Journeying spiritually with children

Edition three: 

Journeying spiritually 

with children 

editions • Glimpsing God 1 

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Conversation 3 Full Circle.indd 1 07/10/2015 09:29 



conversation one 



conversation two 

welcome beloved 

unless you become 

full circle 

wisdom shared 

growing pains 

separate and together 

every child 




full circle 

wisdom shared 

growing pains 


every child 


Simply being born is the fundamental universal 

experience which unites us with people of all 

ages and cultures. No matter who we later 

become, we all undergo a similar process 

of emergence. Leaving the relative safety 

of the womb, we are conveyed into a very 

different environment where we intuitively seek 

reassurance and comfort. 

Psychologists inform us tha the quality of 

welcome received by infants is highly significant 

to their development, something that can 

be reinforced or undermined by subsequent 

experience. Providing a climate of love and 

affirmation is the necessary bedrock of security 

and self-worth which will carry a person forward 

with confidence and hope into the rest of life. 

Although we all grow up and may forget our 

earliest memories, the child within each of 

us remains. In seeking to journey spiritually 

with children, then, perhaps we should remind 

ourselves of the child we once were and still 

are – still seeking assurance, love and hope in a 

complex and challenging world. 



conversation three 

That simply all of life is sacred and significant is 

deeply ingrained in Christian tradition, but so is 

the notion that human persons, above everything 

else, are infinitely precious to God. The words and 

actions of Jesus as he welcomes a child brought 

before him assures us that from our earliest 

years we have inestimable value. Calling God, 

‘Father’ or ‘Mother’ is to accept our stature as 

beloved children of God – something which we 

seek to realise in the way we live our lives. 

This famous story also reminds us tha there is 

a particular quality of being in these early years 

of life from which we are invited to learn. This 

being so, it is clear that accompanying children 

spiritually is a two-way street. While we seek to 

introduce them to a depth dimension to life, so 

we ourselves must learn from them if we are 

to refine our understanding of what it means to 

‘become as little children’. 

full circle 

Conversation 2 Unless You Become.indd 1 07/10/2015 09:28 



full circle 

wisdom shared 

growing pains 


every child 



conversation four 

Many people speak of how their hearts have 

been widened or stretched by the children in 

their lives. Parents or grandparents, carers or 

teachers, all have stories of how children and 

young people have touched or changed them 

for the good. In many ways they draw from us 

a selflessness or even a heroism we would 

previously have thought impossible. 

Yet, paradoxically perhaps, children also remind 

us of our own vulnerability and dependence. 

They have a habit of taking us, both literally and 

metaphorically, full circle… to the edges of life 

where we come face to face with reality, exposing 

all our best hopes and our worst fears. While 

rejoicing in thresholds safely crossed, we may 

also be touched by moments of all-consuming 

grief – watching on helplessly in the face of 

adversity and tragedy. How we respond to and 

find meaning in these varied experiences is a 

witness to love and faith from which the children 

in our care will undoubtedly learn. 



full circle 

wisdom shared 

growing pains 


every child 



wisdom shared 

Journeying with children implies deliberately 

making time for the cultivation of relationship, 

for the sharing of perspective and the building 

of significance – something which cannot be 

rushed. It also involves leaving some of our own 

assumptions behind so as to sensitively enter into 

their perceptual world. In doing so, often to our 

surprise, we discover things we have forgotten, 

or have neve really known, as we play and learn 

together. 

conversation six 

In most forms of spiritual accompaniment, 

the sharing of insight works both ways and, as 

many would attest, conversations with children 

can augment our understanding of the divine. 

Through the questions they raise, the ideas they 

hold and their insatiable curiosity, children both 

challenge and illuminate. 

How we, in turn, share what we have learned 

abou the sacredness of life - through ritual, 

prayer, stories and conversation - is highly 

significant. By offering what we have discovered 

while leaving space for other perspectives, we 

invite the opening of minds and hearts rather 

than the constricting alternative. 



conversation six 

Conversation 4 Wisdom Shared .indd 1 07/10/2015 09:31 



full circle 

wisdom shared 

growing pains 


every child 


Young people leaving home to establish 

themselves as adults is the logical conclusion 

of caring for children. Although we may not 

have looked a things this way from the outset, 

as time passes it becomes more apparent that 

this is a goal towards which we must work. As 

we approach the prospect, however, we discover 

that preparing our children to leave also requires 

significant personal adjustment in ourselves. 

