A training evening for Sunday School/Club leaders will be held on Monday 12th October in Holy Trinity Church, Church Avenue, Rathmines at 8pm - (coffee will be served and the shop will be open from 7.30pm).  An evening packed with ideas on action songs, bible stories, games and craft for all ages plus ideas for Christmas.  Come and be encouraged and resourced in this very important ministry.  There will also be a chance to discuss the different courses available.  There is no charge for the evening but to help with the provision of handouts please let us know who is able to attend.  For further information please contact the Resource Centre on 01 497 2821.

A training evening for Sunday School/Club Leaders will be held on Monday 23rd February in Holy Trinity Church, Church Avenue, Rathmines at 8pm - (coffee will be served and the shop will be open from 7.30pm).  An evening packed with top tips and ideas on action songs, bible stories, games and craft for all ages plus ideas for Easter.  Come and be encouraged and resourced in this very important ministry.  There will also be a chance to discuss the different courses available.  There is no charge for the evening but to help with provision of handouts please let us know if you are able to attend.

‘Building Blocks’ is a conference that aims to support and encourage all those working with children in their local parish. The ‘Building Blocks’ Conference will be held in Belfast on Saturday 22nd November 2008 and in Dublin on Saturday 29th November 2008 in St. Patrick’s College, Drumcondra. The keynote speaker is Terry Clutterham who has written many resources for ministry amongst children. There will be a wide variety of seminars on topics such as small groups, wide age range, working with a multi-cultural group, drama, arts and crafts and much more. Brochures are now available.

This can be the most challenging group to inspire spiritually.

Terry Clutterham will explore ways of engaging with this age group.

Terry Clutterham is the keynote speaker for Building Blocks 2008.  Terry is Director of Ministry Delivery for SU England and Wales and has editied ‘Key Notes’, ‘One to One’ and ‘Alive to God’.  He has extensive experience in producing Bible based resources to be used with 7-14 year olds, including a number of excellent books such as ‘The Adventure Begins’ and ‘Absolutely Everything’.

Friday 28th November 2008

Rathdfarnham Church of Ireland Parish Centre

Rathfarnham Village (beside the Church)

Parking available in the Church grounds.

12.30pm - 2.15pm

There will be a light lunch served at 12.30pm followed by the talk.

The lunchtime talk is free but due to catering arrangements names of those planning to attend need to with Anne Taylor by Tuesday 25th November.

For further information or booking contact the Rev. Anne Taylor on 01 490 5543 or email sundayschoolsociety@ireland.anglican.org

www.sundayschoolsociety.ie

2007 was another great year for Brainarama our annual children’s Table Quiz. Teams from parishes throughout Dublin & Glendalough took part and included St. Catherine’s, Castleknock, Clontarf, Greystones, Tallaght, Mt Merrion and Rathfarnham. We had a variety of rounds from guess the story, multi-choice to bonus questions on well-known characters. All the teams got well over half marks and did extremely well but the aim of the afternoon was fun and there was plenty of laughter as well. We thank St. Andrew’s College for letting us use their hall and a big thank you to Billy Ellis for all the work he does to have everything ready for us.

There are of course winners and we say congratulations and well done to –

St. Thomas’, Mt Merrion 1^st, a Joint team from Rathfarnham & Tallaght 2^nd and a Joint team from Castleknock & Rathfarnham 3^rd.

‘Building Blocks’ 2006 in Dublin attracted over 300 people involved in children’s ministry in their local churches from throughout Ireland. The Archbishop of Dublin, John Neill, told those gathered that he hoped that they would be “equipped and enthused” by the event. He said: “In a society where the Christian narrative is no longer an integral part of people’s lives, you are the link in passing on the message of the Gospel.”

The key-note speaker, Marlene LeFever, stressed the importance of being honest with children when teaching the Christian message. She stressed the value of each child and how crucial it is for us to take an interest in the individual. As one participant said, “Marlene was inspiring and challenged me to look carefully at my ministry with children”.

There were a variety of workshops including ‘Leading an Under 5s Ministry’, ‘New Models for Sunday School’, ‘Teaching through Stories’, ‘Special Needs - Promoting Integration’ and ‘Beginning to Teach’. The notes for all the workshops in both Dublin and Belfast can be found on the conference website www.buildingblocks.ie

Top Tips was a training event on Monday 23rd October to encourage and enthuse Sunday School/Club leaders. The speakers for the evening were Barbara McDade, who is the Children’s Development Officer in the Presbyterian Church and Rev. Anne Taylor, Children’s Ministry Officer (SSSI).

The evening was packed with top tips and ideas on bible stories, music, discipline, group preparation, resources and more.

Barbara explored different ways of telling bible stories and stressed the importance of sincerity, enthusiasm and animation in the delivery of the story.  She also looked at ways of reinforcing the story through drama, objects and drawing.  This led onto ways of using memory verses in helping children learn the message of the gospel.

Anne explored the area of discipline within the children’s group and looked at some of the danger areas and how to create a more harmonious group.  She also highlighted the need to be aware of special needs within the group and the need to use parents as partners in helping understand the needs of each child.  The use of music was encouraged along with an awareness of the message that songs are conveying to the children.

Before the evening finished the group also explored ways of helping the children’s group connect to people and projects outside their parish and some time was given at looking at resources for use with the under 5s.

The evening finished with a chance to have coffee and chat with Sunday Club leaders from other parishes as well as a chance to look at the resources available in more detail.

We have received a wonderful response to our televised Harvest Thanksgiving Service.  Comments mentioned the wonderful singing, how well the children read, the smiling and happy faces.  The service was broadcast live on Sunday 22nd October and included children and leaders from seven parishes from Dublin & Glendalough dioceses – Whitechurch, Rathmines, Castleknock, Greystones, Rathfarnham, Mt Merrion and Tallaght.

The theme of the service was Harvest Thanksgiving and readings and music centred around the wonderful world of surprises that God has given us.  The message of the service was that while we should open our eyes and enjoy God’s creation we should also make sure that we play our part in looking after it.

We thank our musical director David Wilkinson for organising the music and playing for us on the day and also bringing along Rathfarnham Parish Junior Choir.  We were also delighted to be joined by Whitechurch Junior Choir and their director Joyce Perdue.
Each parish brought along a large basket of fruit and vegetables and the Salvation Army were delighted to receive these to help look after the homeless in Dublin.

“What a joyful service” was just one comment made about the television service on RTE on Sunday 23rd November. The service was organised by the Sunday School Society and was watched by young and old from both North and South of Ireland. Over 60 children and leaders gathered from eight Sunday Schools from Dublin & Glendalough Dioceses, along with members of St. Catherine’s / Zion Girl’s Brigade. (more…)

Another year of great support for Brainarama our annual children’s table quiz.

Twenty teams from 12 Parishes in the Diocese met in St. Andrew’s College (by kind permission) and had a most enjoyable afternoon. We had a variety of rounds, including multiple choice, pictures and fill in the blanks. As is usual, ALL the teams got over half marks and some did even better than that!! There are of course winners and we say congratulations and well done to Paul, Emma, Katie and Claire from St. Thomas’ Parish who won the trophy.

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What better way to mark the end of the Sunday School year than by joining with other Sunday Schools for a fun afternoon. This is what happened in St. Andrew’s College organised by the Sunday School Society. The children gathered on a wet afternoon to be brightened up by fun and games.

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