02.05.2012
First Children’s Ministry Course a Huge Success
Over 60 people completed the Church of Ireland Children’s Ministry Certificate recently. Drawn from across the country, participants represented 11 of the 12 dioceses of the Church of Ireland. The course was run by the Church of Ireland Theological Institute and took place simultaneously in both Dublin and Lisburn over six Saturdays. Participants worked through the Core Skills for Children’s Work programme and covered areas such as child development, children and community, leadership skills, programme planning, pastoral awareness and spirituality and the Bible. Participants were also given opportunities to explore current resources and went to the Building Blocks Children’s Conference in November. Some participants have undertaken further study to obtain university accreditation for the course provided through a partnership with the St Mary’s Centre in Bangor, Wales.
Feedback from the course was very positive with participants commenting:
“It has been brilliant, very important challenging. It is great for the Church of Ireland and will benefit children’s ministry.” (Dublin participant)
“It has re–emphasised for me the importance of valuing those who work with children by providing training, resources and support.” (Dublin participant)
“I have felt encouraged, challenged and more aware of the tremendous responsibility I have in teaching children about the Lord.” (Lisburn participant)
“I feel I have learnt a lot from the course and it has really challenged me and made me think. I really enjoyed meeting people and hearing about what they did in their church and Sunday School, got lots of new ideas.” (Lisburn participant)
Dr Maurice Elliott, director of CITI said: “We are grateful to all of those, both facilitators and participants, who have made the first cycle of the Church of Ireland Children’s Ministry Certificate such an encouraging success. In particular, Rev’d Anne Taylor and Mr Peter Hamill are to be commended for the passion and expertise which they bring to this task. It is our intention that the course will run again next year and we trust it will continue to make a significant contribution to this vital aspect of the Church’s work.”