Inside this LIGHT Party Pack is all you need to help you celebrate light this Halloween:

Transcription

1 Inside this LIGHT Party Pack is all you need to help you celebrate light this Halloween: A ready-to-go LIGHT party kit with crafts, games, top tips, Bible links and discussion ideas, all linked with a biblical theme of LIGHT All-age service suggestions on the themes of LIGHT of the World and All Saints How to explain and respond to children s questions about Halloween Ideas on how to be LIGHT in your community and reach more children in your area with the good news of Jesus. For you are all children of LIGHT, children of the day. 1 Thessalonians 5:5 Enter our competition to WIN a performance from Chip Kendall at your LIGHT PARTY! See page 17

2 Let s claim back Halloween as a celebration of LIGHT! Dear friends W elcome to your Light Party Pack! We hope that your church will have fun using it to help plan and host a really memorable Light party. Halloween has become a commercialised celebration of the dark things of life. But once it had a lighter, brighter side: on All Hallows Eve churches would celebrate the lives of the saints those inspiring men and women who gave up everything to follow Jesus. We want churches and groups nationwide to be able to claim back Halloween as a festival of light! We know that many churches already host Light parties, but there are not many readymade resources to help you run one. That s why we ve produced this Light Party Pack. Many children today simply don t know about Jesus. Few go to church or get much teaching about the Christian faith at school. But they are desperately searching for happiness. My hope and prayer is that by using this Light Party Pack you ll be able to encourage and support the children in your church or group, and even to share Jesus, the Light of the World, with other children in your community. We believe it is important that every child might get to know the hope and joy and the sense of purpose that Jesus freely offers to each one of them. But let s also look beyond Halloween. Scripture Union is working to share Jesus, the Light of the World, with children all across England and wales every day of the year, through our many direct ministries. We also offer a wide range of other resources and support to help you, developed out of our own frontline mission to take God s good news to children and young people. You can read about more of these ministries in the pages that follow. We hope that they will inspire your church to support us, as we aspire to support you in your mission to reach children and young people and teach them about the God who loves them. Together, we can shine light into the darkness. We believe that the Gospel can change a generation. Yours faithfully Revd Tim Hastie-Smith, National Director, Scripture Union

3 Lots more FREE resources online at 3 Contents About SU 4 How to plan your light weekend 10 What next? 13 Nuts and bolts 14 Tailoring your Light events 16 Win Chip Kendal and free resources Sample events and services Superheroes 18 A Light party for children (up to age 11) Light at Halloween 20 Light event for young people (age 11+) Party time! 22 Light event for families Jesus: Light of the World 24 Service plan All Saints Day 26 Service plan Interacting with Halloween 28 Your Church and Scripture Union 30 Why Halloween and why run a LIGHT party? Halloween is now a major event in the calendar Halloween is now the third highest spending festival, behind Christmas and Easter. 1 Yes, it s even bigger than Valentine s Day in terms of what we spend in the shops according to retail research ( 300 million, up from just 12 million in 2001). We want Halloween to have more positive associations Its growth has been fuelled by the popularity of books and films such as Harry Potter and Twilight, which feature witches, wizards and vampires. But it is also the Christian festival of All Hallows Eve and All Saints Day, which recall the lives of those Christians who gave up everything for their faith in Jesus. Most children know nothing of this! What better excuse for a party than Jesus, the Light of the World? Jesus loved social occasions he s mentioned as attending a number of them in the gospels. Ours is a message of joy and hope, which is a much better basis for a party than ghouls and ghosts! 1 Planet Retail research, 2011

4 4 About Scripture Union At Scripture Union we believe that the gospel can change a generation Scripture Union is a mission movement focused on children and young people in England and Wales. We believe that every child needs someone to introduce them to Jesus, and we ve been supporting biblically based outreach to children for nearly 150 years. Far too many children and young people don t know who Jesus is Today, despite the wonderful work of thousands of faithful Christians, less than 5 per cent of children attend church regularly. 2 And teaching about the Christian faith in schools has become sidelined. 3 Millions of children and young people perhaps even those you know and love simply don t know who Jesus is. But they often have a greater spiritual hunger than their parents did. Many are searching for love, a sense of identity, a meaning to life and positive role models to follow. The world does not always deliver. But Jesus does! That s why, through a range of ministries and because of the faithfulness and generosity of many individuals and churches, we strive to fulfil one mission: introducing thousands of children to Jesus. We put the Christian message into children s hands: how can they hear without someone preaching to them? (Romans 10:14, NIV). Many children no longer know the basics about the Christian faith. Recent surveys suggest that 50 per cent of children don t know the significance of Easter 4 and some don t even know whose birthday is celebrated at Christmas. 5 2 UK Church Statistics , ADBC edited by Dr Peter Brierley 3 BBC News, 12 November Daily Express, 7 April Woolworths survey, From Anecdote to Evidence: Findings from the Church Growth Research Programme , Church of England

5 Lots more FREE resources online at 5 Children like Jamie, 7 years old, who believes that Jesus was born either at 10 Downing Street or Buckingham Palace; and Tamzin, 9 years old, who thinks that Christmas Day is the birthday of the X Factor creator, Simon Cowell. We urgently need to take the good news of Jesus to children like Jamie and Tamzin, wherever they are. That s why last year we handed out 70,000 copies of our Christmas and Easter Bible Comics, which open up the Christmas and Easter message in a fun and engaging way, to children in schools up and down the country. We were only able to print so many comics thanks to the generosity of our supporters and our prayer is that we can repeat this initiative on an even bigger scale in We meet children where they are at, reaching the unreached: Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. (Mark 16:15, NIV). We ve also developed a range of schools and community-based ministries that take the gospel to children who are hard to reach who are often facing great difficulties in life. For example: Bob runs a sports-based ministry in a deprived area. Through it, he shares God s love with children who don t know what love is. On Merseyside, Peter teaches cookery to young people at risk of exclusion. Over the pastry and the puddings, he tells them about how he grew up in care and then became a gangster before God met him and turned his life around. Through this work we are helping young people to develop self-esteem and discover their God-given gifts. We then work closely with local churches and youth groups to ensure that they have a spiritual home where their faith can grow. We help churches to develop healthy children s work: to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up. (Ephesians 4:12, NIV) Churches are much more likely to grow when they have a children s ministry. Churches are much more likely to grow when they have a children s ministry. But over 50 per cent of churches have fewer than five children. 6 We want to see more churches with a thriving children s programme! That s why one of our ministries is to train and equip churches to be able to confidently share the good news with children, bring the Bible to life for them and help them to develop a deep-rooted faith. We offer a wide range of published resources which we have developed out of our own practical experiences in frontline mission work. Some of these like this Light Party Pack we choose to give away for free. The rest we sell as cheaply as we can, reinvesting any money we make back into our ministry, because we never want price to be a barrier to children hearing the priceless message of Jesus. In addition, our local staff can advise and support churches like yours to get children s programmes off the ground or take them to the next level. At Scripture Union, we know that ministry with children and young people can sometimes be a real challenge. That s why we ve developed a range of over 40 FREE videos giving expert tips that could help you take your children s and youth work to new heights.

6 6 About Scripture Union We help young people to develop faith that lasts a lifetime: Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it (Proverbs 22:6, NIV). As young Christians go through the transition to adulthood and leave home or move away to start university or a job, as many as 40 to 50 per cent give up on their faith. 7 Perhaps it s because they have borrowed the faith of their parents and have not developed a deep-rooted belief of their own. At Scripture Union we help children to meet Jesus for themselves, to get to know and trust him and to develop positive spiritual habits. Through our Sticky Faith tour we ve also been training and equipping churches, youth workers and Christian parents to help children and young people develop strong and lasting faith. This series of events across England and Wales is run in partnership with local churches, Urban Saints and Oxford CYM. At Scripture Union we help children to meet Jesus for themselves Our workers and local volunteers are modelling Christ daily by walking the walk in how they befriend young people, talk to them about God, listen to them and care for them. For nearly 150 years we have run holidays and missions helping children and young people to meet with Jesus, surrounded by a community of faithful Christian witnesses. This summer is not different: we have welcomed more than 6,000 children and young people, cared for by over 2,000 volunteers, on over 80 holidays and missions which are pivotal in the faith journey of many children. Our holidays and missions also give teenagers the opportunity to start exploring their own ministry, perhaps as a first step towards becoming the church leaders of tomorrow. Supported by our mentoring work and young leaders programme, Scripture Union is sowing seeds that we hope will reap a bountiful harvest for the church. 7 Fuller Youth Institute (USA), September 2011:

7 Lots more FREE resources online at 7 Would you help us to reach the unreached, and introduce more children to Jesus? At Scripture Union we believe that the gospel can transform a generation. However, without the support of individuals and churches like yours we can t go on with this allimportant mission. We are delighted to be able to support your church with this Light Party Pack, and on pages we outline other ways that we can help you give your children s work a boost. Could we ask in return that you support us in our ministry? There is an urgent need to introduce more children across the whole country to Jesus. Can you help us to continue doing just this? Before or after your Light party, you could hold an all-age church service using the resources we ve provided in this pack, and perhaps take up a collection. Perhaps you could hold a retiring collection on another appropriate Sunday. Or you could make Scripture Union one of your charities of choice for your church s mission giving. Every pound can make a real difference: 5 could provide three healthy meals for a child at an SU summer holiday. 14 could help local workers like Bob and Peter disciple and mentor a young person for a week, modelling Christ and helping them grow in confidence. 30 could put a Christmas Bible Comic and the wonder of the Christmas story into the hands of a whole class of 30 children. 50 could help provide much-needed craft materials and replace broken sports equipment for one of our summer holidays, supporting activities for over 25 children. 100 could help provide a Bible-reading guide for every child attending one of our summer holidays, ensuring that over 25 children are able to learn more about God s Word. 150 could help five children grow a lasting faith in Jesus at an SU mission this summer. Order collection envelopes, gift-giving forms and resources using the form in the centre of this magazine, or online at

8 8 About Scripture Union The Gospel in action Hannah went from attending missions to leading them As a child, Hannah attended Scripture Union s Abersoch Mission with her family. She loved the exciting activities that brought the Bible stories to life. But what s inspired her the most was the dedication of the volunteers who led the mission. One leader, in particular, took the time to talk to her at length about God. Hannah says, This Christian friend taught me the importance of relationship-building by encouraging people in their relationship with Jesus. Following this leader s example, every summer Hannah is the one who talks to children individually at our beach mission in Aberystwyth and encourages them to grow as disciples of Jesus.

