Children and young people
Children and young people need to know that they are loved by God and uniquely created by Him. The children already linked in with our churches have a vital role to play in showing the adults what God’s kingdom is like (Matthew 19:4) and a church without children and young people is like a body without an eye or an ear (1 Cor 12).
Need advice?
If you would like to chat to a member of the Old Deanery staff about children and families please speak to the most appropriate Children’s Mission Adviser – either Early Years (0-5) or Children and Families (5-11). Their contact details are below.
If you would like to speak about young people (11+) you can contact our Diocesan Mission Enabler, or even better speak to South West Youth Ministries (SWYM) who provide support, training and advice for youth work across the Diocese. SWYM are national experts in youth work and training youth, children and families workers. In addition to subsidised or free access for anglican churches to their training days and outreach activities, they also can provide specific advice and support. They can be contacted via swym.org.uk or admin@swym.org.uk.
The Ministry Pages on this website provide more information on support, training and the resources available to those working with children and young people.
Diocesan Mission Enabler
The Revd James Grier 07825 610288
Email James Grier
Mission Adviser for the Early Years (0-5)
Clare Cooke 01392 294932 / 07719 971983
Email Clare Cooke
Mission Adviser for Children and Families (5-11)
Vacancy
What is SWYM and how can they help?
South West Youth Ministries (SWYM) provides training and placements for Youth, Children and Families Work as well as in Missional Leadership.
SWYM offers a one year discipleship course called Be Transformed. This can be a great stand-alone gap year, a chance to explore vocation to longer term ministry or a preparation for ongoing training. It can then lead onto a 3 year degree in Applied Theology or a 1 year more vocational course called The Academy. Students can be any age and are placed in a church or project alongside their studies.
Exeter Diocese have a partnership with them to support us with our youth provision and mission in Devon.
This includes access to:
- Big SWYM training day
- Professional Development Days
- Weekly cluster support for youth workers
- Bespoke advice around employment and general youth work
SWYM also runs various events and camps to engage non-church young people around specific themes – eg Geek Factory and Live Football.
They also run an incredible annual camp for around 1500 youth and children both Christian and non-Christian. SPREE is 26-28th June 2020. www.spreesw.org
For more information about what SWYM can offer contact admin@swym.org.uk or visit their website www.swym.org.uk
