Education

"Well Beings" - a Guide to Good Mental Health from the Student Christian Movement

As part of our work with the Free Church Education Committee, FCG has been working with the Student Christian Movement (SCM) in the Higher Education Working Group.

We are pleased to announce that over the summer the SCM has published a resource pack for supporting good mental health for students. This free resource can be downloaded HERE.

The Student Christian Movement has launched Well Beings, a practical guide to good mental health for students. Produced in partnership with Space to Breathe, the resource is a response to a recent survey of students that showed over 90% of students have had mental health problems or are supporting someone who has poor mental health.

The resource covers themes such as where to find help, how to face anxiety and how to build resilience. Each topic is presented along with simple, practical activities to help students develop good mental health.

You can read more about the work we have been doing in the field of HE here and download more resources for you to use and share in your churches and share with your young people.

You may also be interested in a conference for Christian leaders on the theme of mental health which we are hosting later this month (23 Oct) - for further information and to book your place, click here.

(photo courtesy of Eli DeFaria at Unsplash)

Will you write a prayer for your school?

As part of our work in the education team at FCG, we work closely with Pray for Schools.

Our latest initiative with them is… “Share A Prayer” Will you write a prayer for your school and share it with us?

Pray for Schools say…”We are collecting a variety of prayers from both adults and children about your school: the well-being of pupils and staff, touching on issues of concern and hopes for the future.”

So why not get your thinking, praying and writing caps on?! Send a prayer to: england@prayforschools.org

Find out more - download the poster here.

Tell folk at your church and in your house-groups about this. Get creative! Inspire us to pray.

These prayers will be shared as part of the Pray Day for Schools coming up on 19th November.

(photo courtesy of Jan Kahánek @ Unsplash)

Pray for Schools - latest news!

For many years, the FCG has been active and diligent members of the Pray for Schools steering group. Their work has been going from strength to strength, engaging many churches and groups in praying for schools across the UK.

You can find out more about their interesting and varied work and check out their latest news HERE

To register for your very own copy of their inspiring newsletter HERE.

Date for your diary!

Pray Day is the third Tuesday of November every year when schools across Europe and around the world are the focus of prayer. This year it will be held on Tuesday 19th November 2019, with schools across the UK taking part. Join in the wave of prayer for our schools in your churches!

Let us pray….. Loving God, thank you for our schools.

We praise You Lord, for You are full of love, peace and hope. Please help us to be people of good news sharing your love, peace and hope into schools. Please help us to build good relationships with everyone. Please help us to be peace makers when there is tension and stress. Please help us to bring hope when there is despair and dejection. Please help us inspire others to be joyful when there is much to celebrate. Please help us demonstrate your love. Amen

(photo courtesy of Joshua Eckstein @ Unsplash)

Supporting young people who are going to university?

If you and your church are supporting young people who are going off to university, then you might find this leaflet we have just published useful: Branching Out

It is designed to be printed out double-sided and folded into 3 and covers a variety of things, such as:

  • Getting ready to go

  • Making contact

  • Practical help


You may also find the ideas and resources helpful on the links below:

A CALL TO PRAY At the start of the academic year (autumn): Merciful God, we pray for all those starting university courses for degrees and vocational programmes. We know this is a time of great change, so we humbly ask that you uphold and guide the students at this time of transition. Living God, we pray for the parents, carers and church families who are waving off their church / family members who are embarking on university courses. Give the parents, carers and our churches the courage to be brave about this change in their family and church community, as they see their loved ones go on to a new phase in life. Amen

Education Chaplaincy - survey results out now

Chaplaincy Central hosted a survey which resulted in over 100 chaplains from schools and colleges responding. The results were published earlier in the summer and you can read all about them by checking out the links below. The survey is set out in 4 parts:

The survey results make interesting reading - did you know that whilst chaplains are involved in taking services and assemblies, they play a vital role in mentoring and pastoral work with students?

The survey also highlights some of the challenges and delights of working as an educational chaplain…. such as… “Seeing young lives changed and outcomes improved.” What could be more headline grabbing than this statement made by two chaplains responding independently to the question: ‘What is your biggest highlight of the past year in educational chaplaincy?’

There are some really interesting findings, so why not take a look?

Chaplaincy Central’s vision is: “With the rapid growth in the number of people working as chaplains in schools and FE colleges has come a desire expressed by many for a way of sharing resources and good practice and for connecting with others. Our vision is that this web site will be a hub for this exchange of news and ideas and that chaplains will find support and encouragement through being better connected with one another and with Chaplaincy Central.”

The Free Church Education Committee invite you to join with us as we pray for the work of Chaplaincy Central, pray for all of those serving as chaplains in our schools and colleges and for the networks of churches who support chaplains. To find our more about how your church might get involved or get access to more resources to support your church in building partnerships with local colleges check out the FCG link HERE.

Let us pray… Living God, we pray that you will guide and inspire all those students embarking on training for employment and all those seeking support and new learning for their personal development. We pray for the staff and chaplains at our colleges and learning providers, that they have the courage, wisdom and stamina to support the students. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen

(photo courtesy of Jens Johnsson at Unsplash)