9 Lots more FREE resources online at 9 David and his mum found God at a Bristol café Teenager, David, and his mum, Jane, live in a deprived area of Bristol. Life is not easy for single-parent families there. That s why a local church, in partnership with our South West team, launched an after-school café for children and parents. Jane dropped in one day and liked the friendly atmosphere. She met other mums and was invited to eat with them. There was spiritual food available too. A few weeks later Jane attended the Alpha course run at the café. There she gave her life to Jesus. She encouraged David to try out the Friday youth group where he too discovered that God is real, relevant and relational. Xander found faith through an SU holiday Christians are judgemental and deluded. They all share some joint hallucination and while it clearly gives them something to live for, I want nothing to do with it. Or so I thought But all this started to change when a Christian friend of mine called Tim asked me to join him on a week-long sailing holiday in the Norfolk Broads run by Scripture Union. The look of surprise on Tim s face when I agreed to come showed that he never thought I actually would! So, I went along. Tim was right, I did really enjoy it. I d stand on the cabin roof and hang off the bowsprit soaked through and grinning! I wasn t quite so enthusiastic about the Bible study and prayer side of things. But I found it interesting: this Jesus character seemed familiar from school assemblies. So, I went back the next year. And the next, and two more years after that. And yet, I still wasn t a Christian. Every year I went on Scripture Union holidays, I enjoyed myself but I felt I was missing out on something amazing. After five years of frustration, I finally sat down and prayed a few days after the holiday. I prayed the Lord s Prayer, which I knew by rote from school. And all of a sudden, I felt God. An unmistakable feeling. At once I knew that this was not something internal, some trick of the mind or hallucination. This was a wave of all-encompassing peace and security. This was the God I had been searching for.

10 10 How to plan your light weekend How to plan your LIGHT weekend This resource is full of ideas and advice, service plans and party outlines and you can access more when you register online at But how are you going to piece them all together into a great time for your church and wider community? Good planning is essential and that s what this section is about! Start right now! Before you launch into preparations, spend some time thinking through what your aims are for your events Knowing what you hope to achieve before you start will help you to make the right choices in terms of activities, but also help you to maintain contact with families new to your church community and build your children s and family work. Chat with the others on your organising team and decide what you hope to achieve. Here are some reasons why you might want to put on Light celebrations over Halloween and All Saints Day, the church festival held the day after All Hallows Eve: You want to provide an alternative to Halloween parties and the darker influences of the festival. You d like to reach out to families and children who are currently beyond the reach of your church. You d like to take the message of Jesus out into your community. You d like to use Light festivities to start longer-term children s or youth work. You d like to provide events for the children and young people already in your church groups. You d like to create an event to promote the church working together for the community. You would like to further support SU s mission of introducing every child to Jesus, through time, money or prayer. Fine tune your ideas Now you ve decided what you hope to achieve, you can start selecting the kinds of activities you might want to organise. How many? One for each group? Sunday services? Your choice will be affected by how many volunteers you have, what kind of space you can use and what resources you ve got at your disposal. Use this space to fine-tune your ideas:

11 Lots more FREE resources online at 11 You will, of course, need to follow your church s safeguarding policy when recruiting volunteers. Make sure you allow enough time for this see page 16 for more details. Register online for extra resources and order your free light party materials You will find more ideas, hints and tips when you register online at including extra ideas for activities, downloadable posters, invites, sample health and safety forms and much more. You ll also be able to order a Church Pack including overprintable posters, and gift aid envelopes if you would like to make a gift to Scripture Union, to help us reach more children with the gospel and develop more church support resources. (You can also order using the form at the back of this brochure, or call us on allow 10 working days for delivery of items). In the run up to your event Build your team You re probably going to rely on some of your regular children s and youth team, assuming that you have children s work and youth work already, and that s great. If a child comes to one of your regular groups after attending a Light event, they ll be reassured to see some familiar faces. However, this might also be a good opportunity to draw others into your team or to start a team if you do not already have one. A limited commitment like this enables volunteers to try things without signing up for a long stint and who knows, once they have had a taste of this kind of work they might be eager to sign up for more. Maybe the recently retired in your church might be a good place to find some new volunteers! It s important that you share the vision for the events with your team this ensures that you re all heading towards the same goal and that everyone can see why things are happening and what their role is. Pick your venue There is a range of ideas in these pages, so you ll find something that suits the space you have available. If you re using your church building, find out beforehand what you can do and where. (Some churches are more protective of certain areas of their building than others.) You might have access to a school building or community hall, in which case check what kind of mess you can make (and what capacity you have to clean it up!). A small space need not necessarily mean a less effective or less enjoyable event. You just need to make sure that you plan well. Wherever you meet, you ll need to follow the fire regulations for your venue (there is probably a limit on the number of people allowed) and risk assess the activities you choose. You might also need to get a licence to show film clips. See pages 14 and 15 for more details. Decide on the activities If you can recruit the volunteers and get the space, you might choose to hold a Light weekend, with children s/youth events on the Friday evening, a family event on the Saturday and a service on the Sunday. This would be particularly effective in 2014, as Halloween is on a Friday night. The next two pages have some suggested plans for piecing together Light parties, services and family events, depending on time and space available. Choose one of these or adapt one to fit your own context. Begin sourcing the items you ll need Gather what you need in addition to the free resources provided by Scripture Union. You could ask the congregation (and perhaps also the wider community) a few weeks beforehand to donate certain things you need. You might ask people to collect cardboard crisp tubes for the pinhole cameras on page 21 or to donate vanity mirrors for Gem-tastic on page 22.

12 12 How to plan your light weekend You re likely to need lots of torches, fairy lights, glow sticks and other sources of light, and there ll be plenty of those lurking in lofts, cupboards and sheds. Mobilise your community to help you out! Alternatively, you ll need to source and buy items, which might mean asking your church for some funding. Publicity People won t know about your events unless you tell them! There are invitations you can download and personalise at to spread the word, and you can order or download our invitation posters to display in your church, local schools and wider community, and a press release to tell the local media. More on this on pages 14 and 15. Start collecting If you would like to support Scripture Union to help more children and young people find out about Jesus, plan how and when to collect donations. Perhaps you could hand out our collection envelopes to those attending your parties, or distribute them at a suitable Sunday service ahead of Halloween so that your church community can start fundraising and bring their donations along to your events. Nuts and bolts For more on the detail leading up to your event, including risk assessment, health and safety, licences for films, registration and forms, decoration and relationship-building, see pages 14 and 15. After your event Let us know how it went Lightparty@scriptureunion.org.uk with your stories and pictures, and any feedback, so we can make our Light Party Pack even better next year. If you have any ideas of your own for fun activities, crafts or games, do let us know so that we can share them with other churches for next year s events (don t forget to tell us who we should credit). Pass on your generosity Collect up any donations to Scripture Union s wider mission to introduce every child to Jesus, download our donation form and send any gifts to our very grateful team at: Scripture Union FREEPOST (PANDC) Queensway Bletchley Milton Keynes MK 2EB Please send any completed Gift Aid envelopes at the same time so we can make donations go even further. THANK YOU!

13 Lots more FREE resources online at 13 What next? You may not have put on your Light events yet, but it s important to think about what comes next. This, of course, will depend on what your aims for the Light festivities are. Here we explore some possible next steps for four common aims. Aim 1: To reach children, young people and families beyond your current church community You need to think carefully about where these children, young people and families go next. Is it going to be best to feed them into existing services and groups? This could be a great step, broadening your church family, but it could also be problematic for both the newcomers and the existing community. It might be more appropriate to create a new regular event, such as a Saturday afternoon Messy Church, or more one-off events for Bonfire Night, Advent and Christmas where families can continue to explore being part of the community and finding out more about Jesus. Aim 2: To grow the numbers in your children s or youth work If you specifically want to grow the numbers in your regular groups, then those groups need to be ready to receive numbers of children and young people who are not used to being in church. Don t expect them to conform easily to the norms of your groups it might be very alien to them! Brief the leaders of these groups and put in place some changes that will make it easier for children and young people to belong. Aim 3: To further the discipleship of the children and young people already in church If this is what you re hoping for, then don t let what you have explored over the Halloween weekend be a one-off. There are a few weeks before Advent, so why not continue to explore the theme of Jesus, Light of the World, and his victory over darkness. (For some notes on Jesus the Victor, see Top Tips on Explaining the cross to children, SU, ISBN ) Provide space for children and young people to ask questions about light and darkness, and challenge and knock down their preconceptions about evil and darkness Jesus has won the victory! Aim 4: To use Light events to kickstart new children s or youth work Here, preparation is key. Ensure that you have everything in place before the events so that you can invite children and young people to the new ongoing groups you have planned. Try to start these groups as soon after the Halloween weekend as you can, so that there s no lull in which children, young people and families can forget what you re going to do! It would be good to have the same team members who will run the regular groups working on these Light events so that children and young people can meet them and start to get to know them. Continuity is reassuring. Whatever you hope to do with the Light events, don t let the opportunities that they will open up slip away. You may be many people s first ever contact with a church their first ever encounter with a Christian. Even if the welcome at a Light party is warm and friendly, if that s where the relationship ends you re giving a poor reflection of what it means to follow Jesus. Pages 30 and 31 will give you some guidance on where you can get further help with resources or faceto-face guidance and training. The help is there if you need it. Don t be afraid to ask!

