Mission
This page is under development
Follow this link to go to the general information page Caring For God's Acre – the conservation charity for burial grounds across the UK
Follow this link for the Childrens activity sheets. Childrens-Activities-2025-compressed.pdf
All ministry needs to start with prayer. We grow in faith as we connect with God’s heart for people. As we pray for schools and their children, our heart for the children and the staff at the school grows and we see God move.
Ask, Seek, Knock
Matthew 7:7-11
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!"
Put Friday 26th September in your diary and join the National Day of Prayer
On the National Day of Prayer for Schools we encourage christians across the UK to set aside time to pray for their local schools. This year, join us in praying for the education system in our country, and for children, young people, teachers, non-teaching staff, visiting organisations, and Christians who support in the schools and colleges within your community on Friday 26th September 2025.
Get together with other Christians from your church or in your local community on the National Day of Prayer for Schools and pray for your local schools. You could do this in a variety of ways:
- Go on a prayer walk together
- Pray outside your local school(s)
- Put together a creative prayer space with activities to prompt prayers
- Organise a prayer gathering
- Get together with Christians you know who work in schools and pray for them and their school
Click this link to find out more, get resourses and book your place on a National time of prayer on Zoom.
This guide is to help you pray for students and teachers. You can use it to pray for students and teachers around the world, but we would suggest that you make it a bit more local and begin to intercede for the schools around you.
Click this link to upload the guide
- 1
This page is under development
Were here to help you to make your church a welcoming space for everybody.
There are many ways in which we can take steps, sometimes very small ones, to make people feel more welcomed into a space. That is true of people of all ages but, here in the Growing Younger Team, we are trying to find ways of helping you to be creative in the ways that you make your services and events more accessible to children and young people regardless of the challenges they face. Trying to help you remove as many barriers as possible between the children and young people in your communities and God.
Here are some ideas but if you know of more, please do let us know so that we can add them to this list.
How to Make Your Children’s Ministry Space More Accessible
Jesus’ ministry routinely included people with disabilities. People of all abilities can learn, play, and study the Bible together.
So consider…how inclusive is your space? What can you do to make sure everyone feels welcome? We asked Charla Holst, occupational therapist and founder of Overcomer Ministries, how churches can best modify spaces to include people of all abilities.
Take this simple evaluation (by clicking this link) to help your children’s ministry space be more disability friendly.
The Additional Needs Alliance – helping churches to include, support, create places of belonging for, and spiritually grow children, young people and young adults with additional needs or disabilities. Among our Members are many individuals and organisations that offer a range of excellent services and resources to assist churches and other groups working in this area to make a real difference for their community.
Christian BSL provides British Sign Language (BSL) translations of Christmas carols and for words and phrases related to Advent and Christmas. The videos are presented by Deaf BSL users who are practising Christians.
Including everyone – SEN inclusion in church children’s and youth groups
Follow this link to find the free online training video plus some other really helpful material; supporting your church in starting on a road to greater inclusion https://www.parentingforfaith.brf.org.uk/
Creative Calm course starts Monday 13th April 2026 from 8.00pm-9:15pm
Topics and techniques covered:
-
Understanding your nervous system from a neuroscience perspective
-
The power of movement in regulation
-
Breathing techniques that help you stay calm in a crisis
-
Opportunities for spiritual connection and reflection and prayer
-
Using our senses to regulate, reset and rest
-
and more!
Session 1: Monday 13th April 2026
Session 2: Monday 20th April 2026
Session 3: Monday 27th April 2026
Session 4: Monday 4th May 2026
Session 5: Monday 11th May 2026
Session 6: Monday 18th May 2026
All sessions 8.00pm – 9.15pm
For more informationm, email creativecalm@creativehertstherapy.co.uk and visit Creative Calm | Enhance Wellbeing—Join Now — Creative Herts Therapy
For more information, contact the Growing Younger Team at GrowingYounger@derby.anglican.org
- 1
Our Diocesan Vision is that the Kingdom of God is good news for all, and that fundamentally includes Children, Young People and Families.
A key priority of our Parish Support Team strategy is to support and enable parishes to Grow Active Young Disciples. The Growing Younger team has been put together around this priority and a lot of our work is based around the national Church of England movement that is Growing Faith.
We really hope that the Growing Younger pages give you what you need to strengthen your ministry amongst children and young people. We try to cover all areas of your ministry; celebrate your local stories and inspire new growth.
Contact us at GrowingYounger@derby.anglican.org if there is anything we can do to support you in growing a ministry or building a new ministry amongst children and young people.
