Celebrating Contemporary Research of UK Ministry with Children & Families
Written by Dr Sarah Holmes
on 9th July 2024
We had a great time on Friday morning, as over 50 people gathered on zoom for the inaugural conference celebrating research amongst children and family ministry, hosted by the CYM Research Centre. You can still sign up on the CYM website to access the ppts and recordings.
Sarah Holmes (CYM Director of Research) began the morning by reflecting on her journey of understanding the place of research - initially she had viewed research as an xray to see more clearly what is already present. But more recently, she has been thinking about how research aids in depth understanding and informing of all of the parts of the 'ecosystem' of children and family ministry. So she emphasised the importance of researching this ministry area and making the findings available so that they can inform practice.
Gareth Crispin (ForMission) then presented the keynote, entitled: ‘Symphonic church: tuning the church for youth, children and families ministry.’ In this, he explained and unpacked his understanding of intergenerational church and relationships within church. Some really challenging and inspiring thoughts. Do log in and have a listen!
We also had presentations from Ann Casson about researching in a cathedral and Mary Hawes about intergenerational ministry in the UK. There were also some practical insights about journeying from an MA dissertation idea to academic article from Emma Olorenshaw and about the methodological and ethical considerations of researching Christian support for traumatic childhood experiences from Rachel Bunting.
There was a ‘Research News’ segment which highlighted the Hand in Hand conference happening in Birmingham in Feb 2025, opportunities to be involved in Robin Barfield’s research about the use of Godly Play in the UK, and Sarah Holmes’ Taking the Pulse research which is now inviting young people to comment on the findings before they are shared widely. Emma Coy also gave us some highlights of the Growing Faith Foundation Digest - do have a read for yourself! And we finished off the morning with a panel discussion about some of the practical considerations if you are developing your own research interests - Thanks to Sarah Brush and Ann Casson for discussing these issues with us.
The recordings of all of these wonderful talks and discussions are available on the CYM website, so we’d encourage you to dip in and have a watch – you’ll find yourself inspired and challenged in equal measure!
As always, do get in touch with Sarah Holmes if you have any queries or ideas to discuss.
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Grandparenting for Faith - update
We are delighted that the Grandparenting for Faith courses are now available in partnership with BRF/Parenting for Faith.
We have two online courses available, for you to complete on your own or gather others to discuss together.
- One is for Christian grandparents and grandparent-figures, comprising six sessions, which you can complete on your own or with others – The course is flexible so that you can choose to do it in 6 sessions, or some groups have split each session in half or even quarters, and spread it over more weeks to allow more time for group discussion - feel free to be flexible according to the needs and preferences of your group. The Grandparenting for Faith course includes lots of ideas, inspiration and encouragement in the video content, to help you to feel more confident in sharing Jesus with the children and young people you love most. Cost £30. By purchasing here, you can watch the course yourself or show it to a small group of grandparents. The certificate of completion will show the name of the person purchasing the course. If you wish to purchase a licence for more people, for example a region, group of churches, network or Diocese etc, please email Sarah Holmes.
Sign up HERE
- A single session course for church leaders/church representatives to help you to equip and empower grandparents and grandparent-figures in your church (1.5 – 2 hours long, depending how long you pause to reflect). Cost £15 for single use, or showing to others in your own church setting. If you wish to purchase a licence for more people, for example a region, group of churches, network or Diocese etc, please email Sarah Holmes.
Sign up HERE
Once you have purchased the course, there is no time limit on when you can use it, and you can return to it as many times as you like, using your log-in details. You can view the launch video to find out more about the courses.
Do you want to get your church involved?
- Why not Download an Invitation to send to others in your church (you can add your details into the box).
- You can Download a PowerPoint to share with others and invite them to join you. This presentation includes some promo slides which you could personalise to your setting, and some of the relevant research findings.
We hope you find these courses useful in your setting. Please email Sarah Holmes with any queries.
Dr Sarah Holmes - Director of Research
10th July 2025
June Ministry Pulse
In June’s Ministry Pulse we asked ministry workers how they felt about the ‘quiet revival’ which was being widely reported and discussed. Most (90%) felt excited and hopeful about increased engagement seen in their setting. However, many reported sentiments of: ‘the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.’ 10% of respondents felt disappointed or did not believe in the concept of the ‘quiet revival.’
It is key for organisations who are resourcing and supporting the local church in ministry to be responsive to this call: volunteering rates in churches seem to be depleted across the board – how can we reframe the concept of volunteering? How can we change our ministry models to be less labour intense and increasingly kingdom driven? Let’s continue to support one another in grappling with these realities of mission and ministry…. [click on the image above to view the detailed statistics]
Dr Sarah Holmes - Director of Research
30th June 2025
Easter Ministry Pulse of ministry with adults, youth and kids
Thank you to everyone who took part in the Easter Ministry Pulse….we had 260 responses. The winner of our Easter Ministry Pulse prize draw for a £50 Amazon voucher was Kate (pseudonym to protect anonymity), a volunteer youth community outreach worker in the Midlands.
See an inspiring message from Nick Shephard here
[click on the picture above to read our results]
Dr Sarah Holmes - Director of Research
29th April 2025