14 14 Find sample forms, invitations and more at: How to plan your light weekend T Nuts and bolts If you have a projector and screen, fill it with light photos (sunsets or sunrises, Chinese lanterns, candles, log fires etc) when you re not using it during activities. here are some important practical considerations when planning your Light weekend. Make sure you re well prepared in good time! You ll find the forms referred to, and more free helpful tips and links, when you register at Team recruitment You ll need to make sure all your volunteers are checked according to your church s child protection policy. If you need to check any new volunteers with the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS), you ll need to allow enough time for the paperwork to be done, by the volunteer, your child protection officer and the bureau. This might mean that you have to set a deadline for new volunteers to sign up. See the Churches Child Protection Advisory Service website ( for more advice, including recommendations on volunteer:child ratios. DBS aim to complete 90% of applications in four weeks, so make sure you leave enough time to fulfil all these requirements before your events. As mentioned before, make sure your team know your aims and vision for the events, so that everyone is working towards a common goal. If you have new and regular volunteers, it would be useful to gather the team beforehand so that everyone can meet each other a food-based team-building event always works well! You may need to run some training, so that everyone knows your safeguarding guidelines and is familiar with the activities you re going to run. Get your church leader to pray for the whole team before you start a time of commissioning in a service the week before the events would be ideal. This will help the church get behind the work and help your team realise that the church is praying for them. Invitations Publicising your events is important, particularly if you re trying to reach children, young people and families who aren t currently part of your community. See for a couple of sample invitations to use or come up with your own! Think carefully about how to reach the people you d like to have attending. If you have good links with your local primary or secondary schools, these might be good places to advertise (provided you have the consent of the school). The children, young people and families in your congregation are perhaps your greatest advocates. Provide them with invitations to give to their friends and family. Make sure you send out invitations in good time. You could also leaflet your parish or local area, and maybe follow up with face-to-face visits (if you have the capacity to do so). Posters put up on community notice boards and, of course, outside your church building are also effective. For wider reach, post something on your local community website, in your parish magazine or in the local paper. You might also want to promote your party on social media, using #SUlightparty. Risk assessment and health and safety It s important to limit the risk of injury or damage during your events, so risk assess all the activities you intend to do. There is a sample form at If you re providing food at any point, make sure that you comply with your local authority s guidelines on food provision. Be aware of allergy issues! It s important to have a qualified first-aider on the team, so that you can safely and efficiently cope with any medical emergency. Having one of each gender would be helpful. Licences for films You will need a licence to publicly screen some of the film clips we have suggested. If your church does not already have a licence you can obtain one from CCLI ( (Please note: If you screen other film footage in future, the licence will not necessarily cover everything always check on the CCLI website.) Registration and forms Forms are useful things to have! Registration forms enable you to capture important information, particularly if children or young people are being left in your care by parents or carers. If you d like to use the information to contact families at a later date, you will need to ask their permission. This can be done as an optin tick box (not an opt-out one) on the form. Be careful to keep all information safe and secure. Don t forget the entrance to your venue first impressions count! People will make judgements about the event from the way they are greeted, so decorate the entrance well and station volunteers at the door to welcome and chat to those who attend. You might need to consider how to help those unfamiliar with your venue find their way around signs, maps or even footprints on the floor are useful tools to help people feel welcomed and secure. Relationship-building Relationship-building is at the heart of these events, whatever your aims. Whether you re trying to reach new people or build up your current community, forging and developing relationships is key. Even your volunteers will find that their relationships with each other deepen by being part of the team. Make your volunteers aware that at all times their priority should be to create and take advantage of times where conversation can happen and where you can have fun together and create positive Consent forms allow you to give first aid help to memories. It s not necessary to be an expert in children or young people if necessary. They are also children s or youth culture just being prepared good places to record any allergies or additional to take an interest and to listen can speak needs. Always speak to the parents to discover volumes. Even parents and carers appreciate more about how serious an allergy is or the best a listening ear and the chance to be treated as way to involve those with additional needs. people in their own right, rather than in relation to their children. Sample registration and consent forms are available on the Light Party website, So as you plan your programme, include plenty of time for people of all ages to chat together. Decoration Making your venue look its best will raise expectations for the children or young people and reassure parents that their children will be safe and have a good time. And this includes some light decorating! Use fairy lights, light ropes and strategically placed lamps around the venue to create a fun light atmosphere. It might be that your church or a member of your congregation has more substantial lighting that you could use. Set it up so that you create interesting lighting effects on the ceiling and walls. A glitter ball would make an interesting addition! Even in church services, make sure that you have sufficient time to mix and chat before and/or after the service. Not feeling like they re being hurried along or rushed to leave can make families feel all the more welcomed. You might need to give some guidance to those not used to working with children or young people. Encourage them to get on the same level, rather than talking down to children. Ask a question about their day, school or hobbies, and listen to the answer. It may seem obvious, but how often in our own relationships do we really listen to what others are telling us? 15

15 PULL OUT SECTION PULL OUT SECTION PULL OUT SECTION PULL OUT SECTION PULL OUT SECTION PULL OUT SECTION PULL OUT SECTION FREE PRIZE DRAW Win a Live Performance From Chip Kendall at Your Light Party! Wow - yes, THAT S RIGHT! Enter our Free Prize Draw and top Christian musician Chip Kendall could be coming to play LIVE at your Light Party on 31st October 2014 what an amazing money-can t-buy prize! Chip Kendall has established himself as one of the most sought after Christian artists in Europe. After fronting thebandwithnoname for ten years, Chip left in 2011 to pursue a solo career. His debut solo album Holy Freaks became one of itunes UK s most downloaded Christian albums in Subsequently, Chip was called all over the UK and Europe to perform live, became a DJ for leading Christian Radio station Cross Rhythms and present on GOD TV, where he anchors broadcast events such as Soul Survivor and Big Church Day Out. This autumn, he releases his eagerly anticipated second album, All In. Chip has teamed up with Scripture Union to offer this fabulous prize because, as well as being an accomplished musician, he shares Scripture Union s passion for introducing children and young people to the God who loves them. Chip says, Light Parties are the alternative to Halloween, but Christianity is one great big Light Party - the biggest party in the Universe and I want every child and young person to know that, thanks to Jesus, they ve got a personal invite! So I m really excited to be part of this fantastic initiative because it s such a great opportunity for thousands of children and young people to discover the God who loves them. And Chip has even written a track about Light Parties which will feature on his new album All In, which you ll be able to download from itunes or Amazon later this autumn. But if you re not the winner of this exclusive prize, you can still have Chip as a virtual host at your Light Party! Go online to and you ll be able to download video clips of him presenting a selection of the games and activities featured in this pack and on the website (likely to be available from mid-august we ll notify you by if you ve given us your address through registering at the website or completing and returning the order form in this pack).

16 The winner and two runners up will also get a FREE year s subscription to Scripture Union s bestselling children s Sunday group resources, the Light range. Do you want to run Sunday group sessions that kids will really enjoy and which you don t need to spend hours preparing? Scripture Union s Light range of Sunday group resources could be just what you need. And, if you enter our Free Prize Draw, you could win a year s subscription! Light helps equip children and young people to live as people of light at school, at home, at church to bring glory to God through all they are, say and do. Each title in the Light range offers a flexible toolkit of fun, Bible-centred sessions that feature crafts, games, stories, dramas and songs. They are simple to use and need little preparation so that you and the children can focus on building relationships and learning about God together. (There s always one ready-to-use option if you re really pressed for time, and optional extra resources available online!) And the materials are really easy to adapt to your specific needs, whether your group is large or small, wherever you meet and whatever the learning style of the children. We know from our own extensive frontline ministry experience that children learn best when they are playing and having fun, so that s the style of Light. Developed with the help of Bible scholars, education experts and children s and youth leaders, Light gives children and young people a really good grounding in the events and key teachings of the Bible. We have done all the hard work, so you can use the materials with confidence in a way that works for you. (for under-5s) (for ages 8 11) (for ages 5 8) (for ages 11 14) These quarterly dated publications consist of a leader s guide and optional children s magazines, and follow the same syllabus for the year. If the children in your group use the curriculum over four years, they will get a good grounding in all of the key events and teachings in the Bible. (for ages 3 14) This undated series is ideal for the many churches that have to cater for a small number of children with a wide age range. Find out more about the Light range of children s Sunday group resources and download FREE taster sessions at How to enter Complete Section 1 of the form opposite, and tick the appropriate boxes on Section 3 of the form you can order additional materials for your Light Party and light-themed church service on this same form. Alternatively, go online and complete the appropriate form at

17 Order form and free prize draw entry SECTION 1: Your details Church or Christian group name Title Initial or first name Surname Home address Town the church or group is in Your position in that group (eg leader, vicar, helper) Postcode Delivery address if different Postcode Daytime telephone (in case of queries) Needed for competition entry address* What type of event/s are you planning Light party for children (up to age 11) Light Party for young people (11+) Light Party for families All Saints Day service Jesus Light of the World service All Souls service (available online at Planned date of activity *Please complete if you are happy to receive s. We d like to be able to let you know about other free resources we produce and keep you up to date with our work. How we communicate with you Scripture Union will not pass your details on to any other organisation. If you already receive information from us we will continue to send it unless you tell us otherwise by writing to us at Ministry Support, Queensway, Bletchley, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, MK2 2EB or by calling If you are new to Scripture Union, please tell us if you prefer NOT to receive information from us in a particular way by putting a cross in the relevant boxes below: Postal communication communication SECTION 2: Order your extra material You can order printed materials for your Light Party and all-age church services. Order by post, online or by phone. Please ensure that your order reaches us at least 10 working days before you require the materials. Tick to order Item Code Quantity Church collection envelopes (packs of 20) Church promotion pack - A4 overprintable Light Party posters x 2, A4 general posters x 2, Light Party sample press release for local media, gift-giving form ORDER ONLINE you can order the above items at ORDER BY PHONE call us on Continued over...

