Author Archives: Sharon Harding
About Sharon Harding
I was born in England and immigrated to Canada almost 30 years ago. A graduate of Gloucestershire University (B.Ed.), I have been involved in children’s ministry since I was 16. Over the past 12 years I have written for a variety of Christian Education curriculum resources. I also write a blog at rediscoveredfamilies.com encouraging parents to build strong connections with their children. When I am not working I enjoy painting, reading, and pottering around the Internet.We have an opportunity to reach a new generation – will we take it?
There’s a new generation of parents coming to a church near you. Born between 1980 and 2000 Millennials are now coming into their own. Like every generation they tend to have a group persona, with definite characteristics. What has this got to do with Christian Education? Simply put, these are the people who will be coming to our youth and young adult groups; they are also becoming parents. If we are to welcome them into our congregations we need to understand what they are looking for and what is important to them. Continue reading
Does Your Church Value Children’s Ministry?
If asked, most church congregations would agree that children’s ministry is very important…. The trouble is that some church congregations say they value children’s ministry, but don’t actually make it a priority. So how can you tell if your church really values children’s ministry? Continue reading
How Do We Protect the Children?
What would you do if you witnessed a parent spanking a young child for misbehaving in church?What are ways we as church can protect children from abusive behavior without also alienating parents? It sends a terrible message if child learns by silence or non-intervention that church (still) tolerates beating people in God’s name. Continue reading
Creating a Group Covenant
Rooted in scripture, a group covenant is really helpful tools for all Christian educators. Simply stated a group covenant is a special agreement between the members of a group. It clearly states how a group will relate to each other and spells out the “rules” they will follow as they work, learn, play and worship together.
September often marks the beginning of a new year of Sunday school, so it is a good time to sit down with your learning group and discuss how you want to live and act together. Continue reading
What Are We Teaching Children About Desires?
“Christianity takes desire seriously, far more seriously than the Stoic or the mere hedonist. Christianity refuses to budge from the fact that man was made for pleasure, that his beginning and his end is a paradise, and the goal of living is to find Life…Christianity recognizes that we have desire gone mad within us. But it does not seek to rectify the problem by killing desire, rather, it seeks the healing of the desire, just as it seeks the healing of every other part of our human being.” Continue reading
A Brief Introduction to Learning Styles
What kind of learner are you? How do the children in your group prefer to learn? How do you incorporate different learning styles into your teaching? Simply put learning styles describe an individual’s preferred way of acquiring and processing information. The idea is that each person differs in the way they prefer to learn and everyone can enjoy learning if the material is presented in a way that compliments their learning style. Continue reading
Are You Making A Good First Impression?
When new families walk through your doors what do they see? What do they experience? How are they treated? First impressions are often lasting impressions; furthermore research seems to indicate that our first impressions are made very quickly. We only have one chance to make a good first impression and a positive experience will go a long way towards encouraging a new family to return with their children. Continue reading
Blessing or Bother?
Does your faith community see children as a blessing or a bother? How is this reflected by your actions and attitudes? Continue reading
How Will You Respond to the Joint Assembly Declaration?
I am grateful to the joint assembly for focusing our attention on homelessness and substandard housing and calling us to act. The question is what will we do about it? Will this just be a fervent declaration that allows us feel good about ourselves, or will it motivate us to do something? Will we get out of our pews and work together to address these issues, or will this declaration just be empty noise? We have been challenged to learn, raise awareness, act, advocate, and pray together. That sounds like Christian Education to me! Continue reading
A song for teachers
To all those who teach in our churches – Thank you Continue reading
