Electives

JUNIOR LEADERS’ ACADEMY

1 Junior Leaders’ Academy: Level 1 (first time as a Junior Leader)

What is a leader? Talk so that children will listen. Learn games and how to lead them. Memory verses. Action songs.

Ronwyn & Neale Collier, Deborah Wagner, Sue Hartley

2 Junior Leaders’ Academy: Level 2 (leading for more than a year)

Leading a small group. How to share your faith. Presenting object lessons. Leading praise & worship.

Ronwyn & Neale Collier, Deborah Wagner, Sue Hartley

Junior Leaders’ Academy: Level 3 (experienced Junior Leaders) – choose from electives below

NEW LEADERS:

3 Making Learning Active

Collect ideas to help children become active participants. The session will include games and activities you can take away and use the next time you need to teach a Bible story or memory verse.

Jo Stotschek is the former Children’s Pastor at Gateway Baptist church and now a mother of one young son.

4 Become a great biblical storyteller

An interactive workshop demonstrating a variety of fun, creative techniques for exploring Scripture with children. Suitable for people of all ages and especially RE teachers, parents, Sunday School leaders.

Carole Danby & Rina Wintour: These two colourful characters are often referred to as the ‘Holy Wiggles’ because they manage to entertain people of all ages whilst proclaiming God’s word creatively and innovatively. They work together for the Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane in the Youth and Children’s Ministry team and between them have 50 years of experience teaching children in State and Catholic schools. They are often invited to work with people in Christian denominations other than their own. They write resources for Catholic parishes and schools and Rina is the author of 16 books on creative ways to present Scripture with children. Their passion is to teach children to have a love of Scripture and to enjoy the Bible as story.

5 Praying with kids

Prayer is a vital key to help children grow and develop in their relationship with Jesus. Explore the use of “Play as you Pray” great ideas and resources to help you in teaching and encouraging your children to pray.

Judy Wharton is the director and developer of “Gooseyboots”

6 Adding impact to your program through Gospel illusions

Simple, straight forward Gospel messages will be illustrated and you will feel confident that you will be able to use them without hours of practice.

Ken MacGregor is owner & Manager of Sonshine Puppets, trainer and puppet constructor.

7 The Eyes Have it! – Using visuals effectively

Use object lessons and other visuals to make your teaching a visual, memorable experience. Includes hands-on opportunity to try simple sketching that anyone can do.

Wes Fittell is Queensland Director, OAC Ministries

8 Music for the musically challenged

If you all can play is a CD player and maybe 3 chords on a guitar this is the music elective for you. Take home musical ideas to memorise scripture, bring out a main point and worship God. Air guitars optional.

Helen Webb is the Children and Families Coordinator at Creek Road Presbyterian Church.

9 Spirit empowered children

Is it possible for children to experience the Holy Spirit in a personal, powerful way in our ministries? How can we train them to hear his voice, obey his promptings, and experience his power? Find out how during this exciting elective.

Luke Harris is CitiKidz Pastor (Citipointe Church, Brisbane)

10 Leading Children to Christ

Give people the skills to lead children into a personal relationship with Jesus confidently and according to Scripture. Discuss why, how and when it is appropriate to pray this way with children.

Julie Keal is Children’s Ministry Leader, Helensvale Baptist Church

11 Creativity in Children’s Ministry

This Elective will cover creative ways to present the gospel to kids. It will talk about how we engage children with the messages of the bible in a way that keeps children focused and interested. The Elective explores the need for fun, characters and creativity in order to capture and maintain children’s attention. Creativity in Ministry is based on a few simple principles that will be outlined, presented and shown with examples.

Jen Anderson is the Kids Club Program Co-ordinator at Menai Anglican Church & Creative Partner, RU4Kidz ministries. Published Author of 2 Christian Children’s Books

12 Puppetry: Just for Starters

A basic introduction to the mechanics of puppetry and their effective use in children’s ministry for new and experienced leaders.

Tom & Tish Fittell. Tom is a primary school chaplain; Tish is a primary school teacher. They have both been involved in OAC ministries for many years.

13 Managing Behaviour & Maintaining Control

Discover skills to keep children on task and engaged through effective management strategies in the classroom setting & beyond. Be empowered to help your children to make good behaviour choices.

Peter Wheeler is a Behaviour Management resource teacher and trainer with Education Queensland.