18 SECTION 2 continued... The materials are free of charge, but we would welcome any donation that you would like to make towards postage, packing, and producing future resources like this Light Party Pack. Please accept my gift of Please find enclosed a: Cheque PO CAF voucher Stewardship voucher made payable to Scripture Union. Cheque number: Please debit my/our: Visa Mastercard Charity Card Card number: Start date: Expiry date: Security Code: (Last three digits on signature strip) Name on card: Signature: date: D D M M Y Y You can also donate online at or by phone on with your credit or debit card. SECTION 3: Enter the free prize draw WIN A LIVE PERFORMANCE FROM CHIP KENDALL AT YOUR LIGHT PARTY! Enter our free prize draw and top Christian musician, Chip Kendall, could be coming to play LIVE at your Light Party on 31st October 2014 what an amazing money-can t-buy prize! The winner and two runners up will also get a FREE year s subscription to Scripture Union s bestselling children s Sunday group resources, the Light range. Please ensure that you also complete Section 1 of this form in full! Terms and conditions apply see below. YES please enter me into the free prize draw Competition Terms and Conditions 1. No purchase necessary. 2. The entry instructions form part of these rules. 3. Close date: Midnight, Sunday 21st September Participants must provide a full postal address, phone number and functioning address in order to participate. 5. The draw will take place on Friday 26th September. A winner and two runners-up will be chosen at random from all proper entries received by the closing date by an independent adjudicator whose decision shall be final. 6. Winners will be notified by phone and by end 29th September x first prize Chip Kendall will perform at your Light Party on Friday 31st October by mutually agreeable arrangement, subject to written evidence from the party hosts that appropriate health and safety and risk assessments have been carried out. Chip will require adherence to his performance rider which will be presented at time of notification of prize. This is available on request prior first prize and 2 x runners up prizes of a subscription from Scripture Union s Light range of children s Sunday group resources: EITHER a leaders guide and up to 10 children s magazines per quarter for a year (total value between 99 and 137 RSP) for Bubbles, Splash!, Xstream or thegrid OR all 6 titles in the Mosaic range (worth RSP). No alternatives to the stated prizes are available. 9. Entries must be on an official entry form in this Scripture Union Light Party Pack or online at Entries that are not submitted in accordance with the rules or are illegible or incomplete will be disqualified. I confirm that I am aged 18 or over Please return this form to: Scripture Union, FREEPOST (PANDC), Queensway, Bletchley, Milton Keynes, MK 2EB 1/ Only one entry per person. 11. Proof of posting will not be accepted as proof of delivery. 12. Entry to the Free Prize Draw is open to all UK residents over 18 years only except for employees of Scripture Union and any person directly or indirectly involved in the organisation or running of the prize draw or their direct family members. 13. Scripture Union will require access to the winner s Light Party event to take official photos of Chip s performance. The usage of such photographs will protect the identities of children attending the event. 14. The prize is not transferrable. 15. The decision of the promoter is final. 16. The name and county of the winners will be available by sending a stamped addressed envelope to: Chip Kendall Prize Draw, Scripture Union, Queensway, Bletchley, Milton Keynes MK2 2EB. 17. Promoter s name and address: Scripture Union, Queensway, Bletchley, Milton Keynes MK2 2EB. 18. The promoter will need to establish two-way phone and communication with the winner of the first prize in order that arrangements for Chip s live performance can be made. If by Friday 3rd October 2014 the promoter has been unable to establish such communication after reasonable efforts have been made, then the promoter will be entitled to dispose of the prize as they think fit without any liability to the winner for having done so. PULL OUT SECTION PULL OUT SECTION PULL OUT SECTION PULL OUT SECTION PULL OUT SECTION PULL OUT SECTION PULL OUT SECTION

19 14 Find sample forms, invitations and more at: How to plan your light weekend T Nuts and bolts If you have a projector and screen, fill it with light photos (sunsets or sunrises, Chinese lanterns, candles, log fires etc) when you re not using it during activities. here are some important practical considerations when planning your Light weekend. Make sure you re well prepared in good time! You ll find the forms referred to, and more free helpful tips and links, when you register at Team recruitment You ll need to make sure all your volunteers are checked according to your church s child protection policy. If you need to check any new volunteers with the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS), you ll need to allow enough time for the paperwork to be done, by the volunteer, your child protection officer and the bureau. This might mean that you have to set a deadline for new volunteers to sign up. See the Churches Child Protection Advisory Service website ( for more advice, including recommendations on volunteer:child ratios. DBS aim to complete 90% of applications in four weeks, so make sure you leave enough time to fulfil all these requirements before your events. As mentioned before, make sure your team know your aims and vision for the events, so that everyone is working towards a common goal. If you have new and regular volunteers, it would be useful to gather the team beforehand so that everyone can meet each other a food-based team-building event always works well! You may need to run some training, so that everyone knows your safeguarding guidelines and is familiar with the activities you re going to run. Get your church leader to pray for the whole team before you start a time of commissioning in a service the week before the events would be ideal. This will help the church get behind the work and help your team realise that the church is praying for them. Invitations Publicising your events is important, particularly if you re trying to reach children, young people and families who aren t currently part of your community. See for a couple of sample invitations to use or come up with your own! Think carefully about how to reach the people you d like to have attending. If you have good links with your local primary or secondary schools, these might be good places to advertise (provided you have the consent of the school). The children, young people and families in your congregation are perhaps your greatest advocates. Provide them with invitations to give to their friends and family. Make sure you send out invitations in good time. You could also leaflet your parish or local area, and maybe follow up with face-to-face visits (if you have the capacity to do so). Posters put up on community notice boards and, of course, outside your church building are also effective. For wider reach, post something on your local community website, in your parish magazine or in the local paper. You might also want to promote your party on social media, using #SUlightparty. Risk assessment and health and safety It s important to limit the risk of injury or damage during your events, so risk assess all the activities you intend to do. There is a sample form at If you re providing food at any point, make sure that you comply with your local authority s guidelines on food provision. Be aware of allergy issues! It s important to have a qualified first-aider on the team, so that you can safely and efficiently cope with any medical emergency. Having one of each gender would be helpful. Licences for films You will need a licence to publicly screen some of the film clips we have suggested. If your church does not already have a licence you can obtain one from CCLI ( (Please note: If you screen other film footage in future, the licence will not necessarily cover everything always check on the CCLI website.) Registration and forms Forms are useful things to have! Registration forms enable you to capture important information, particularly if children or young people are being left in your care by parents or carers. If you d like to use the information to contact families at a later date, you will need to ask their permission. This can be done as an optin tick box (not an opt-out one) on the form. Be careful to keep all information safe and secure. Don t forget the entrance to your venue first impressions count! People will make judgements about the event from the way they are greeted, so decorate the entrance well and station volunteers at the door to welcome and chat to those who attend. You might need to consider how to help those unfamiliar with your venue find their way around signs, maps or even footprints on the floor are useful tools to help people feel welcomed and secure. Relationship-building Relationship-building is at the heart of these events, whatever your aims. Whether you re trying to reach new people or build up your current community, forging and developing relationships is key. Even your volunteers will find that their relationships with each other deepen by being part of the team. Make your volunteers aware that at all times their priority should be to create and take advantage of times where conversation can happen and where you can have fun together and create positive Consent forms allow you to give first aid help to memories. It s not necessary to be an expert in children or young people if necessary. They are also children s or youth culture just being prepared good places to record any allergies or additional to take an interest and to listen can speak needs. Always speak to the parents to discover volumes. Even parents and carers appreciate more about how serious an allergy is or the best a listening ear and the chance to be treated as way to involve those with additional needs. people in their own right, rather than in relation to their children. Sample registration and consent forms are available on the Light Party website, So as you plan your programme, include plenty of time for people of all ages to chat together. Decoration Making your venue look its best will raise expectations for the children or young people and reassure parents that their children will be safe and have a good time. And this includes some light decorating! Use fairy lights, light ropes and strategically placed lamps around the venue to create a fun light atmosphere. It might be that your church or a member of your congregation has more substantial lighting that you could use. Set it up so that you create interesting lighting effects on the ceiling and walls. A glitter ball would make an interesting addition! Even in church services, make sure that you have sufficient time to mix and chat before and/or after the service. Not feeling like they re being hurried along or rushed to leave can make families feel all the more welcomed. You might need to give some guidance to those not used to working with children or young people. Encourage them to get on the same level, rather than talking down to children. Ask a question about their day, school or hobbies, and listen to the answer. It may seem obvious, but how often in our own relationships do we really listen to what others are telling us? 15

20 16 How to plan your light weekend Tailoring your LIGHT events On pages we looked at deciding on aims and examined other factors that might dictate a choice of events and activities. Here we look at the bigger picture and see how different events might fit together to create an outreach weekend or an event for those already in your church family. Take a look through these different plans and adapt one to fit your own context. Divide the events according to the age groups you use for your children s and youth work. If you do not already have any children s and youth work, we have broadly defined children as up to age 11 and youth as age Outreach events with limited time, space and volunteers What & When Why and how Children s Light party (pages 18 19) Friday or Saturday evening Light of the World service (pages 24 25) Sunday morning To invite children who are not yet part of the church community to a Light event. This wouldn t be overtly preachy in tone Jesus as Light of the World would be alluded to but not explored in any great depth. If you have a small room and limited resources, you might need to limit the number of children who attend. This could be done on a first come, first served basis (though you run the risk of having to turn people away) or you could limit your publicity to one school year or a particular area of your parish/area/network. Choose activities that require little preparation and few resources. Invest your efforts in decoration and the welcome and valuing of the children. To welcome into church the families of children who attended the Light party and to discover Jesus, the Light of the World. Use the service outline from pages 24 25, but adapt it so that it is suitable for the families you have invited along. If they have little or no experience of church, make sure your welcome team are ready to help them find a seat, explain what will be happening and answer any questions. The service should be accessible to those with little idea of what is going on! Try to create a welcoming atmosphere after the service too maybe enlist the cake-making skills of your church or local community and provide some great snacks for everyone after the service has finished. Prepare your congregation beforehand to mix with and chat to the new families. Make sure you have another event or service to invite families to maybe a Bonfire Night event or your Advent/Christmas celebrations. See pages for more ideas. 2 Outreach events with more resources and volunteers What & when Why & how Children s Light party (pages 18 19) Friday evening To invite children who are not yet part of the church community to a Light event. This wouldn t be preachy in tone Jesus as Light of the World would be alluded to but not explored in any great depth. You could create zones across your venue, put the children in smaller groups (together with two leaders) and rotate them around different activities. This will give leaders a chance to get to know a smaller group of children more easily, as well as helping children who are nervous or shy in large groups. Create a great atmosphere and welcome, but also spend some money on the things you re going to use. Create positive memories of your church (and Jesus!) for children.

