Advice

CHALLENGE

Call for Churches to be more 'Family Friendly'

The Methodist Superintendent of King’s Lynn has called for churches to be much more ‘Family Friendly’ in all that they do.

The Rev’d Dr Mike Bossingham, who has a book coming out on the topic in the autumn, has been disappointed by the reaction of many churches to children in their services. Too often, he feels, churches fail to respond to the needs of children and then blame them for not keeping quiet or for not coming to church.

Dr Bossingham, who has worked with children and young people for over 25 years, researched the topic during his sabbatical break last year. He says: "During my break I discovered that the fall in the number of children in churches on a Sunday has fallen even more dramatically than the number of adults. It is not uncommon for a church to have no children present whatsoever."

He goes on to challenge such churches by asking what sort of future they have.

It wasn’t all doom and gloom though; Dr Bossingham discovered that when churches started to accept and cater for children and families this trend was very quickly reversed.

"I was delighted to see churches of all sizes and traditions catering well for children and then were once more drawing families into their church. This was so encouraging. Families will come and be part of a church if they are accepted, welcomed and the service caters for their needs. We live in a consumer age, people simply won’t come if their needs are not being catered for. Churches must adapt."

The book Building Family-Friendly Churches contains advice and a host of ideas and material that will help churches become more 'family friendly'. But Dr Bossingham intends to do much more than this.

When he leaves King’s Lynn this summer instead of taking up a standard appointment he will be founding a charity called The Family Friendly Churches Trust which will advise and encourage individuals within a congregation to make their church more suitable for families, children and teenagers. He has the backing of the Methodist Church for this project, but the trust will assist and work alongside churches of all traditions and denominations.

Churches will be asked to sign the Family Friendly Charter which pledges to start working towards catering well for children and young people. Such churches will then be allowed to use the charitiy's logo and be listed on the website. This will allow families with children to seek out family friendly churches. The charity will also help churches in the use and purchase of hi-tech equipment.

He went on to say: "This is all very exciting and I am more than a little nervous about it. However I feel very strongly that I am following the right path."

You can read the charter and find out much more about the charity at www.FamilyFriendlyChurches.org.uk

© Christian Family Network
is run by CPO, supported by
Care for the Family, Marriage Resource, Positive Parenting,
Care, Women Alive, Christian Herald and many others.


		CHALLENGE Call for Churches to be more 'Family Friendly' The Methodist Superintendent of King’s Lynn has called for churches to be much more ‘Family Friendly’ in all that they do. The Rev’d Dr Mike Bossingham, who has a book coming out on the topic in the autumn, has been disappointed by the reaction of many churches to children in their services. Too often, he feels, churches fail to respond to the needs of children and then blame them for not keeping quiet or for not coming to church. Dr Bossingham, who has worked with children and young people for over 25 years, researched the topic during his sabbatical break last year. He says: "During my break I discovered that the fall in the number of children in churches on a Sunday has fallen even more dramatically than the number of adults. It is not uncommon for a church to have no children present whatsoever." He goes on to challenge such churches by asking what sort of future they have. It wasn’t all doom and gloom though; Dr Bossingham discovered that when churches started to accept and cater for children and families this trend was very quickly reversed. "I was delighted to see churches of all sizes and traditions catering well for children and then were once more drawing families into their church. This was so encouraging. Families will come and be part of a church if they are accepted, welcomed and the service caters for their needs. We live in a consumer age, people simply won’t come if their needs are not being catered for. Churches must adapt." The book Building Family-Friendly Churches contains advice and a host of ideas and material that will help churches become more 'family friendly'. But Dr Bossingham intends to do much more than this. When he leaves King’s Lynn this summer instead of taking up a standard appointment he will be founding a charity called The Family Friendly Churches Trust which will advise and encourage individuals within a congregation to make their church more suitable for families, children and teenagers. He has the backing of the Methodist Church for this project, but the trust will assist and work alongside churches of all traditions and denominations. Churches will be asked to sign the Family Friendly Charter which pledges to start working towards catering well for children and young people. Such churches will then be allowed to use the charitiy's logo and be listed on the website. This will allow families with children to seek out family friendly churches. The charity will also help churches in the use and purchase of hi-tech equipment. He went on to say: "This is all very exciting and I am more than a little nervous about it. However I feel very strongly that I am following the right path." You can read the charter and find out much more about the charity at www.FamilyFriendlyChurches.org.uk © Christian Family Network is run by CPO, supported by Care for the Family, Marriage Resource, Positive Parenting, Care, Women Alive, Christian Herald and many others.