Grace Cube The Grace Cube can be cut out, folded up and glued into a cube, each side providing you with a different way to say grace at the meal table, take it in turns to throw the dice before you eat and say the prayer on the cube. A Grace is a prayer said before meals as a simple way to thank God for our lives and for providing us with the food we eat. Download the Grace Cube Other… Continue reading

Many families these days find it difficult to sit together at the dining table for a meal; there are television shows to watch, mum or dad might have to work late, the children have commitments, things are busy. Why not during Lent make the commitment to have one meal together at the dining table each week. During this time talk together as a family of your concerns, things you are thankful… Continue reading

After several years of lobbying, a 10 week trial, an independent review and much deliberation time, the NSW parliament passed an amendment to the Education Act 1990 which now allows schools to host ‘special education in ethics’ classes as an option for those children whose parents do not wish for them to attend a Special Religious Education (SRE/Scripture) class. These ethics classes can… Continue reading

UnitingPeople has just released the 100 Ways to celebrate Christmas booklet on their site. Designed to be a free download for you to keep and refer back to year after year, it is available in A4 and A5 sizes and filled with great Christmas activity ideas. As they explain: At the core of Christmas we celebrate peace & joy & love. It isn’t always easy to experience this, when… Continue reading

Many churches are thinking about Messy Church as a way of reaching the ‘messy edges’ and connecting with their communities. Terrigal UC is the first NSW church to be officially linked to the international Messy Church website Terrigal UC are having a Christmas Messy Church on Saturday 27 November at 6pm. Engadine UC have formed a team and have a Messy Church on Sunday 28th November at… Continue reading

There has been much discussion of late around the trial of ethics classes for students who do not attend Special Religious Education. Now that the 10-week trial has come to a close, we begin the official time of evaluation to assess whether the classes were effective for students and whether the implementation processes were appropriate. The Uniting Church has been involved in discussion… Continue reading

The following criteria can be used to evaluate the quality of a playgroup.  If you run a playgroup, consider how well your playgroup fulfills these criteria. Clear, informative signage Welcoming and inclusive Safe environment – clean, well-maintained, well fenced, safe storage Child-protection policy Special needs accommodated Membership information, costs, requirements including… Continue reading

(A short talk given by Judyth Roberts at the Breathe Conference, August 2009) Why talk about playgroups? Because playgroup is what happens when you put a child in the midst! (Mark: 9:36-37) Families with young children in our society are hungry for our hospitality … Searching for safe places for them and their children … Waiting to be welcomed… Here are 10 compelling reasons… Continue reading

Download the questionnaire to help you gauge How Child Friendly your church is. How Child Friendly is Your… Continue reading

There has been a surprising amount of media coverage concerning the proposal to trial a 10 week ethics course in 7 primary schools. The course is designed by the St James Ethics Centre and is supported by the P&C executive. If the trial is successful, it is intended that an ethics course would become an option in the SRE timeslot, reducing the numbers in non-SRE groups. The decision about… Continue reading