21 Lots more FREE resources online at Outreach events with more resources and volunteers (continued) What & when Why & how Youth Light event (pages 20 21) Friday evening Family event (pages 22 23) Saturday afternoon or early evening Light of the World service (pages 24 25) Sunday morning To welcome young people into church, and to give the young people in your groups something to invite their friends to. Run this event later in the evening, after the children s party has finished if you are running one. Have a different set of volunteers running this so that they can be setting up while the children s party is still going on (though be careful not to spoil the children s enjoyment by getting in their way), and to avoid volunteer burnout! Do some of the bigger events, so that the young people have some great memories of the evening. If you have a mix of young people from church and from outside your community, you could facilitate some discussion groups where a mix of young people chat about issues, including Halloween (using some of the info from page 28) and Jesus being Light of the World. You could do some practice beforehand with your church youth group to go through what they might say. To welcome back families of children (and young people) who have already attended Light events. Choose the best activities from pages for your context. Invite church families as well, and prime them to mix with everyone else. You could even pair families up to facilitate better relationship-building. Make the event fun and action packed, but don t let the activities get in the way of starting or maintaining friendships allow lots of time to chat and make friends! As before, to welcome into church the families of children who attended the Light party and to discover Jesus, the Light of the World. In addition, use this as a celebration of your weekend together. Review some of the things that happened on Friday and Saturday. Present any prizes, show off any artwork or craft and affirm the welcome given to new families over the weekend. You might want to have a meal together: something simple such as cottage pies or lasagne would work well and feed lots of people (be aware of allergies and hygiene). If you have experienced cooks or caterers in your church, enlist them to provide the food or buy it in from outside. Use this as a time for communitybuilding. As with plan 1, you should have another event or service to invite families to maybe a Bonfire Night event or your Advent/Christmas celebrations. See pages for more ideas. 3 Events for the church family What & when Why & how Children s Light party (pages 18 19) Friday evening Youth Light event (pages 20 21) Friday evening Family event (pages 22 23) Saturday afternoon or early evening All Saints service (pages 26 27) Sunday morning To provide a great alternative to Halloween for children in the church (and their friends). You could do the activities in your existing groups, so that children who normally meet together on a Sunday or during the week continue to do so here. Choose some of the activities from pages 18 19, but include some of your regular favourites too. To help the young people in your church think through the issues of Halloween more carefully. Encourage young people to invite their friends to this, but let them know that it s going to be more explicitly Christian than just a few games and food. Facilitate some discussion around Halloween (using some of the info from page 28) and Jesus being Light of the World. What is the young people s response to this festival of the dark? Try to help them come to their own conclusions, rather than dictating what they should think, but give your honest opinions when asked. To provide a space where the families of your church community can come together. Choose the best activities from pages for your context. Mix people up so that they meet different people. Include single people, couples without children and older people in the family groups so that everyone is involved. Enjoy the activities and maybe be a little competitive! You may not need to examine the themes of light or Halloween much, but you could include some discussion questions for people to use as they do the activities. To help the congregation think about how we are called to be saints to those around us. Even if your church doesn t particularly follow a formal church calendar, the festival of All Saints is a good one to reflect together as a church family. Finish with a meal where everyone gets to chat to someone new!

22 18 Sample events and services Superheroes A LIGHT party for children (up to age 11) T he aim of the Light party is to give children the opportunity to celebrate good things on an otherwise dark day. Ultimately we want to shine for God and see people drawn closer to him. This party outline is for children, but you could invite families along too. Encourage them to join in with the games and activities, or provide a space for them to sit and have tea and cake and a good old chat! Decorate your venue with pictures of superheroes, but keep with the bright ones (Batman, for example, might be too dark). You could even recreate light locations such as the crystal cave (Fortress of Solitude) in Superman! Use lots of fairy lights, light ropes and other cool lighting to change your venue into a superhero-home. Select any or all of these activities, but don t stop there: think about what other parties will be doing and do it better! Think God-sized celebration, if you dare! Event ideas Arrival You will need: large sheets of paper (lining paper is ideal), felt-tip pens As children arrive, it s important to have something going on that they can easily join in with part way through. Tape large sheets of paper onto the floor and group children around each one. Encourage them to draw round one of their group to create their own superhero. Maybe even have a competition to see who can draw the best/most imaginative! If you have families involved, you could do this in family groups. Big games You will need: equipment for your chosen game Pass the parcel: Wrap prizes with a superhero theme in superhero wrapping paper (if possible). Put forfeits in each layer, such as Fly around the room as if you re Superman or Do an impression of Spider-Man and see if everyone else can guess who you are. Musical superheroes: Play music and encourage all the children to dance around. When the music stops, they have to freeze in a superhero pose. If anyone moves, they re out! Superhero quiz: This will need some research so that you know what the children will know about superheroes. Include questions about lots of different heroes, and use film and music clips if possible to make it varied and not just a factbased quiz. If you ve invited the whole families, you could have questions for parents, questions for big brothers etc. Craft/construction Masks You will need: simple plain eye masks, art materials; or go online to find companies who produce packs of make-yourown masks Spread your chosen materials out on tables and challenge the children to make a superhero mask! As the children work, make sure there are enough volunteers around to chat to them about what they ve done so far. It could be that Halloween questions come up at this point. Before the session, think together as a team about what you might say. There is some help on the Light Party website, When everyone has finished, you could have a superhero parade. Superhero hideaway You will need: large cardboard boxes and packaging, torches, sticky tape, large pieces of colourful material (clean old sheets or curtains, for example) Before the session, gather together lots of large boxes and big pieces of cardboard packaging you could ask your congregation to collect these or ask local shops for anything they don t need. Challenge the children (or family groups) to create their own superhero hideaway from the cardboard and fabric, and to light it with the torches. Give prizes to the most imaginative, the most light and the most features etc!

23 More craft and activity ideas online at 19 Food Don t rush food time, as this is the time for chats and gospelsharing in a relaxed and unpreachy way! Write different questions on paper cups, encouraging conversation among families. Here are some examples: If you were a superhero, who would you be? If you could have any super power, what would it be? What do you think that you are already super at? Do you think that you are more often a superhero or a baddy? Do you think all baddies in the world should be given a chance to be turned into goodies? Think of superhero-related questions such as these, and present opportunities for the children and volunteers (and families) to have a giggle, but also for some deeper thinking. Make sure the volunteers are ready to share their thoughts about God. In terms of the food itself, serve party food and invite the children to help themselves from a buffet table. Think minisausages, party rings and crisps, along with some special little surprises you may come across in your supermarket sweep. Use superhero plates, napkins and tablecloths to extend your theme to food time! Remember to cater for vegetarians and any specific dietary requirements or allergies. Superhero training! You will need: equipment for your chosen activities Decorate the room with lots of lights. Set out funfair-style training games such as the ones described here. You could run a points system and enable superheroes to graduate after they have achieved a certain total, or otherwise give out prizes at the end of each game. Coconut shy: You don t need coconuts or the poles to prop up the coconuts for this to work. Set out plastic beakers and sit cuddly toys on top of them, give the children a set of tennis balls and challenge them to knock the toys over! If you find superhero toys, they would be a fantastic addition to the game. Hook-a-duck: Print some pictures of superheroes onto circles of card and lay them upside down. Also set out some plain circles of card the same size. Affix large paper clips to the tops of all of the discs. Make fishing poles out of bamboo canes or polystyrene swimming noodles and string, tying a strong magnet to the end of each. Give the children three attempts each to find as many superheroes as they can with their fishing poles. Fireworks You will need: fireworks Fireworks make a great end to a great evening. Follow health and safety advice and use fireworks with care. Risk assess this part of the event carefully and make sure that your insurance covers you for fireworks. You want your community to trust the church, not avoid it! Follow-up Make sure that you have at least one follow-up event prepared and in the diary before your superhero party, preferably for all the family. Create invitations to give to the families on their way out and make a song and dance about it through the evening. Don t let the relationship-building start and end in October! For more information, see page 14. Apple dunk: Fill washing-up bowls or clean garden trugs with water. Place apples in the bowls and have towels on hand for mopping up! As with any game like this involving water, make sure you risk assess the activity. Doughnut bite: Set up a long pole, such as a broom handle, held in the air either by helpers, football posts or anything you have handy that would be good for holding a pole horizontal in the air! Tie doughnuts to long pieces of string and then tie the strings to the pole so the doughnuts are hanging on the strings. Challenge the children to nibble away at the doughnuts until they are free from the strings, without using their hands! Soak a volunteer: You don t need stocks for this, but if you have them, great! Encourage the children to throw sponges of water, or shoot water pistols if you can use an outside space and your volunteers are game. Use a tarpaulin to cover the floor! If you have families at the event, see if any parents are willing to be the victim!

