Issues in Children’s Ministry

DM421/DM621

To help candidates understand a number of contemporary issues with a bearing on church-based children’s ministry;
To begin to develop skills for work among church-based children;
To provide an opportunity for supervised practical work.

Section A: Contemporary issues in Church-based Children’s Ministry (40%)

Definitions of family: historical, sociological, and contemporary understandings; implications for family ministry.
Children and education: a survey of government, independent and Christian schools; the implications for and relationships between church and school based ministry.
An overview of significant pastoral issues for children: loss and grief; stress; drugs; occult; family dysfunction; abuse.
Working with children in a multi-cultural setting; children and other faiths.
An overview of children with special needs; and their integration.

Section B: Children’s Ministry Skills (40%)

Communicating with children; pastoral care; modelling behaviour; listening and language, verbal and non-verbal; effective discipline in a small or large group context.
Children, doctrine and the sacraments; teaching the doctrines of revelation, humanity, salvation, church, and work of the Holy Spirit; children and baptism, communion, and confirmation; various denominational perspectives.
Using Scripture with children, effective use and abuse.
Practical skills in ministry: creative arts – music, drama, puppets, storytelling; small group work.
Supporting and resourcing parents in nurturing and discipleship roles.
Leading a team; recruiting, training, liaising with parents and other stakeholders, including those from different cultures.

Section C: Ministry in Practice (20%)

Supervised Field Education: At least 20 hours work to be undertaken in one of the following areas: holiday and after-school programs; family ministry; camps; school religious education; church-based religious education; other work as approved by the course coordinator.

Note: the ministry area should be different from that undertaken in previous study