Research has shown that families who have their children baptised in church are expecting us to continue to be in touch with them and talk about faith. In every baptism service, the church makes a promise to help families on their faith journey, but how effectively do we do this?
Your baptism Journey is a special resource in Worcester which enables churches to be in regular touch with baptism families in a non-threatening way which will help them explore faith at home.
Each month families receive a pdf sheet via email with a secular book suggestion for them to enjoy together along with an explanation of how the book reflects something about God. All of the books chosen are popular titles which should be found in their local library (if they don't already have them at home).
There are also activity suggestions linked to the story for the family to try as well as a prayer for them to use. A second prayer is included, linking with the theme of the book to help churches themselves to pray for baptism families.
For example; Harry and the Bucketful of Dinosaurs, a story where Harry knows the names of each and every one of his dinosaurs has been linked with God knowing our names using the text from Isaiah 49:16. Activities include researching what different names mean and creating a door hanger for their children.
The resource is set up as a pdf which can be bcc'd to a group of email addresses each month. This also provides an opportunity for you to include any other information about parish activities - for example an invitation to your Christingle or Pancake party. The hope is that it will help you to build a stronger relationship and families will be more likely to engage with church activities.
This resource is also being used in toddler groups, toddler praise sessions, Sunday groups and some churches are creating a library from which parents can borrow the books with the accompanying resource. Each month's resource can be downloaded here.
We pray that this resource is a blessing to you and your parish.
(NB unless your Diocese is opting into the project, the resource will carry Diocese of Worcester branding).