24 20 Sample events and services LIGHT at Halloween A LIGHT party for young people (age 11+) The ideas below are grouped by type (all the games are together, all the special events are together etc). You don t need to use all of these ideas in the same session, nor do you have to stick to the order the ideas are listed in. Choose the activities that fit best with your young people, your venue and the time and materials you have available. If you have 30 minutes, a small group of young people and a small venue: Choose one game to warm the group up. Follow it with one of the creative activities and one of the discussion options, then round off with a response. If you have 45 minutes and a little money to invest in your session: You could use one of the event ideas, then a discussion and a response. If you have a couple of hours with your young people and a good-size space: Open with a game or two and/or a creative activity, then use one of the events as the focal point of the session. After that, you could bring the group together for a discussion over some food. Event ideas All these ideas are based on the theme of light in the darkness and provide a bridge between Halloween celebrations and thinking about Jesus as Light of the World. Glow-in-the-dark rave You will need: spotlights or UV lights, glow sticks, music Set aside a large room and black it out as much as possible. Use brightly coloured spotlights and encourage the young people to come wearing clothes in neon colours, or find some UV lights and ask the young people to wear white. Provide glow sticks and play lots of upbeat music, using a high-quality sound system. Colour run You will need: coloured corn starch powder, swimming goggle or face masks This is very messy but makes for some fantastic photos! Either have the young people run between two points with leaders throwing coloured corn starch powder at them at different points on the course, or just invite the young people to throw the paint powder at each other. For best results, they should wear white T-shirts. Make sure you run this in a space which is easy to clean up, and that you risk assess it beforehand to prevent powder from getting in anyone s eyes etc. (You could provide swimming goggles or face masks for the young people, if they would like them.) Search on the Internet for more information about coloured corn starch ( throwing powder ). Firework display You will need: fireworks Find an outdoor area, buy in fireworks which are impressive without being dangerous for the space you have available and set them off. Make sure you carry out a risk assessment first. It s particularly important to put up barriers a good distance away from the spot where the fireworks will be launched. Creative activities Artwork You will need: a white or black sheet, dust sheets or newspaper, paint, a large sheet of card Spread a white or black sheet on the floor and cover the floor underneath the sheet in dust sheets or newspaper. Let the young people throw and flick paint at the sheet, or even squirt paint from bottles. Cutting a shape (eg a human body) out of card and attaching it to the sheet before using the paint creates a striking effect when the card is removed. Light photos You will need: glow sticks or torches, a camera Give out glow sticks or torches and invite the young people to take photos of each other waving these items. Using a slow shutter speed on the camera can create some very impressive effects. Why not invite some keen photographers to supervise the activity and give the young people some tips?

25 More craft and activity ideas online at 21 Pinhole cameras You will need: cardboard crisp tubes, sticky tape, aluminium foil A pinhole camera uses light to create images: a memorable illustration of light piercing the darkness. There are a variety of methods to create a pinhole camera, but at its most basic level this can involve just a cardboard crisp tube, sticky tape and aluminium foil. Instructions are available from A quick online search will yield several alternative methods. Discussion/teaching content Halloween: Trick or Treat? You will need: internet access, a projector and screen Show the film by Glen Scrivener which presents a fresh perspective on Halloween, available from Encourage the young people to watch the film and discuss it. Matchstick testimonies You will need: matches Strike a match and challenge the young people to speak for as long as the match burns. Encourage them to share their best or worst experience of Halloween. Discuss what they think makes Halloween good or bad. Make sure you use matches safely and that only leaders use the matches. John 1:1 9 You will need: a Bible Read the passage then discuss: What does it mean that Jesus is light? Jesus has overcome darkness. How should this affect our attitude towards Halloween? Games Lights on/off You will need: electric lights and torches Set up lots of electric lights and torches with half of them turned on. Split the young people into two teams and challenge one team to try to switch all of the lights on while the other team tries to switch them all off. After a couple of minutes, count how many lights are now on. Decide which team have won, based on whether more or fewer than half the lights are on. Searchlight You will need: a torch Stand in the middle of the room, holding a torch. Turn the main lights off and encourage the young people to move around the room. After a few seconds turn on the torch. Anyone caught in the torch beam either performs a forfeit or is out of the game. Silly senses You will need: a blindfold, various items to touch, taste or smell Blindfold a few volunteers or darken the room. Have the volunteers touch, taste and smell a few different items and guess what they are. You could use cold rice pudding, cooked cauliflower or tomato. More unkind options include mustard or horseradish! For touch, use food with different textures (again cauliflower is ideal) or try rubber gloves filled with water, dry leaves or sandpaper. (This illustrates some of the effects of darkness and the fear which darkness sometimes brings.) Response Candles You will need: tea lights Give everyone a tea light (small candle) and turn off the lights in the room. Light the tea lights from a central large candle and invite the young people to reflect on living in the light or the dark. Glow sticks You will need: glow sticks Give everyone a glow stick and turn off the lights. Encourage the young people to activate their glow sticks (by snapping them) and place them in a pile in the middle of the room. As the young people place their glow sticks in the pile, ask them to think about God s light and whether they want to know more. Food Bright colours are the order of the day: tomatoes, sweetcorn, green peppers, berries, oranges etc. You could create brightly coloured pizzas. Hot dogs, soup and hot chocolate are ideal if you re having a firework display. As you eat, chat about what you have explored during the event. Make sure the leaders are ready to share their own stories of how Jesus is light in their lives.

26 22 Sample events and services Party time! LIGHT event for families T he aim of this session is to invite parents and children to have fun together using light as a theme for the games and activities. The games are designed to be competitive if you want them to be, depending on how you want to run the evening. If you would like to add a competitive edge to the party, print off Family Score Cards from the website and distribute them when the families arrive. As you do the activities, make sure there are lots of people from your church community around to welcome and talk to families, if you re hoping to attract people who don t usually come to your church. Conversations don t need to be focused on Jesus at this stage your aim should be to start relationships with both the children and their parents or carers. You may get the chance to chat about why you re doing a Light party rather than celebrating Halloween, and this might be good way to introduce Jesus. Choose a mix of activities for the event that will suit the skills of your team and appeal to the families coming along. Games Hoop-la! You will need: glow-in-the-dark bracelets, plenty of small objects to hoop Use glow in the dark bracelets to create hoops you could join two or more bracelets together to create a larger hoop for the youngest members of your party. This can be a team game or something for individual families to play. Create targets from a range of objects that could easily be hooped by one of the bracelets, awarding points for the more difficult objects to hoop. Scoring for this game is: 10, 15, 25, 35, 43 and 50 points for the six different objects. Gem-tastic You will need: laser pens/torches, cheap vanity mirrors, a large plastic gem or similar, platforms of different heights (optional) The aim of this game is straightforward the first to light up the gem wins! Mark an arena 2 metres by 2 metres with masking tape, ensuring that there is a centre line down the middle. Place the gem anywhere you like along the centre line. Challenge the teams to fight against each other to light up the gem as quickly as possible to score a point. They cannot shine the laser/torch directly at the gem; they must use a minimum of two vanity mirrors to direct the beam of light toward it. If a team uses more mirrors, increase the score! To make this game harder, use platforms of varying heights to fix the mirrors in place and to place the gem further out of reach. The first team to reach ten points wins! Make sure that families know not to shine laser pens into people s eyes.

27 More craft and activity ideas online at 23 Traffic light funky dance-off You will need: two paper plates and some funky music Colour one plate green and the other one red. Explain to everyone that as the music plays they can dance however they like, but when the green plate is shown they must pull out their best ever funky dance moves! When the red plate is shown they can go back to their normal dancing. Use this game as a general fun time or give marks for the funky dancing! The dark game You will need: a dark room and a torch, or ideally a light sabre! Essentially this is hide and seek in the dark. As each person is found they can help the seeker but are not allowed to make any noise. The seeker can only find someone by shining the torch onto the hider or by (gently!) poking them with the light sabre. Activities Make your own T-shirt You will need: enough T-shirts for everyone (make sure you have a variety of sizes), neon fabric crayons Encourage everyone to work together and design a T-shirt based on things that give light. As families work together, encourage them to chat about what they are creating. Olympic torch You will need: sheets of paper, felt-tip pens, red, yellow and orange tissue paper, glue sticks To make an Olympic torch, decorate a sheet of paper and roll it into a cone, gluing it in place. Cut flame shapes out of the tissue paper and stick them in the top of the cone. While you are decorating the paper together, ask the families what they know about the Olympic flame: What do you like most about the Olympic flame? What do you think the Olympic flame might represent? Explain that Jesus said that he was the Light of the World. Encourage the families to think about what a light for the world would be like: Would that light be for everyone? What could that light be used for? Parent and child pamper corner You will need: two gazebos, lengths of material, twinkly lights and some lamps or coloured lighting, comfy seats, face paint, temporary tattoos, cool water, quiet music, massage oil Using the gazebos as your pamper room, drape the material on the poles inside each gazebo. Hang the twinkly lights and use the lamps to create an atmosphere that is warm and inviting. Encourage parents and carers to do the face paint/ temporary tattoo for their children and the children to give their parents and carers a hand massage. Have a few people in the gazebos to be on hand to help and to chat. Christian-themed temporary tattoos are available from: In the beginning shadow puppet theatre You will need: a large white bed sheet and the means to hang it up, a powerful torch/lighting, several sheets of black card or paper, 20 to 30 wooden skewers (with the points cut off), sticky tape, scissors Start by encouraging the families to make puppets together for a retelling of the creation narrative from Genesis 1, cutting out the outlines of different shapes and sticking them each onto a skewer. You will need the earth, waves, clouds, sun, moon, mountains, trees and plants, fish and sea creatures, birds, animals, man and woman. Using the puppets they have made, invite the families to tell the story of creation dramatically together. Set the stage with the waters moving before the lights are switched on. You can either continue building the picture (as long as you have enough hands!) or bring in each new part of creation as the story unfolds. If you can, finish the story with everything that has been made making an appearance as God says, This is good. Disco! You will need: music, black light or UV light You can have lots of fun with a disco, and if you have made T-shirts, encourage the families to wear them now. Using a black light, or other UV light, the T-shirts will glow brilliantly in a dark room. Getting creative with lighting can really make a disco. You could also do the Traffic light funky dance-off game as part of the disco.