14 Music with kids who don’t yet know God

A workshop on how to engage primary aged children through music, keeping it appropriate in an outreach context, and tips on choosing songs and presenting them well.

Snack Music has released two albums of new songs for primary aged children – Star In God’s Eyes and Oh Have You Heard? Holly, Ruth, Jesse and Brendan see music as a fun and effective way of engaging with kids, and perform regularly at churches, outreach events, conferences and family programs.

15 Kids’ Talk – Getting the message across

Practical ideas and strategies for communicating Jesus with all sorts of kids in all sorts of groups. Find out ways to get the kids in your group engaged, excited, talking and learning.

Catriona Pine is a paediatric Speech Pathologist who has worked for the last fifteen years helping kids communicate. She has also been involved in too-many-to-mention SU missions, SU camps, kids clubs, holiday programs and Kidsgames. She has recently started a storytelling business ‘Wide eyed stories’.

16 Bible Stories for Under 5s

A hands on elective looking at how to maintain interest, how to use appropriate language and how to choose stories for under 5s.

Helen Webb is the Children and Families Coordinator at Creek Road Presbyterian Church.

17 Using Illusions in your ministry

A workshop teaching the secrets of magic tricks and illusions to connect with people from all ages, backgrounds and language barriers.

Christopher Wayne is one of Australia’s leading entertainers and motivational speakers. Performing 300+ live magic shows a year as well as being the magician on Australia’s #1 Kids TV Show, Toasted TV on Channel 10, Christopher will be teaching some of his greatest magical effects that he uses in the field.

18 Face Painting with a Purpose

You think face painting is hard, WRONG! Think it is hard to talk to children about Jesus, WRONG! This workshop covers basic face painting & witnessing techniques to use anywhere

Marilyn Sakovits is a member of the Paradise Community Church in Adelaide.

19 Starting Out with Music

Music is a fun and effective way to connect with children. Learn to teach and lead fun songs with actions.

20 Sketching for dummies

An introductory, hands-on session, specially helpful for people who think they can’t draw, to learn simple, eye-catching sketching, with a minimum of fuss and a minimum of equipment.

Wes Fittell is Queensland Director, OAC Ministries

21 Games

Learn and play 12 games that you will easily be able to play with your kids groups, whether at church, kids club or school. Also, some basic clues to running games successfully

Peter Lusk is Children’s pastor at Careforce Church in Melbourne. Also a Director Southern Cross Kids Camps

22 Making Memory Verses stick

Come and experience a range of creative ideas to use to teach children how to learn verses from the Bible.

Tom & Tish Fittell. Tom is a primary school chaplain; Tish is a primary school teacher. They have both been involved in OAC ministries for many years.

23 All Alone with a puppet

Simple, effective ideas for any age group, you can take away with you and work some tomorrow!

Ken MacGregor is owner & Manager of Sonshine Puppets, trainer and puppet constructor.

EXPERIENCED LEADERS

24 Helping families pass on faith to their children

How do we help families become a forming centre for faith? What resources are there to help parents share faith with their children? We will look at some practical ideas for parents and churches to help them equip each home in the vital task of nurturing faith.

Paul Yarrow is chaplain at Clayfield College and is part of the Australian Child in Our Hands ministry team, which produces Faith Family.

25 Making R.E. Fun

Practical ideas for making any class fun using games and competitions while teaching even more effectively.

Di Fittell has been teaching RE in multiple schools for many years.

26 Counselling: Helping Children In Grief

Christians have not been encouraged to grieve, many have never seen a dead body and death is still a subject to be avoided. Tears are perceived to be a sign that the person is lacking in faith. The Bible does not teach it is wrong to grieve or to weep, quite the reverse. The Bible gives many examples of weeping and mourning over death of a loved one. Childhood is a time of great change due to normal and abnormal events. In this workshop we talk about how to recognise symptoms of grief and how to help children through difficult times in their life.

David Goodwin is the Director of Kidsreach, an International organisation that has as its mission to train, resource, encourage and equip those who work with children. Kidsreach has offices in Sydney (Australia), Paraparaumu (NZ) and Kandy (Sri Lanka). David is a pastor, counsellor, lecturer and trainer and has written extensively on children’s ministry and counselling subjects and trains leaders in many countries of the world.

