Sabbath is a bit like a birthday

Birthdays take organising

This was my first lock down birthday, and my family did an AMAZING job of making it special for me.

My girls are 8 and 9 yo, and they had been planning with Daddy for weeks! They made presents and cards; they organised bunting and party poppers; they discussed food options, chocolate and chocolate cake; they planned places to go (for our daily walk!) and others things which would make my day special. They even considers making sushi!

Exploring the Bible together experiment week #2

This is the second post about an experiment in intergenerational Bible study. After last week, I asked both families in our ‘group’ (mine and one other), to have a chat about how it went, if they liked it and if they’d like to do it again. The consensus was ‘yes’, so we applied our learning … Read more

Exploring the Bible together experiment week #1

For a long time now I’ve been in favour of adults and children growing in faith together. I’ve led all-age services, done training for family and childrens’ workers and even run family activity days all with the intention of helping people experience and understand the joy which comes from intergenerational church done well. For me … Read more

How can we help families grow in their faith at home?

I believe faith is something which is more caught than taught. That’s why Jesus’ disciples followed for three years. They hung out with Jesus, watching, experiencing, absorbing who he was and how he lived. It’s something we know instinctively when we think about the people we spend more time with. We know that if we … Read more

Make an invitation to play

This is a simple, creative, easy to roll out idea to let children play, including playing with things of faith such as Bible stories, prayer, helping others. They are created using things you have at home, and involve minimal adult preparation or input: Set out a selection of toys, craft materials, construction items or other … Read more

Faith at home habits!

Do you set goals? How about developing a habit instead? In his book Atomic Habits, James Clear says that it’s habits which make us the people we are, and the people we want to be. Goals, he proposes, once achieved, can actually cause a reduction in the type of behaviour we want to have, whereas … Read more

Top tips on how to pray together as a family

This is a question I’ve been asked, so while I’ve written a long article about passing on a life of prayer, I thought it might also be handy to have a quick list of top tips to help you pray together as a family. If you’re looking for a creative way to pray together, perhaps … Read more

Preparing for COVID-19 Christmas

This Christmas is the Christmas we never thought we’d have to plan for! So, what can we do to make it a good one? In some ways not being able to plan for huge, elaborate group gatherings – nativity plays, carol services, parties – leaves us free to have a bit of a rethink about … Read more

REALLY joyful REAL people

My favourite part of the JOY edition of Faith at home has got to be the Joyful People Top Trumps. I made Top Trump cards of 8 joyful Bible characters (4 women, 4 men) each of whom has their own song. I also made a blank set for you to create your own ones, either … Read more

A new type of Christmas?

This year we may well have to change how we celebrate Christmas. Large gatherings and community singing won’t be easy, so let’s be creative and start thinking about what we want to achieve in our Christmas celebrations, and start thinking of new ways to celebrate. One of the things I love most about Christmas is … Read more

Connect with questions

Some things have changed totally over the last few months, and some things haven’t really. Our need for human contact, to be able to speak and be listened to are still the same, if perhaps more apparent due to time apart. Despite us ‘all being in this together’, every family is having a unique pandemic … Read more

Transition to a new normal?

Transition is particularly hard when we’ve already been through a difficult time, don’t really know if where we’re going, and are pretty sure there will be more difficult times ahead. We had all hoped that corona would come and go and things could go back to normal, but sadly that’s not going to happen. If … Read more