To open the Health Check App please click the image here. However before you click for the first time please read the information below.
Getting Started:
We encourage you to put prayer at the heart of your review. Let it be the bedrock of all you do as a team, committing your journey to God at every stage and seeking Him for his leading and guidance.
Who?
Form a small, representative group made up of members of your church. We suggest no more than 8 in your group and that it might be helpful to include some of these people:
- Children’s worker (paid or voluntary)
- A reader
- A church warden
- A young person
- A parent
- A youth leader
- A crèche leader
What?
This Health Check covers four categories: Our People, Facilities, Activities and Services. We have tried to provide you with a selection of questions to help you dig down into what you are currently doing and consider how it is going. These are not intended to ‘point the finger’ or apportion blame, and the tone of these discussion groups should be positive and constructive. Keep the focus on children and families and how to genuinely welcome and love them rather than on finding faults to bemoan!
How Long?
There is a lot to think about, so how you work through these sections is up to you. We would recommend meeting twice and taking two sections at a time. This allows time to discuss the questions without rushing, it ensures you keep the momentum going without losing focus, and it also gives space during the week for the group to reflect and consider other ideas. You also need to consider the younger members of the group and their attention spans, so trying to work through this in one afternoon might be too much! The final question in each category asks how children’s and young people’s voices are heard in that area. Use this to consider how, or whether, their opinions are sought, gifts are used, contributions welcomed, creativity encouraged, faith disciplined, or comfort considered. This is vital in building your Children and Families ministry – remember you are not creating a product to sell, you are finding ways to journey together in faith, all ages with equal value and thus all ages should have input to the way the Church Family develops.
Steps:
- Open the app by clicking on the image at the top of this page – you can choose to download the app to your laptop or device (for mobile devices, you will need to open the link in Safari), or you can access the app via our website and complete a section at a time. (Please note you will not be able to access your completed / part completed forms from the app only from the link in the email once you’ve clicked “Save” or “Submit”.)
- On the app’s home page, you will see a navigation menu at the top. Choose “Health Check Sections”, which will reveal 4 boxes, each with an area to discuss. Choose the section you wish to discuss. Take one section at a time.
- Ensure you input your email to receive a copy of your partially or fully completed form when you click Save or Submit at the bottom of that page.
- Record critical points of discussion in the app. At the bottom of each section, you are then asked to draw together any conclusions you have reached and to discuss where you might consider bringing about some new initiatives. Do not feel the need to rush into making decisions about what to do about these conclusions. You may find it best to leave that to the final meeting, where you can review all the discussions; this will give people time to think things through at leisure. You may also find that you need more time for discussion; this is fine! Be gentle with yourselves! This doesn’t have to be a sprint!
- At the end of each section, click submit, and you will receive an email with your completed answers. You can also print off the completed form to distribute to the group members.
- If you don’t have a chance to finish the discussions on that section, click “save”, and you will receive an email with a link – click on this when you are ready to resume the debate on that section.
- Once you have completed all four sections of the Health Check, you can then choose to use the Vision and Strategy tools which can also be found in the menu bar. This would be completed by a smaller group comprising those in leadership within the Church. Once complete, you will hopefully have the foundations for communicating the Church’s vision and strategy for ministry with Children and Families to the broader congregation.