28 24 Sample events and services JESUS: Light of the World Service plan Aim: to explore the idea that Jesus is the Light of the World Welcoming activity: What is light? You will need: flip charts with paper, pens As people arrive, have a large whiteboard, flip chart or paper on the wall that is headed, Light is Invite the congregation of all ages to write or draw what they think light is, or any ideas about what light does or what it is useful for. When you are ready to begin, give this graffiti wall to the person leading the service. Setting the scene Welcome the people and explain that this is an intergenerational service there will be something for everyone as they spend the service time together rather than in age-specific groups. Bring out the importance of a shared experience and encourage children to sit with their parents or with another adult who will interact with them throughout the service. If it is appropriate in your setting, you might like to suggest that everyone says hello to someone of a different age from themselves. Show the Light is graffiti wall. Select a handful of ideas from it and share them. Say that today s service is going to be focused on Jesus being the Light of the World. Bible reading Read John 1:1 14. If you are in an Anglican or liturgy-based setting, you could read the passage together or antiphonally (with each side of the church reading alternate verses). Alternatively, in an intergenerational context it might be nice to have three or four people of varying ages each taking a section. Before you begin, explain that when John writes The Word he is referring to Jesus. Song(s) A list of suitable worship songs is included at the end of this service plan, but do include songs that will be familiar to your community. Icebreaker Ask everyone to turn to the person next to them and talk briefly about some of the things we do which we hope won t be seen by others. These can be positive or negative things, depending on how well you know your neighbour! Have some quick feedback after a couple of minutes. Drama Invite a couple of people to prepare and perform a very short sketch. If you can make your worship space dark for the first part, that s great, but it s not essential. Person 1 leaves a large, slightly melted bar of chocolate somewhere prominent and walks off. Person 2 comes along and finds the chocolate, takes it and goes off into a dark corner to eat it. They need to make themselves really messy as they do. Person 1 returns to find that the chocolate has gone. They are upset! There is lots of opportunity here for panto shouts of: He took it! He s behind you! Person 1 gets out a large torch to investigate what happened to the chocolate. They shine it on various members of the congregation and eventually on Person 2 who will be covered in chocolate! Talk part 1 Remind everyone of the passage from John 1 from the beginning of the service: it said that Jesus was the light coming into the world. But what does that mean, and why does it matter? One of the religious leaders who was around at the same time as Jesus was a man called Nicodemus. He wanted to understand who Jesus was, so he went to visit him secretly at night. Jesus told him that the way to be part of God s kingdom was to believe and trust in him because he had come to save the world. This story comes from John chapter 3 and one of the most famous verses (verse 16) in the whole Bible comes from here. Can anyone remember it? This is the good news in a nutshell! After Jesus has made this famous statement, he goes on to talk about light, and specifically about him being the light.

29 An All Souls service also available at 25 Read John 3:19 21 (from a translation with clear, accessible language). Jesus is saying that it s really hard for people who are doing the wrong things to come to the light because it shows everyone what they have been up to. Refer back to the sketch and remark that the torch showed up the chocolate thief. Remind people of the things they talked about that they hope others won t see. Light shows what is true and right and good, and that s especially important at a time like Halloween when the world seems to want to focus on dark things. Illustration Use any of the following to help people unpack this idea of things being right or true: Film clip: Show the clip from Flushed Away (Dreamworks) in which Rita and Roddy are trying to escape from the bad guys with Rita s much sought-after ruby, but all is not as it seems. (Start time: 26:16; end time: 29:46; length: 3:30.) Obstacle course: Choose two or three volunteers. Set up a very simple obstacle course and then blindfold the volunteers and challenge them to navigate the obstacles and win the race. Now repeat the race without the blindfolds and ask your volunteers what they thought of this experience. (Make sure you risk assess this activity before the service!) True or false: Label one side of the church True and the other False. Devise a list of questions which will challenge different ages. Encourage everyone to move to the appropriate side depending on their answer to the questions. For sample questions, visit Discussion In small groups, discuss the following questions: What does the Bible say about the truth of who Jesus is? What lies would the world like to tell us about God, faith and religion? What seems particularly dark in your world or in the wider world just now? Talk part 2 Read John 3:21 again. Jesus is saying that it s God who enables us to live in the light he reveals the truth to us and helps us to live by it. Light is very powerful. If you light a candle in a completely dark room, what happens? The darkness gets chased away destroyed! When we walk close to Jesus, darkness doesn t stand a chance. In fact, Jesus says elsewhere in the Bible (Matthew 5:14 16) that when we belong to him we are also the Light of the World. The way we live our lives brings God s light and goodness and truth to the whole world, wherever we go. Did you know than on a dark hillside, one tiny lantern can be seen from miles away? That s an image of the impact our lives can have on the world when we are walking with Jesus. Darkness doesn t stand a chance, because we are people of light walking close by Jesus, the Light of the World. Scripture Union Halloween is a time when people focus on darkness, but we want people to live in the light! Only around 5 per cent of children in the UK have regular contact with a church community. Scripture Union is working to bring light to children who are missing out on Jesus, trying to be a light as Jesus describes in Matthew 5: Response You will need: tea lights and matches, or glow sticks Choose a suitable song to listen to or sing together and, as you do so, invite everyone to light a candle or activate a glow stick. Encourage the congregation to thank God for Jesus light. Intercessions You will need: a large world map (projected or displayed prominently) Pray for areas of the world that desperately need God s light, truth and goodness. As you pray, you could put a sticker or animated picture with something representing light (a candle, the sun, a light bulb) on those areas on a large world map. Closing song(s) Choose suitable songs to bring your time together to a close. Sending out Read Psalm 119:105 Scripture Union s key verse and encourage people to remember it as they go out into their lives this week. You could print it on small cards to give out or encourage the church to say it together to memorise it before they go. Suggested songs Let there be light Holy! Holy! Holy! Immortal, invisible This little light of mine Joyous light (Chris Tomlin) Light of the World (Tim Hughes) Mighty to save (Ben Fielding and Reuben Morgan) You alone can rescue (Matt Redman) Shine (Nick Jackson, perfect for all ages) Let your light shine in the darkness (Paul Robertson and Greg De Blieck) In the light (DC Talk) These and other suitable songs can be found in The Source range, Songs of Fellowship, kidsource and kidsource 2, Junior Praise and the Spring Harvest Kids Praise range.

30 26 Sample events and services All Saints Day Service plan Aim: to discover what it means to be a saint and what ministry and serving God is all about Welcoming activity: What is a saint? You will need: flip charts with paper, pens Have two flip charts, with paper attached, near the entrance of the church. One should be high and one lower for children and those in wheelchairs. As people enter the church, the welcome team should ask them what they think the characteristics of a saint are. Invite each person to talk to one or two of those around them and then write a word or two that describes what a saint might be like. These sheets will be used later in the service. Introduction Read out Psalm 31:23 (The Message): Love God, all you saints; God takes care of all who stay close to him. Explain that this is a message to all believers we are all saints if we love and serve God and do the right things. Opening message At the start of your service, offer a little background to the season, covering the following: All Saints (or All Hallows) is a time to remember and celebrate the saints who have gone before us and left a legacy of Christianity. The date chosen for All Saints in the eighth century is around the same time as the pagan festival of Samhain, and some of the old pagan rituals have become part of Halloween celebrations. As Christians we should remember the good that saints bring to the world. There are people who are saints to us they are special people who show that they love us and care about us. Saints of the past You will need: basic costumes for both characters, the Saints resource page from Explain that there have been Christians who have done great saintly things over the past 2,000 years. Use the Saints resource page to tell two stories, with a child or adult volunteer dressed up in costume. You could also include the saint after which your church is named, if that applies you should be able to find out suitable facts through doing a search on the internet. Saints some more... You will need: some inflated balloons, flip-chart paper from the Welcoming activity Display your What is a saint? flip-chart paper at the front of the church. Read out the words that have been written that describe a saint. Ask everyone to think of one of those words. Then invite everyone to stand, and distribute balloons to them. Encourage them to shout out the saintly word they have chosen and tap a balloon into the air at the same time. After a while ask some children to collect the balloons safely. Confession Explain that sometimes we don t behave like saints, and we need to say sorry to God. Say the following all together, or lead the congregation from the front. Lord, have mercy on your saints, who fail you so often. Lord, have mercy on your followers, who follow other paths. Lord, have mercy on your lights, who fail you and live in darkness. Lord, have mercy on your soldiers, who sometimes run from the fight. Lord, have mercy on your workers, who choose to remain silent. Lord, have mercy on your saints. Have mercy on us.

31 An All Souls service also available at 27 Talk Split the congregation into three parts, and give each one of the following responses: Happy are..., Blessed are... and Special are... This is based on Matthew 5:1 12. See for the talk script. Saints in action Josiah Spears started Scripture Union because he was a saint in action, and he wanted to share God s message to children and young people, making more saints! When he went on holiday to the seaside each summer, he would tell the children he met about God and help them to write Bible verses in the sand and decorate them with shells and seaweed. Then he started producing Bible reading notes, so that the children could carry on learning about God when they went home. That was nearly 150 years ago. And Scripture Union s work continues with the help of the saints of today, Christian workers and volunteers across the country that help children to learn more about God and his great love for them. These saints run Bible-focused holidays and beach missions, schools and sports ministries and lots of events for children. And Scripture Union also works with churches, so that the many children today who do not know about God can hear about him, discover the joy of knowing him and live their lives to the full. But Scripture Union needs the help and support of churches, so that the saints who work and volunteer for Scripture Union will be able to do more, and more young saints will grow in God, and serve him. By working together and supporting one another, we can change a generation with the gospel. Reading Do this as a dramatised reading, inviting a group of volunteers (or the whole congregation) to act out, do actions or shout responses for the bold words: Revelation 7:9,10 (The Message) I looked again. I saw a huge crowd, too huge to count. Everyone was there all nations and tribes, all races and languages. And they were standing, dressed in white robes and waving palm branches, standing before the Throne and the Lamb and heartily singing: Salvation to our God on his Throne! Salvation to the Lamb! Briefly explain that those who come through all the challenges of life and stand up for what is right will have plenty to celebrate in the future! God calls people to serve him, and rewards those who do. Conclusion These brief points can be referred back to the lives of our three Christian saints from the past, or those who live as described in Matthew 5:1 12: God can use anyone we can all be saints, and bring the goodness and hope of Jesus to others. We may face hard times, but God is still with us. There are organisations like Scripture Union that try to do saintly things, and help others become saints. Are you ready to be a saint for Jesus? Sharing saints Invite everyone to stand and think for a moment about other people in church today who are saints to them. After the following responsive prayer encourage them to go and say to those others, You are a saint. We can all be called by God to do saintly things. We can all do saintly things. We can all be saints together, and share God s message. We can all be saints together. Let us tell those people who are saints to us by telling them! Blessing May the love of Jesus rest in all of us. May the light of Jesus shine through all of us. May we all be saints for Jesus. And the blessing of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Be with us and with all saints. Amen. Suggested songs Suitable songs would be those which consider the gifts of those who have gone before, and those with a light theme. Choices could include a range of traditional hymns and more modern songs, depending on your church tradition. Possible songs include: An army of ordinary people Colours of day For all the saints Give me oil in my lamp I will build my church Lord, for the years Live my life by faith Light of the World O Jesus, I have promised Take my life, and let it be Thank you, Lord This little light of mine These and other suitable songs can be found in The Source range, Songs of Fellowship, kidsource and kidsource 2, Junior Praise and the Spring Harvest Kids Praise range.

