• Hi Jen and Debbie I was meeting with Neil Marsh our cleaner this afternoon. He told me what Milton Baptist church do during their sermons - they have an area at the front in between the congregation and the stage for kids. They lay out bean bags, cushions, rugs, craft, low tables, and they invite younger kids to hang out there during the service. Now, Neil may not have described this accurately to me - I think he saw this on their church website - so we don't know the exact format. But I thought it was worth discussing to see what you think of it as an idea. Thank you for all you do Chris

    1.  — Edited

      Hi Jen & Debbie Please can we begin a chat about Christmas events for JAM? I'm not sure what we've already discussed, but I'd love us to have a Christingle service on Dec 1. I also have a nativity in my diary for Dec 15, but I'm not sure if you still want to go ahead with that. Grace asked me to contact Helen Bath (headteacher) to see if she wants school children to sing/ be involved in our Christmas services. Helen is really up for it and is liaising with Grace. Please can you both chat to Grace when you get the chance - so that we're all coordinated? The best way to get hold of Grace is by email. Looking forward to another special Christmas! Many thanks

      1. Debbie, you have the lead for the last JAM of the ‘term’ this Sunday with Stephen helping. Is that still ok? Chris, do you have a theme yet? I will sort a time with a Debbie to discuss the wider strategy for children’s work and make sure we include the new helpers. We are away again this weekend so will not be at church. Thanks xjx

        2. I love Christingle, sounds exciting and would love to be involved x

        3. I have decided to do JAM on Sunday all about the Bible, what it is made up of, what stories they know from it, how we use it in our lives etc.

        4. Sounds really good Debbie

      2. Advance notice of the theme and resources for Sunday 8 Sep, which is Ability Sunday. If you follow this link you'll find it:
        07-03-2019 - Announcing the theme for Ability Sunday 2019 (September 8th)
        archive.aweber.com

        1. That looks really good

        2. It does doesn't it. I've asked Grace to preach that Sunday.

      3.  — Edited

        Hi everyone I can give you a sneak preview of some good news, which is that Grace Rubery now has permission from Julie to operate as a Reader at St Mark's. Grace is interested in getting involved with JAM and I said that a good starting point would be to speak to you Jen about joining the rota as a second DBS team member. I've also invited Grace onto this group to help communication. Best wishes Chris

        2. Yes I agree! Actually I'm rethinking it now because I want to talk about our vision for St Mark's instead. Given that we are about to launch the Deanery consultation about the future of the parish I want to share what I feel God's put on my heart. The basic framework is Parish, Pioneer and Plant. I see St Mark's being a thriving parish church that has lots of exciting pioneer mission and is also looking to church plant in the future. Hopefully something in there for JAM!

        3. Re Grace's JAM involvement - I think we should start with 'helper'. I'm sure Grace will respond to your post when she's joined this group.

        4. Right. I'll put my thinking cap on!

      4. Looking ahead to the summer, you might remember that we switch to All Age services (whilst keeping our usual service pattern) once schools have broken up. So the first Sunday will be 21 July. Jul 21 AAW (CE) Jul 28 AAHC (CE) Aug 4 AAW (possible baptism) CE Aug 11 AAHC (CE) Aug 18 AAW (Gilly Bunce) Aug 25 AAHC (Emma Amyes) I would love it if you have any ideas for services and involving the children. I have an initial idea of looking at characters from the bible, using the Willowcreek kids video series (Stories from the Bible). Any thoughts or inspiration?

        1. I love the idea of looking at characters from the Bible using the willowcreek series

      5. Hi Jen & Debbie It might be a bit late for the JAM content, but the theme this Sunday is 'the discipline of God's Word' and it's all about the value of soaking up the bible. We'll look at five ways of doing this: 1 Hearing the Word 2 Reading the Word 3 Studying the Word 4 Memorising the Word 5 Meditating on the Word

        1. Decided not to bring fin, too hard to control during the service

          1. Just checking the rota and it looks like jen down to do jam on Sunday. My other role is publishing a weekly news sheet and I put on there who is leading jam so could you let me know who it is please x

            1. It’s me xjx

            2. Yeah

          2. Hi nicky and jen. We have decided to start bringing amelia's younger brother and so I thought I'd give you a heads up. Fin is 3 in 3 weeks time. He understands everything that is said but speech is poor. He is a very active child but does go to nursery so is learning. If possible I won't stay with him during jam but I may have to. I think if jess 's three are there he'll fit right in! Please tell me if he's a problem. During the service I'll give him his ipad!

            1. That’s great!