Online Kids Club | Supporting regional and remote communities
If you would like more information about participating in this project, email Rev. Yvonne Ghavalas at YvonneG@nswact.uca.org.au. or if you’re interested in hosting a hub why not jump to the link and register today!
As we light the OKC candle, we offer hope for our children to grow in the love of Christ and the company of other young Christian disciples, for leaders to grow in understanding of esafety issues that affect this generation, for regional and rural Presbyteries to work together in creative ways, and for the wider Church to articulate a theology of play that may bring new ways of worship and witness into old and sacred places.
During COVID there were a lot of online experiments, but with everyone feeling fragile and struggling to connect as communities, working across regions was not realistic, but it did plant a seed! Pulse prioritized small seed funding to research what was possible and to do some experiments exploring what would work specifically for regional and remote communities. Kristy Morgan from Roseville who had success with online kids club in her community was the first to begin the research and more recently Rev Yvonne Ghavalas the minister at Pilgrim UCA in Wagga Wagga has taken the mantle, putting some of that learning into practice.
In a creative collaboration between young mentors from Kinross Wolaroi Uniting Church School, the Riverina and Macquarie Darling Presbyteries, and PULSE, the light of discipleship will shine for children in regional and rural areas of NSW & ACT in a new way. This exciting pilot project aims to establish a safe and authentic online community for children in grades 3 to 6 through the gift of technology. It seeks to grow High Schoolers as leaders supported by adults.
The first pilot began in December with a short Advent Holiday Club entitled “Christmas craz-E,”
Sunday afternoons offered an opportunity for craft and conversation – all from the comfort of kids’ own homes in regional and rural communities. These communities often struggle to create spaces for young people in churches due to limited youth leaders and financial resources. The real surprise was that a couple of congregations decided to host a hub at their church. A couple of adults set up the tech, kept kids safe and offered hospitality. The hub in Wagga now has not only online kids club for primary school kids but also other kids space to play.
Online Kids Club will continue this year experimenting with how best to share the love of God to Primary Schoolers across the Synod, particularly supporting those in regional and remote communities. It meets online Sundays 2-3pm.
3 years ago, the PULSE team embarked on a consultation across the Synod to discover what people were doing with Emerging Gen and what they long to do. We heard of passionate people who would love to see kids from their community learning more about the gospel but also heard the struggle with lack of leaders and resources to do so in regional and remote communities. Since then Pulse has held in their hearts how we could support those amazing saints who faithfully share the Gospel in their local communities, particularly those scripture teachers who faithfully turn up to serve.
Remember you can keep in touch with PULSE by signing up for our monthly newsletter, or for further information contact our team via email, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or TikTok.
Karen Mitchell-Lambert is ordained in the ministry of Deacon and is the team leader of PULSE.
