“Child-friendly church” (WORKSHOP)

What is this opportunity about?

The “Child-Friendly Church” workshop was launched to generate new ideas, improve existing initiatives at the parish level, and make children’s stay in churches comfortable, interesting and safe.

The training lasts 2 days. On the first day, participants develop ideas on facilitating parish work with children and youth, and on the second – the ways of implementing a particular concept.

During the training, you will consider the following questions:

• What is a child-friendly Church?
• What is the child’s place in the Church?
• Does one need to create a comfortable environment for parents with children under 5?
• Should churches be interesting to children?

At the workshop, participants will analyse their parishes in terms of being child-friendly (based on 8 goals) and consider their strengths and weaknesses. They will also develop a plan for further work with children and obtain funds to implement the strategy.

According to the results of the 2022 workshop, the Center financially supported the ten best proposals for creating a child-friendly environment with mini-grants. As a result, the parishes implemented versatile projects aimed at children of different ages: safe spaces, playrooms, and groups to engage children, training sessions on non-violent communication for parents, workshops, training of animators etc.

You can learn more about the work of each supported project here.

This workshop is designed for:

Parishes of the UGCC. We invite parish teams consisting of a parish priest, nuns, monks, lay people, a person responsible for working with children and youth, and a catechist to participate.

Terms of participation: free of charge.

“... (It is important) to understand children’s expectations about the Church, the needs we already meet, and further steps we can take. I find the exercise where we remembered ourselves as a child in the church useful, as we thought about the things that attracted and discouraged us. I realised I can now use part of this experience [...] Leaving your church and re-entering as if you were a stranger might be useful. It allows us to look at our future differently or even repurpose our premises for catechesis or other needs.”

“The ‘Child-Friendly Church’ program led me to the idea that one should not be afraid to share their experience and be open to that of others. This indicates our spiritual riches and unity. The Church is not just a large number of parishes, but people who work together to reach Christ.”

“I believed teenagers to be the least engaged audience in the Church. However, during the workshop, I realised we do not work with the youngest (0 to 3 years old). It is necessary to create a space for children and their mothers so they can attend and don’t worry about finding a babysitter.”