We have been wondering about our web pages…
Do we have the right type of information on them?
Do we have too much information on them?
What are we missing on our pages?
This is your opportunity to help us out… what would you like to see on our Growing Younger pages?
Follow this link to be taken to our quick website questionnaire.
What might it look like if our churches truly connected with
children, young people and families in today’s world?
The Growing a Younger Church Conference is a practical, hope‑filled day for anyone passionate about seeing younger generations flourish in faith.
Drawing on real stories, research and hands‑on experience, the day will explore what’s already working – and how we can build on it in our own contexts.
Only 4 weeks to go ...
Date: Saturday 6th June 2026
Time: 10.00am – 4.00pm
Place: St Johns, Walton Back Lane, Walton, Chesterfield, S42 SLT
Places are filling up so book your place now:
Book your tickets here
The Quiet Revival - the story continues
The Bible Society have expressed their disappointment at the discovery that the Quiet Revival report was flawed because of the data that they recieved from YouGov.. They explain what happend and what they are doing to correct it.
.. 'this isn't the end of the Quiet Revival story. During the last year we've heard amazing stories of growth from churches across England and Wales. We've found new data and surveys that back up our conviction that a real change is happening. Our new report, The Quiet Revival one year on: what's the story? outlines our reasons for believing this. We hope you'll be encouraged'.
Click on the image to go to the full report
Never too old to make a difference for young people in your church
Click on the image for to play the video.
Don't miss out on these youth prayer and worship nights scheduled to hold this year
Please save the dates and spread the word!
- Summer Term date: Friday June 12th 7pm to 9pm
- Venue - St Werburgh's church. Friar Gate, Derby. DE1 1BU.
- Autumn term date : Friday October 23rd. 7pm to 9pm
- Venue - Reach Church Derby , Reach Centre, Pride Park, Derby. DE24 8HY
Save the dates and keep an eye out here and on their website by clicking this link for more information!
**Time to Book!**
Join young adults from across the East Midlands and beyond for a weeklong pilgrimage to Taizé, near Cluny, France. Young adults aged 18 - 35 are very welcome.
There will be a limited number of spaces for those who are over 35 and would like to join us.
Click on the flyer to find out more
Growing a Younger Church newsletter.
Are you on the mailing list for our mailing? It's packed full of creative ideas and resources for you to use in your Parishes; whether you are starting out with a dream to build something new with your children and young people or whether you have an established group and are looking for fresh ideas.. We've got you. We are also going to be sharing stories from across the Diocese of ways that churches are ministrering to their children and young people so do send in your stories that we can share with others.
We send the mailing out every couple of months.. all you need to do is sign up and you will receive the mailing direct to your In-Box.
Sign up for our mailing by following this link
..
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- 1
- 1
Meet the Growing Younger Team
-
Growing Younger Communications & Resourcing Officer (job-share)
Debbie Patrick
01332 388665
debbie.patrick@derby.anglican.org
Debbie works on a Monday and Wednesday
-
Growing Younger Communications & Resourcing Officer (job-share)
Rowan Rankin
01332 401726
rowan.rankin@derby.anglican.org
Rowan works on a Monday and Wednesday
- 1
-
Growing Younger Communications & Resourcing Officer (job-share)Debbie Patrick 01332 388665 debbie.patrick@derby.anglican.org Debbie works on a Monday and Wednesday
-
Growing Younger Communications & Resourcing Officer (job-share)Rowan Rankin 01332 401726 rowan.rankin@derby.anglican.org Rowan works on a Monday and Wednesday
- 1
If you are looking to develop your youth, children's families and/or schools ministry, or if you have stories of innovative ministry with children, young people and families to share with others.....
please get in touch at growingyounger@derby.anglican.org.
Accessible Church Symbols Project
We want every person to have access to worship in our churches so we have created this resource to help churches to think about their buildings and give them the tools they need to easily assess their spaces from an accessibility point of view.
Our series of symbols can be freely used in churches to publicise how accessible they are to people with specific access needs or requirements, enabling them to assess outlining the accessibility of church buildings and services, and enabling them to make further enquiries.
They are available on a dedicated website:
Introducing the Disability Inclusion Action Group (DIAG)
Disability inclusion and access is taken very seriously by the Diocese of Derby.
Volunteers, with a range of disabilities and challenges, who all share the passion of making positive change across the diocese launched the DIAG to support the diocese and parishes to become as inclusive to disabled people as they possibly can be.
Our work is focused around three key themes - Attitude, Access, and Agency.