27 Establishing a good relationship with your school

Come ad discover simple but effective strategies for establishing positive rapport and relationships with your local school community. First hand experience from a schools’ worker.

Jenny Dobbin is Area Manager for the Brisbane North region for SU Qld and has been a chaplain for more than 10 years in Qld schools.

28 The Big Picture of the Old Testament

This workshop will eDo you get confused and bogged down reading the Old Testament? This elective will help you understand the major themes of the OT and how they relate to the new Testament, thus increasing your capacity to teach the OT to children and enable you to examine appropriate ways to teach kids biblical truths in a school context.

Leigh Trevaskis was a vet before graduating from Sydney Missionary Bible College and completing a Phd in the UK. Leigh currently lectures at Queensland Theological College on the OT.

29 Faith Inkubators

The F.A.I.T.H. 5 is an acronym that stands for Faith Acts In The Home and it describes the heart of incubating faith as a way that builds relationships and an environment that helps children and parents thirst to come back for more. Explore these five easy steps to do at home that can be modelled in programs every week in the congregation.

Tim Jarrick is Pastor at the Ipswich Lutheran Church

30 Creative Communication

Everyone has creativity, it simply needs to be unlocked. This session will help you tap into your God given imagination, to unpack the bible in a unique and exciting style to the next generation.

Peter Blase is the Schools’ Worker for the Bible Society Qld

31 Winning with boys

Many leaders find boys frustrating when they don’t respond to their programmes. Using techniques and strategies that boys can enjoy will revolutionise your ministry to them.

Ronwyn Collier is a Pastor at the Mount Cotton Community Fellowship and Deputy Head of Junior School: Calvary Christian College

32 Science demonstrations that teach faith

Believe the unbelievable: make a tea bag fly, get an egg to go in a bottle, make dirty water clear all the while teaching spiritual truths and having fun!

Ross Mackenzie is Physics professor at UQ and RE teacher for 10 years

33 Protective behaviours for children

This elective is about teaching children “people safety skills” ie boundary setting, being persistent in getting help & other protective behaviours that will help in the prevention of bullying, child sexual abuse and abduction.

Denise Powell was employed as a Youth and Children’s pastor for 7 years in Australia before moving to the US with her family for 10 years. In the last 3 years of this time Denise implemented an afterschool children’s outreach program on her children’s public school campus. Denise holds a Bachelor of Theology (BTh) from the Sydney College of Divinity and she is currently working towards a Masters in Theology majoring in Biblical Studies. Denise is Director of KidPower Australia.

34 Talking with kids about Jesus without being creepy

It’s easy to over spiritualise, use jargon language and allow enthusiasm to complicate conversations with kids. Some tips on making these conversations natural.

Jonathan Sargeant is the Religious education consultant, Anglican Diocese of Brsbane

35 Working With Special Needs Children

Children who are handicapped or have learning disorders, may not appear to be the same as ‘other’ children, but locked inside their bodies, are all the same feelings and emotions All children need to be exposed to the love of God. In this workshop we learn how to react to the person – not their handicap. Touch them, share with them! The disabled child wants to be loved, accepted and to succeed. A handicap does not lessen the need for the personality or emotions to develop. Every child needs to be able to love and to be loved.

36 Creative ideas for engaging boys with the Gospel

Field tested practical ideas that connect with boys and help them to connect with faith.

Dan Foster is a teacher, a former chaplain and foster care provider and director of an SU boys camp since 2003. Dan and Ann Marie are parents of Malachi.

37 The Big Picture of the New Testament

How can you teach the New Testament if you don’t understand how it fits together? This elective will enhance your understanding of the pieces and the whole of the NT and thus increase your ability to get out of it what the author was trying to say and to teach it to children.

Wes Redgen lectures full time at Queensland Theological College on the New Testament and Greek. He previously was minister for ten years at Ipswich Presbyterian Church. Wes’ children tell him his children’s talks are better than his sermons!

38 Using Video clips with kids to amp up your message

Communication with kids has changed radically. Find out how easy it is to be on the cutting edge!

Jonathan Sargeant is Religious education consultant, Anglican Diocese of Brsbane

39 The Bible, Memory and the Brain

Teaching the Way the Brain Learns aka Brain Science for Dummies!

