peaceful settlement of Parihaka, Taranaki.  The events that happened at Parihaka are an important part of our New Zealand history, but they are not very well known.  They tell a story of peaceful resistance and belief in a God of peace, not violence.  This story is so important that Gandhi and Martin Luther King referred to it as helping them to make their peaceful stand against injustice. It is a story our children should know.  5th of Nov is known as Parihaka Day.   Programme: I have written a one-off programme to be used with children to explore the events of Parihaka. It is approximately 30mins in length. This programme focuses on the value of Community and Participation, Porihanga . It focuses particularly on PEACE, Rangimarie, and what it means to be peace makers.   * Activity ideas  * Story telling ideas and a script to use * Discovery...

We live in very busy times, with lots of things on the go. It is no different for our children. Where do we find God? God of course is present with us in all our busyness, but we also need to stop and give God our undivided attention. Let's explore how to press STOP at the end of the day. How do we help children to stop and spend time with God? It’s certainly not easy! We asked some children for their ideas, our team contributed their favourite tips, and we have included a couple of simple suggestions. Because no one has time for complicated! Feeling inadequate? Stonehouse and May in their book, Listening to Children on the Spiritual Journey , interviewed parents about their night-time rituals. What did they do at the end of the day to help their children meet with God?  They discovered that for some parents this time was precious, and they spoke of being humbled and amazed at the depth and sincerity of their children’s prayers. But other parents spoke...