The group meet regularly and is chaired by Carl Veal. The group always welcomes interest and/or enquiries from congregation and churches across the diocese.
What can we do for you?
Our goal is to serve the needs of the disabled within the Diocese of Derby.
All of our activities and tools are designed by the group towards making the lives of those with challenges easier within the churches across our diocese.
Our information is intended for all the people of the diocese; clergy, church leaders and parishoners alike and currently includes:
- The provision of accessibility advice and you may contact us directly at diag@derby.anglican.org. We would love to hear from you.
- As we progress, we will be offering seminars both online and in groups – keep a look out for announcements.
- We can offer advice based on the very personal experiences of living with a range of disabilities. The members of the diag group are comprised of volunteers mostly with disability or multiple disabilities of some form.
We are currently working on making available a Braille print toolkit; and a BSL toolkit which willl include how to engage British Sign Language (BSL) interpreters. We are also liiking into access to completing a successful accessibility audit through an audit toolkit.
NB: All contact is treated in confidence and information will only be shared with express consent.
Get Involved
We’d love to hear from you as your thoughts and experiences of church life and disability are important in developing best practice.
So whether you’re an individual with ‘lived’ or ‘caring' experience of disability, or a church, or community organisation, do get in contact with us.
We love to hear of new projects and events, and if you want to get more involved then we're always welcoming to new members joining our steering group.
DIAG related stories on the Diocese of Derby website
>> Bishop Malcolm experiences church from a wheelchair user’s perspective
>> Special service raises awareness of disability inclusion in churches
Resources
Have an accessible Christmas [PDF]
Special Edition - Disability Matters - June 2025 [PDF]
Bulletin produced by the CofE Disability Task Group to draw attention to the Government's proposed Welfare Reforms and how this could affect people.
Ramps - improving wheelchair access [YouTube]
Disability Awareness Sunday [webpage]
Supporting Autistic individuals in our churches [YouTube]
DIAG Chairman's report 2021-2022 [PDF]
All Stand brochure [PDF]
Disabling Church - report by Cptn Tim Rourke C.A. [PDF]
'Support Reimagined' - CofE and Livability [webpage]
Christian BSL
Songs, hymns, and carols in British Sign Language (BSL) signed by Deaf Christians.
Global Accessibility Awareness Day
2025 date to be announced. Purpose of the day is to get everyone talking, thinking and learning about digital access and inclusion, and the more than One Billion people with disabilities/impairments.
Through the Roof
A registered charity that exists to transform lives through Jesus with disabled people.
Christian Aid is asking people to join the global day of action on Saturday, 6 November, as people around the world take to the streets to march together for climate justice.
Many walks and marches are planned throughout the country, and for those who are unable or prefer not to join an organised event, there is the opportunity to join a virtual march, for which thousands have already registered.
The COP26 climate talks provide a unique opportunity for the nation to call on the UK Prime Minister and world leaders to take action that will end climate injustice.
Christian says our leaders must:
- increase financial support to the world’s poorest countries to confront the climate crisis take action
- limit global temperature rises to 1.5C
- take action to stop the expansion of fossil fuel energy and to support clean energy
Find out more on the Christian Aid website.
Reflecting in Lockdown
Lockdown may have given you time to re-evaluate about what is important and how you look after yourself. Some people found the time to exercise outdoors gave some solace in the green space nearby, sharing paths and places previously overlooked.
‘There were significant impacts on nature. As the world slowed during lockdowns, there were reports of wildlife in areas normally busy with people. This was not only in urban areas; puffins on the Farne Islands are one example of wildlife thriving in a deserted national park. In the UK daily exercise of a walk or cycles ride enabled many people to connect with nature in their local area. Reduced traffic noise meant that bird song could be heard in usually busy streets and road kill declined.’
p12 ‘Covid-19 Environment, Justice and the Future’ E198 Grove
University of Derby conducted research that found nature connectionedness is as important for wellbeing as income and education (Capaldi).
What can something as simple as nature connection do in improving our mental health? In connecting to nature we improve our sense of wellbeing. If you think of your mental health as variable to each person and each situation then self-care in simple ways is something we need to practice.
‘Do not underestimate the importance of preventative work.’ Angela Kerry, Policy Officer, Derbyshire Mental Health Forum 21 July 2020.
Mental illness is not always preventable, but to prevent it we can use the 5 ways to wellbeing. Nature connection can help us- connect, be active, wonder, learn and give.