32 28 Interacting with Halloween Interacting with Halloween A bit of thinking Why are you having a Light party? Because your church has always had one? Because it seems like the right thing to do? Because your vicar told you to? It s good to reflect on your motivations before you start planning your party or event. Children will have lots of questions about why Light and not Halloween. Knowing the answer yourself means that you ll be able to help children take part in your events without feeling like they are missing out. Halloween can be a difficult time for Christian children s leaders. In many churches there is a suspicion of the festival some opt for ignoring it completely, others for setting up a Christian alternative to the celebrations. But Halloween has a long history of being allied with Christianity, and taking some time to think about how best to mark this time of year can result in confident celebrations that draw children into a deep, rich understanding of light, darkness, sin, salvation, death and new life. FAQs The following questions might be useful as you plan your festivities. Should I be concerned that Halloween means children are getting involved with occult practices? Much of Halloween s history is Christian. The name itself shortened from All Hallow s Eve makes the link between Halloween and All Hallows very clear. From a Christian perspective, Halloween is the first chapter in the story that ends with All Saints Day. At Halloween, we confront our fear of death and darkness. Children will do what they always do when working out the big issues of life: play. At Halloween, we unpack all the standard bogey-men of childhood fairy tales witches, ghosts, skeletons and vampires and confront them. We acknowledge that, yes, evil exists and the world is scary and dangerous, and yes, someday we will all die. And then, on All Saints Day, we hear the second half of the story that death is not the end, that on the other side of fear is victory and that we do not become ghosts or skeletons when we die but spend eternity with Jesus, with new life stronger than death. A child dressing up as a witch doesn t mean that they are interested in the occult. They are simply working out, through play, what good and evil are, and how to gain control of their own good and evil impulses. Think about when you ve worked with children have you ever seen a pretend game where the good guys lose? If a group of children act out the story of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the child who plays the White Witch will more often than not rejoice with the others at Aslan s victory!

33 Lots more FREE resources online at How can my Light party show the Christian vision of Halloween/All Saints Day? You could buy plain doughnuts and encourage children to decorate them. There are many creative ways to do this, and we would encourage you to come up with something you feel confident in delivering. These thoughts may help guide your thinking: Where do we begin and end? The arc of the festival is the transition from darkness to light. How will your celebration reflect that? Will you start with a moment of quiet prayer and a remembrance of those who have died? Will you start in the dark and move into a light-filled place, as you tell the story of God s triumph over sin and death? Will you start with Bible stories, moving from the darkness of Adam and Eve s sin to the light of Jesus coming? (See Gretchen Wolff Pritchard s book Offering the Gospel to Children for a detailed description of her Halloween drama activity that does just this.) The Spiritual Child Network has some great resources on how to celebrate the transition from darkness to light. You can find their overview here: and their Goodies and Baddies themed party ideas are here: Will you revive old Christian traditions around Halloween, or create new ones? Many of the secular aspects of Halloween have their origins in Christianity. Trick-or-treating began in the British Isles with children going from door to door singing for soul cakes to commemorate the dead. (You can find the Soul cake song on YouTube.) The tradition of carving a lantern (to scare away the devil) also came from Christianity this time in Ireland. If you have a dramatic movement from darkness to light in your celebration, children will have a lot of excitement to work off so why not have them run around different parts of your space asking for soul cakes, or have a piñata filled with sweets. Doughnuts are also a traditional Christian Halloween treat the circle represents eternity. How will you make this a pastoral opportunity? Much as we would like to pretend otherwise, many children have experienced the death of a loved one or pet. This is frightening, but by giving children a chance to confront their fears and gain reassurance death is not the end for those who believe in Jesus, we can minister to children s pastoral needs as well as their understanding of Christianity. Provide a space in your celebration to remember lives of those who have died and to pray for their families. You could light a candle for each family you pray for, or perhaps write the names of the people you remember on paper hearts and thank God for them. Above all, don t be afraid. Halloween is an ancient part of the Christian calendar. Its modern revival may be tinged with American commercialism and concerns about the occult, but it is part of our history and can be joyfully celebrated. Remember, though, that to celebrate it richly and deeply children need a chance to confront the darkness as well as celebrate the light. Christian educator Gretchen Wolff Pritchard comments, Christians, of all people, should be able to admit that, yes, there most certainly are monsters under the bed The world is a scary place. Our life is not merely a journey in which we may sometimes get tired or lost or discouraged; it is a dangerous venture through a war zone, in which we may be attacked, ambushed, or tempted to join the Enemy s side; in which we may be assigned to missions calling for all the courage and intelligence we can muster. And in that cosmic battle, we have by our side the unlikely superhero from Nazareth, the meek-andmild carpenter who proved to be stronger than sin, stronger than death; who by his courage and loyalty has faced and defeated the Enemy, and who invites us, and empowers us, to follow him through the darkness to the final victory, with the saints who nobly fought of old. Many of the secular aspects of Halloween have their origins in Christianity

34 30 Your Church and Scripture Union Your Church and Scripture Union Scripture Union is a mission movement focussed on children and young people. We believe that every child needs someone to introduce them to Jesus. One of our key ministries is to help churches like yours introduce the good news of the gospel and support the development of children s faith. With nearly 150 years of experience, we can offer support to help you reach out to more children, exciting and inspiring children s church plans to enable young faith to grow, and a local team who can offer you personal advice. Without the support and involvement of churches like yours, thousands of children may never have the opportunity to hear the good news. The gospel can change a generation. What next? We hope that you ll want to build on the success of your Light Party by holding other events and activities for children and young people, to introduce them to Jesus and help them to build a lasting faith. We also hope that you ll want to support us so that we can continue to be there for the next generation across England and Wales. Introducing more children to Jesus Christmas Bible Comics - Scripture Union produces packs of Christmas Bible Comics which explain the story of Jesus birth and are available for a small fee (we sell these as cheaply as we can, reinvesting any money we do make back into our ministry). If you have any child-focused Christmas events planned, such as Crib services or Christingle, these comics are great to give out to children so they can take away a lasting reminder of the true meaning of Christmas. You can buy them online at Easter: We produce Easter Bible Comics that you can use in the same way as the Christmas Bible Comics: a giveaway for every child coming to a special Children s Easter Service. Visit to purchase packs of Easter Bible Comics. Holiday Clubs: Why not try running a holiday club for the children in your community, during the school holidays or half-term? Scripture Union produces special holiday club literature (leader s guide, DVD and activity notebooks for the children) which covers a core age range of 5-11, but which can be extended to age Find out all you need to know about running a holiday club at: Each year, we distribute tens of thousands of Christmas Bible Comics to children at our Christmas Unwrapped events - visit to see highlights of last year s campaign.

35 Quick links to everything below are at Volunteer and learn useful skills Scripture Union also has lots of exciting volunteering opportunities that not only aim to inspire children and young people to know God, but also help you to develop your children s work skills. Find out how to help children in your area learn about Jesus, by volunteering: Explore Count Me In at Further developing your children s work Sunday groups: If you have children s groups on a Sunday (or would like to start some) then our best selling Light range of Sunday group resources could be just what you need (see pull our section for details). Developing lasting faith: One of the big issues we come across is children and young people leaving their faith behind, especially when they go off to university. So in conjunction with Urban Saints and Oxford CYM we run workshops for church leaders and volunteers who work with children, so that they can help children to develop a lifelong faith. See Tips on working with children and young people: At Scripture Union, we know that ministry with children and young people can sometimes be a real challenge. That s why we ve developed a range of over 40 FREE videos giving expert tips that could help you take your children s and youth work to the next level. Personal local support If you need advice on how to run a Sunday group that children will love, how to take the gospel to children in your community or local schools, or how to support developing young leaders, then your local Scripture Union Regional Team could make all the difference. See to find our more about what is going on in your area. Support our nationwide mission to introduce every child to Jesus! Today, just 5% of children have regular contact with a church which means that over 8 million children don t. They so need to know about the hope and joy that Jesus can give, and we want to reach as many as possible so that they have that opportunity. You can help us to take the gospel to where they are through our range of frontline ministries. Would you consider making Scripture Union one of the missions your church gives to? Perhaps you could take up a collection for the work of Scripture Union when you hold your Light of the World or All Saints church service, or make Scripture Union one of the missions to which your church gives. (You can order free collection envelopes by completing the order form in the centre of this pack, or order online at or call ) Together, we can change a generation with the gospel!

36 Scripture Union is a Registered Charity in England and Wales (number ) and a Limited Company (number 39828) Queensway, Bletchley, Milton Keynes, MK2 2EB Website: Phone: info@scriptureunion.org.uk Scripture quotations taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version (Anglicised edition) Copyright 1979, 1984, 2011 Biblica (formerly International Bible Society). Used by permission of Hodder & Stoughton Publishers, an Hachette UK Company. All rights reserved. Scripture taken from The Message copyright 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. Contributors: Jenny Cheung, Nick Harding, Pete Sheath, Simeon Whiting, Emma Carman, Margaret Pritchard Houston, Alex Taylor Copyright Scripture Union 2014 Printed by Red River Solutions, Billingshurst ISBN