The Bishops’ Children & Youth Council have chosen prayer as the theme for their listening exercise for Spring 2024, and want to hear from as many young voices in the diocese as possible.
In 2023, we began a programme of termly listening exercises, through which we heard from more than 375 young voices, from schools and church groups across the city and county.
We discovered from the listening exercise in Spring 2023 that prayer is an important faith practice for children and young people in school, church and at home.
The Bishops’ Children & Youth Council decided they wanted to find out more about what prayer means for children and young people, and what helps them to pray. So, they are asking for your help in facilitating a listening group with children or young people in your context.
All you need to get involved is a group of children or young people and a facilitator to run the listening group. In school, that might be during lunch break, at an after-school club or as part of a school council meeting. In church, that could be part of your Sunday activities, at a mid-week gathering or club.
A Facilitators’ Guide and resources are available for download here, which includes everything you need to get started.
Groups should be completed and feedback submitted by the end of April.
Matt Long, Youth Engagement & Intergenerational Communities Enabler, said: “Children and young people are not only the ‘future of the church’, but they’re everyday disciples, trying to figure out the world they inhabit and working out how to practice and grow in faith.
“We need to listen and respond to their voice as they bring different perspectives. Our termly listening exercises are a first step towards giving young voices more of a platform in the diocese – so please get involved!”
If you would like more information about getting involved, contact Matt on Matt.Long@LeicesterCofE.org.
Reimagining how we hear and respond to the voices of children and young people
In seeking to put children and young people closer to the heart of everything we do as a diocese, our termly listening exercises enable us to hear more clearly from the children and young people in our communities, so we can better serve and support them.
Each term we work with young people to pick a theme and create a ‘ready-to-deliver’ listening group session. Listening groups are facilitated in schools and with church groups. Children and young people are asked to share their thoughts, ideas, and stories, in response to a series of conversation prompts and interactive activities.
Then, a team of ‘sense makers’ (group of children and young people) go through the feedback received from all the listening groups and identify key questions to ask Bishop Martyn, who then responds in a video. A fuller report of the key findings of the listening exercise is also produced and shared with the Bishops’ Leadership Team as well as with the wider diocese and all who have participated.
You can read the reports from last year’s three listening exercises (on the themes of Listening, Practising Faith, and Leadership), and watch Bishop Martyn’s response videos here.