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Research Project As the Church of the Nazarene seeks to “Connect a New Generation” by emphasizing ministries to children and youth, we would like to receive feedback from the children and youth of the Eurasia Region. We want to listen and learn from them, as we believe they have something important to say. There are basically two questions we would like them to answer: 1. What is your view of the church? This may or may not include: How would you describe your church? What is its purpose? Why do people go to church and why specifically to your church (in comparison to other religious groups)? Who is church for? Where do kids or teens/youth fit in the church? How are children and youth ministered to? How important are children and youth in the life of the church? Are you involved in the church, and if so, how? 2. What do you want your church to look like? This may or may not include: What are your needs (spiritual, physical, social, mental and emotional)? What benefits do you want to receive from the church? How do you want the church to meet your needs? How do you want to participate in the church? Where do you fit within the church? Who will be in the church? What do you want to learn at church? How do you want to be involved in ministry to others? The responses from the children and youth will undoubtedly be as diverse as the children/youth themselves. The methods for asking for their input can be just as creative. It is recommended to make the “survey” for children seem an activity of play, followed by a teaching lesson about the church being a place for people of all ages to come together and worship God. Following is one such example. For youth it is recommended for them to do another activity (perhaps make a video, create a rap song (or style of their choice), create/perform a skit or pantomime, in small groups or in one large group, etc.) that will give them the opportunity to express themselves, and followed by a teaching lesson about the church. Due to the unique ways children and youth are brought into contact with the church, it is important for the person doing this survey to answer the following questions: 1. What are the ages of the children/youth surveyed? This “survey” is intended to be something done in less than an hour and can be adapted as needed to the local situation (for a kids club, lesson, youth meeting, etc.) If anything tangible is created by the children/youth (drawings, collage, video, etc.), PLEASE try to collect it and either send it or a copy of it to the regional office. If there is nothing of this nature, notes from the leader doing the survey will be most important and appreciated (please provide an English translation). What’s a survey after all, without results?? Please send to:
Example for survey with children ages 7-10 Gather old magazines with lots of pictures, scissors, glue, markers, pens, crayons, stickers, (anything available for creativity) tape and full-size, regular and thick sheets of paper (A4 or A3). Activity: Have the children draw “their church” on the regular sheets of paper. Tell them they can include buildings, people, things, examples of how it makes them feel, etc. As they are doing this, walk around asking each one what the things mean. (This would be a great opportunity to make any notes of words they use to describe their church for “our research”.) Hang their drawings around the room for everyone to see and let them tell one or two things about their pictures. Lesson: Talk with the children: The church is the people of God; people come together to worship God; those who know and serve God represent him on earth; in fellowship and community with each other they are the church. Ask, How do God’s people fellowship with each other? (Worshipping God, spending time together, doing things together, etc.) How does God want his people to treat each other? (With love, service, care, etc.) The church is a group that is called by God to do his special work. (I Pet 2:9) God wants everybody to be involved in his work – adults and children. Ask, What is God’s work? What can children do for God? Activity: Have the children cut/paste pictures from the magazines on the thick sheets of paper, as well as use any of the other materials for drawings/pictures to create what they think God wants their church to look like. Ask them to include examples of how they want to be involved, how they want to be ministered to, how they want to minister to others, how God’s people should fellowship with each other, how people learn about God, etc. When they’re finished ask each one to explain their pictures to the group. After they are done, take each of the sheets and tape them together to physically make a standing church (walls-3 or more sides, roof-1 or more sheets). After the church is “built”, explain to the children that they are an important part of the church and that they help “build” the church to be what God wants it to be. Close with a song about the church and prayer. |