Just take the idea of wonder. We can see more shades of green than any other colour (James Wong on Twitter @Botanygeek). Is that so we can appreciate beauty in the outdoors and value everything from a landscape to a leaf?
Connecting to nature improves the quality of our lives.
Connecting with other human beings can bring perspective but so can feeling tiny as you reach a hilltop and admire the view. Perhaps we can also prevent the inclination to be ego centric and be encouraged in our caring for each other and for creation.
Nature Connectedness what can we do?
It is estimated we have 10,000 churchyards in the Church of England the land equivalent to a small National Park. If you added in private gardens and allotments, it would be bigger still.
Derby University research shows Nature Connection benefits can be measured in both adults and children.
- Notice good things in nature and write them down.
- Nature connection stuck with people 2 months later.
- We look after things we value. In children ‘noticing’ in nature gave rise to increased caring of the environment.
- Feeling better increased: people measurably perceived themselves as happier.
- Nature connection is offered as a social prescription: it works in urban environments.
- Create some good memories outdoors. Nature connection is more powerful than ‘knowing about it’ or contact, it needs to link to us emotionally and meaningfully, tying in to our compassion and aesthetics (beauty).
We treasure what we know and value.
Our beautiful world of human, animal and plant species is under threat, rising extinction of species https://www.ipbes.net/news/ipbes-global-assessment-summary-policymakers-pdf highlighted this before the pandemic. Campaigners are wanting a just return for our people and planet after lockdown.
‘Preserving terrestrial ecosystems on land, in the oceans and in our fresh watercourses, is essential for the survival of the species, including our own. Preserving biodiversity also means researching it....Knowing … will make us understand better and follow a wiser path.’ We are all Greta, chapter 12, Biodiversity.
Collecting- accumulating more and more: a selfish activity, has damaged the planet. This tendency can be funneled into identifying (and not destroying), and appreciating species. Eco church resource https://ecochurch.arocha.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Land-How-to-Look-After-Your-Land-in-Wildlife-Friendly-Ways.pdf
Sharing our love of nature (treasuring the earth) welcoming the local public and visitors can be part of our mission. We can offer the opportunity to join in, learn, connect, sharing access to a local green space. https://www.churchofengland.org/more/church-resources/churchcare/advice-and-guidance-church-buildings/biodiversity. We can also share our findings/ photos with local organisations recording sightings. Churches Count on Nature week uses the iNaturalist app but you can use it anytime.
Where there is little local public green space Sharing what we have can be of great value: we show solidarity with people facing inequality in our parishes. https://neweconomics.org/2020/05/parks-are-for-everyone
Suggestions to encourage nature connection with the need to follow current guidance to wash hands, social distance etc.
- Share your churchyard or outside space: how do people know they are welcome?
- Link your outside space to citizen science projects, sharing your sightings e.g. arocha_uk , #Wildflowerhour, #WilderDerbyshire, @BTO etc.
- Offer space on outdoor events: a walk, maintenance activity and gardening projects. Link these to the volunteer bureau or the local social prescriber at your GP.
- Share what you have seen. This has been valued by people restricted at home.
- Offer a reason to be outside: for example a downloadable treasure trail aimed at children. Caring for Gods Acre resources and training
- Share a guided walk or route description or route number on your facebook page or social media. Add a facility to lockdownloo.com or the refill app add links https://www.derbyshire.gov.uk/leisure/countryside/access/walking/walks-and-trails/walks-and-trails.aspx?page=1 or greenways https://www.derbyshire.gov.uk/leisure/countryside/access/greenways/greenways.aspx
- Wild Christian resource http://thesanctuarycentre.org/resources/creative_prayer_idea_wild_worship_field_guide.pdf
- Join in with a walking group, a rambling group or an outdoor event in a local nature reserve or park.
- Link to a local wildlife group and find ways to share your space for activities.
- Watch a film at your social zoom such as ‘project wild thing’ and start a small group discussion https://3ak4be4522es3y5i4l2cwfkx-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Lifestyle-How-to-Connect-More-with-Nature.pdf
- Have a creation time worship in the outdoors when restrictions allow it– see 'Whats Happening' section below.
Church of England Resources
Biodiversity | The Church of England
Related information
Nature Connectedness research Derby University https://www.derby.ac.uk/research/centres-groups/nature-connectedness-research-group/
Wildlife Watch https://www.southderbyshire.gov.uk/our-services/environment/environmental-forum-and-volunteering/wildlife
Derbyshire Wildlife Trust https://www.derbyshirewildlifetrust.org.uk/wildlife-explorer