Peter Eckermann is the National Coordinator for Faith Inkubator Australia based in Adelaide

40 Maximising your RE lesson

30 minutes is not long for a lesson so come and discover lots of tips and ideas from long term RE teachers to help you make the most of your time.

Owen & Gay Riley. Owen works for ChildSafe Australia and chairs the Kids Ministry Qld Ltd Board. Gay is on the Brisbane KidsGames Operational team. Owen and Gay are experienced teachers who have worked in schools and children’s ministry for many years.

41 Answering children’s questions about life & faith

Children’s questions are gold as they come from their attempt to make sense of life and faith. “Why didn’t God stop the tsunami on Boxing Day 2004?”, “Why did my mother die?” and others like these a question that need exploring with children if we are going to help them grasp and own faith for themselves.

Terry Williams is on the staff team with Scripture Union Qld and SU International where he fills the role of Children’s Ministry Specialist. He chairs the Qld Children’s Ministry Network, the IGNITE Steering Team and the Brisbane KidsGames team.

42 Working with children’s Behaviours, Disorders & Syndromes (2 hour elective)

Children’s Ministry leaders often work in the “frontline” and may be the first person children trust to talk about their mental health issues. This interactive elective will provide an overview about how to recognise the most common mental health and psychiatric problems in young people and what to do when they occur.

Dr Stephen Stathis is a consultant paediatrician and child & adolescent psychiatrist. Among other things, he leads a team of mental health clinicians at the Royal Children’s Hospital. He also visits the Brisbane Youth Detention Centre as their adolescent psychiatrist.

43 Passing on faith in the home

Christian parents have such an opportunity to help their children meet the living God in their own home. Unfortunately, this is not always an easy task. A chance to explore some practical steps towards this goal!

Kerryn Grice & Cathie Leslie are parents of primary and high school aged children.

44 Recruiting awesome leaders

Kids ministry teams should not consist of the dregs of our church, the leftover recruits that all of the ‘cooler’ departments rejected. Find out how to identify, recruit and develop cutting edge disciples that will be the envy of your youth and creative ministries departments!

Luke Harris is CitiKidz Pastor (Citipointe Church, Brisbane)

45 Self Esteem – Building Children’s Sense of Self Worth

Children need to have a sense of self worth because if they do, they will be able to overcome difficulties knowing they are worth so much to God that he would give his son to die for them. This is quite different to how the secular world sees self esteem which tends to make children into the king in their own self-centred world. At the heart of self worth in Christian terms is coming to experience the Father Heart of God.

46 Mentoring children

Find out how a mentoring program can powerfully impact the lives of vulnerable children when churches and schools are brought together in partnership.

Sue Rogers is the Program Development Associate for Kids’ Hope Aus

47 The pieces of the puzzle of effective ministry to children

There are some important foundations to an effective ministry, lets work through these and se how they can aid growth in your ministry.

Tammy Tolman is the Founder of Spot the Difference ministry and is based in Wollongong

48 The Top 10 things kids need to see in you

If it is true that we ‘teach what we know,but we reproduce what we are” then what do kids see when they look at us.

Deborah Wagner is Children’s Ministry Specialist with SU Queensland in the Brisbane SE Region.

49 Craft on a shoe-string budget

Simple craft ideas that kids will enjoy but cost only cents to make.

Di Fittell has been teaching RE in multiple schools for many years.

LEADERS of LEADERS:

50 All Age Worship – Is it possible?

Creative and fun ways to approach intergenerational worship that are inclusive, imaginative and inspiring

Stephanie Kennedy is the School Chaplain at Wellers Hill State School and attends Wellers Hill Tarragindi Uniting Church

51 Staying the Distance

Strategies to consider incorporating into your life to maximize your effectiveness for ministry while protecting you from the scent of smoke from the ‘burn out’ fires.

Ruth Peckman was Children’s & Families’ Pastor at Birkdale Baptist before moving to Toowomba where, with her husband Greg, they are Pastors at Toowoomba Community Church.

52 Imagine the impact when the church and family collide.

If red represents the warmth of the home and yellow the vibrancy of the Spirit of the church, then orange is what we get when we mix the two. Come and explore some of the strategies and stories of this shared journey that builds faith.

Tammy Tolman is the Founder of Spot the Difference ministry

53 MOPS is for Mums

Come along and experience how MOPS can help mums recognise and meet their own needs and are better equipped to meet the needs of their children, family and the world.

