Be encouraged by stories from parishes across Derbyshire and see how you can pray for children, young people, families, schools, and church communities across the Diocese of Derby.
If you have a story to share and encourage others, please get in touch at growingYounger@derby.anglican.org

25.06.25 - Interview with Kim Golding: Children & Families Ministry at St Ed’s Church, Allenton and Shelton Lock

Q: Kim, can you tell us a bit about yourself and your role at St Ed’s?

Kim: I’m Kim Golding, Children’s and Families Pastor at St Ed’s Church in Allenton and Shelton Lock. I was part of the team that moved from St Werburgh’s in the city centre to help revitalize St Ed’s in the summer of 2023. I initially began leading the kids' group in an unpaid capacity simply because I was passionate about it—and when the role officially became available, I jumped in with both feet!

Q: How did you begin the kids’ ministry, and what was your initial approach?

Kim: Because intergenerational church is central to our vision, we asked nearly every member of our planting team to serve on the kids team. This meant we had a really large and committed team from the get-go. On our very first official Sunday, we welcomed 23 children—an incredible encouragement—and we’ve been growing ever since.

We started off meeting in the coffee area of church as one big group, but we’ve since split into two age-specific groups and a parent- and carer-led creche. We were also blessed with ownership of the old Scout Hut at the back of our church, which has been a total game-changer. It’s given us room to grow and space to play and engage in deeper ways.

Q: How do you structure your ministry for different age groups?

Kim: We now tailor our sessions to better suit the children. For our primary-aged group, we open the Bible together, pray, and talk honestly about real-life faith. For our younger group, ages 2–4, we introduce Bible truths through messy play, songs, and storytelling.

One amazing moment happened recently in our 2–4s group—we were learning about prayer and healing, and the children prayed for three adults in the church with long-term health issues. Within a week, two of those people had experienced significant healing. It was incredible and such a faith-builder for all of us!

In our older group, we recently explored the idea of chatting to God when we feel scared. Many of our children had been having nightmares or struggling to sleep. Since then, they’ve been praying aloud at bedtime and have been seeing those prayers answered.

Q: How do you engage with your wider community?

Kim: We’ve made it a priority to run non-committal, low-cost or free community events to simply bless families. And we’re beginning to see the fruit—many of the same unchurched faces are returning and even starting to attend our more regular community services, where the gospel is shared clearly.

Take our Light Party, for example—around 75% of attendees were non-churched families from our local school and wider area. We shared that Jesus is the light of the world and how we can shine His light to others. Events like our Easterly Mystery, Christingle, and others are designed to be intergenerational and engaging for all.

Q: Tell us about Eddy the Elephant!

Kim: Eddy is our larger-than-life, grey church elephant—and the kids love him! I go into schools as Eddy, alongside our vicar Jeff, and we bring a fun, faith-based message. For instance, one time Eddy was packing for his holiday and nearly forgot to listen properly, which led into the story of Mary and Martha and the importance of slowing down and listening to Jesus.

Eddy also turns up at church events and has become a lovely way to build continuity between church and school ministry.

Q: What new initiatives are you excited about?

Kim: There are a few exciting things happening! One is Muddy Church, which I’ll be trialling this summer. It’s designed for the fidgety, hands-on learners in our groups and offers a really physical, outdoor way to engage with God. I can’t wait to get stuck in—literally—and explore God’s nature together.

Another is Eddy’s Tots, our toddler group that launched in April. We wanted to create a warm, welcoming space where parents and carers could feel refreshed and cared for, while their children had fun. We received a generous setup grant, which meant I could go a bit wild with ideas—a mini bouncy castle, tuff tray stations, and lovely touches like fresh coffee and nice mugs to give it a real café feel.

Each session includes a little God story followed by nursery and God-themed songs. We’re praying this will become a strong connection point between families and our wider church community.

Q: What advice would you give to other children’s pastors starting or growing their ministries?

Kim: Start where you are with the children you have. Don’t wait for perfect resources or a big team—just begin. Relationships are key, and so is letting your love for the kids and Jesus shine through. Get the whole church excited about the role children play in God’s kingdom.

Never underestimate children. There’s no junior Holy Spirit—just the Holy Spirit, full stop.

There were two things that really helped me grow in my leadership. The first was Rachel Turner from Parenting for Faith—her insight and resources gave me so much confidence and clarity. The second was attending the Worship for Everyone conference. It helped me see how worship and discipleship can be intergenerational and spirit-filled without being complicated or overwhelming.

Q: What can we be praying for you?

Kim: My biggest prayer is that God takes over—that He leads the charge, not us. That He sends revival amongst our littlest to our eldest. That our kids dream dreams, pray big prayers, and see them answered. That they are brave and share the gospel with those around them. That our church grows to be a church that people from all walks of life can come and be a part of. And that we would be ready—prepared for what God has in store for us!

10.04.25 - We spoke to Anne Wilkins, Priest–in–Charge of All Saints and St Mary’s Sawley to learn more about the recent success with their youth group.

Anne wanted to provide young people in her church a place to develop their faith. Having never done youth work before, she found the Urban Saints Energize resources a useful tool, and over time has seen the young people growing in faith - even leading services together and praying for each other! 

How long have you been in your role? 

I was licensed to Sawley parish in October 2023.  

How did it begin/what was your motivation for starting this project? 

I came to the parish hoping to start the Growing Faith initiative and build links with children and families and the local schools. While a lot was being done with children’s work in the church and in schools as well as a community youth café, there was nothing for young people in the church to develop their faith.  
We started with doing Youth Alpha last year with 10 young people attending (the majority from within the church, one from another parish and one new young person who is now part of church). We met on a Sunday at 5pm, starting with a simple meal and then watching the video. There are breaks in the Alpha videos which enable discussion. After Alpha finished, I asked them if they wanted to continue, and they all said yes. We then did a questionnaire as to what they liked and what they wanted to do next. This helped us plan the next term.  

Describe how the group looks today 

We have 3 plus myself as a team. 
The group is now called Youth Saints (or churchies as they also call themselves). 

I had never led Youth work before and was directed to use Urban Saints Energize material. This is accessed by a monthly subscription of £21, which the PCC fully supported. I can highly recommend using this material – it is varied, Biblical, fun, multi- media and they really enjoy it. All members of the team are able to access it too. We still start with a meal which is provided by different members of the team. The group has bonded very well and work well together.  

How have you seen your ministry grow? 

Yes, I think so. They have become more involved in Sunday worship. They are growing in faith and have become more open with each other about life issues. They are very committed to the group.  
Last November 5 of them were confirmed at All Saints.  

What is your recent success (with youth or children)? 

Last autumn they led the whole morning service which was well received. This Easter Sunday they are doing a dance and a drama in the service.  

Do you have plans going forward? 

The next challenge is to try to build a bridge between our Youth Café, which is for young people in the community and Youth Saints. I am hoping that they become even more involved in church life and take on roles of responsibility (some of them already are). 

Can you describe one highlight? 
The youth led service. And seeing them slowly begin to pray for each other.  

What have you learnt? Would you do things differently next time? 

To be honest I’m not sure I would use Youth Alpha as it didn’t enable them to get to know each other and have fun. They started to gel and open up when we started using the Energize material.  

Any advice for other churches? 

Start with who you have. Have food. Use Energize. Get them involved in worship. Ask them what they want.  

How can we pray for this ministry? 

Pray that the group grows and that as the young people get older, we can continue to equip them for adult life, moving away.