Jillian Ross is MOPS Regional Coordinator, Brisbane

54 Leadership that makes a difference

There’s a difference between having a leadership position and having influence. There’s a difference between getting a program together and influencing people to change. Come and explore.

Trainer to be advised

55 Talking ‘Bout Z Generation

Are you working with primary-aged kids and would like a clearer picture of what Generation Z is all about? This session is an opportunity to discuss the features of this Generation and some of the best ways to engage with them.

Rachel Doherty is a trainer with SU Qld in the Diploma of Youth Work. She’s worked as a social worker and chaplain with children for 15 years and is mum to her own tribe of Gen Zeds.

56 Servant Leadership versus Slave Labour

The elective will be about how to “have fun, be bossy and stay sane all at the same time” by covering the how-to’s of building leadership teams, sustaining and maintaining leadership teams, the difference between leading and co-ordinating, remembering who you are – and some other bits.

Jaye Barros leads a team of people in families’ ministry in her local parish and has had experience working as a chaplain in schools.

57 Dare to be a Daniel – Discipleship Course

58 Mistakes I have made and things I have learned

Come and hear from Pete as he shares his mistakes and things he promises he will ‘never do again’. Some will be funny, others serious. Surely you can learn something form experience!

Peter Lusk is Children’s pastor at Careforce Church in Melbourne. Also a Director Southern Cross Kids Camps

59 You can’t ignore them any longer

Identifying the different types of children living in the house of God and with God’s help develop them into the man or woman God has destined them to be.

Glenda Morrison is Children’s Pastor at Highway Christian Church, Ormeau

60 Getting Beyond the School Front Gate

Building networks in your wider school community with churches and other service providers can not only spread word about your own ministry but help you care more deeply for those who attend it.

Rachel Doherty is a trainer with SU Qld in the Diploma of Youth Work. She’s worked as a social worker and chaplain with children for 15 years and is mum to her own tribe of Gen Zeds.

61 Transitioning Yr 6 & 7s – developing your Junior Leaders

The objective of Children’s ministry is to produce mature young believers. One of the great keys to ongoing Children’s ministry are is a vibrant Junior Leader programme. Junior Leaders find value in involvment and mentoring, while helping the ministry through energy, peer-role modelling and the joy of seeing the fruit of many years of Children’s ministry in their lives.

Neale Collier is Pastor at Mount Cotton Community Fellowship & Chaplain at Cleveland High school. Neale has been involved in Children’s Ministry for over 20 Years

62 Ministry to parents during Kids’ Club time

How to make a place that is so inviting that Parents come and drop their kids off to “kids club” but stay and have a chat and get to know other church families. How do we turn our conversations and hearts towards the salvation story. Our “mums club” is so popular with Mums, Dads and Grandparents that the we are looking for ways to do it at more events. We would also love to hear other people’s ideas and success stories.

Helen Webb is the Children and Families Coordinator at Creek Road Presbyterian Church.

63 Just Do it!

What is God asking you to do in your Children’s ministry area? Are you confident you should be in this ministry? Help!

Glenda Morrison is Children’s Pastor at Highway Christian Church, Ormeau

64 Running a Missional Playgroup

Would you like a ministry that is fun, colourful, cost efficient and has your community lining up at the door? Play Groups focus on young families with children under 5 and serves as a stepping stone into other church activities. Come and learn how to develop a program that suits your community and balances interactive play, coffee, and Christ.

Julie Terry is Associate Pastor Hervey Bay Baptist Church

65 Using the KidsGames strategy to connect with your community

Come and find out about a tried and tested strategy that connects with children and families outside your church within your own local community. Your church, your leaders, your community, your program involving the Bible, kids and sport.

Owen & Gay Riley. Owen works for ChildSafe Australia and chairs the Kids Ministry Qld Ltd Board. Gay is on the Brisbane KidsGames Operational team.

66 Shout All About It!

Making presentations that really sell your message.

Rachel Doherty is a trainer with SU Qld in the Diploma of Youth Work. She’s worked as a social worker and chaplain with children for 15 years and is mum to her own tribe of Gen Zeds.

67 Observing Junior Leaders’ Academy

A limited number of spaces available for delegates to observe training in action which especially caters for Junior Leaders. Be part of the training for the young leaders you are mentoring.

68 Visit EXPO hall