Although recognising its necessity, we are filled 

with mixed emotions as the day nears. 



full circle 

wisdom shared 

growing pains 


every child 




conversation seven 

Young people leaving home to establish 

themselves as adults is the logical conclusion 

of caring for children. Although we may not 

have looked at things this way from the outset, 

as time passes it becomes more apparen that 

this is a goal towards which we must work. As 

we approach the prospect, however, we discover 

that preparing our children to leave also requires 

significant personal adjustment in ourselves. 

Although recognising its necessity, we are filled 

with mixed emotions as the day nears. 

Negotiating departure is something we all have 

to learn bu there is a sense in which we are so 

bound up together with those we love that we will 

always be both separate and together. Though 

our young people leave, they also return to us at 

intervals and establish a different relationship, 

which later cycles of meeting and parting can 

only mature. From our own perspective, the 

whole experience ought, perhaps, to remind us 

of our relationship with God with its seasons of 

separation and return. 

every child 

Negotiating departure is something we all have 

to learn but there is a sense in which we are so 

bound up together with those we love that we will 

always be both separate and together. Though 

our young people leave, they also return to us at 

intervals and establish a different relationship, 

which later cycles of meeting and parting can 

only mature. From our own perspective, the 

whole experience ought, perhaps, to remind us 

of our relationship with God with its seasons of 

separation and return. 



full circle 

wisdom shared 

growing pains 


every child 

The Christian journey is one of growing 

compassion, with our own personal and domestic 

concerns being gradually drawn onto a wider 

canvas. Caring relationships with children and 

young people can act as a catalys to awaken 

new vistas of awareness and commitment. If 

this is what I want for the children close to me, 

what abou the millions of others who are not so 

fortunate? 

We do not have to look far to see children born 

into situations of abuse, war or injustice, whose 

human rights (physical, emotional, psychological 

and spiritual) are being systematically ignored, 

or trampled. Faced with the enormity of the 

problems we can feel powerless to help. Yet we 

can learn to make a contribution by listening 

again to the natural compassion and idealism 

Conversation 6 Separate and Together.indd 1 07/10/2015 09:32 

passionately expressed by many of our own young 

people. By letting them become our teachers in 

generosity and practical goodness, we continue 

to journey with them in building the promised 

Kingdom of God on earth. 

Conversation 6 Separate and Together.indd 1 07/10/2015 09:32 

Conversation 1 Welcome Beloved.indd 1 07/10/2015 09:26 




editions • Glimpsing God 1 

Conversation 7 Every Child.indd 1 07/10/2015 09:33 

To see life afresh through the eyes of a child, to be 

challenged by their questions and invigorated by 

their energy and sense of fun is surely a precious 

gift in adult life. The selection of readings in these 

booklets invite us to reflect on both the complexity 

and the simplicity of a life lived with openness to 

the perspectives of the young amongst us - from 

the wonder of birth to the empty nest and beyond. 

Journeying spiritually with children is the 

third of a series of resource packs designed to 

invite personal reflection and promote spiritual 

conversation in a variety of settings. 

We are grateful for the sponsorship of the 

resource pack by Methodist Women in Britain who 

suggested the overall theme and also contributed 

to its production. 

Forthcoming packs and Editions in the series will 

include Soul at Work. Also available is Glimpsing 

God and Aloneness. 

Journeying spiritually with children is available 

now for £10+p&p from 

www.shorelineconversations.com 

© Shoreline Conversations 2015 

Published by Shoreline Conversations 

Venture House 

93 Telegraph Road 

Heswall 

Wirral CH60 0AE 

w: www.shorelineconversations.com 

e: info@shorelineconversations.com 

Edited by Lynne Ling 

e: lynne.ling@shorelineconversations.com 

t: 07734 607486 

Design by 25 Educational 

w: www.base25.com 

e: mark@base25.com 

Editions 3.indd 2 07/10/2015 16:45




Welcome to our third issue of Editions, created to complement the conversation 

packs we will be producing at regular intervals over the next few years. 

r 

y 

i 

a 

Stephen Wright is used to working with adults in spiritual direction, but 

talking about faith and life with his grandchildren is something different. 

He reflects on this and invites us to remember adults who impressed and 

helped form us when we were young. 

Karen Turner tells us how a recurring Bible passage about Jacob’s ladder 

gave her family comfort at a time of change and upheaval and then how 

they established a novel prayer routine on the stairs of their new home … 

Roz Stockley has been involved in introducing pupils and teachers in 

primary schools to the practice of daily meditation as a whole school 

activity. Her experience is that even children as young as four ‘get it’ quite 

quickly and settle naturally and calmly into a time of silence together, with 

marked effects on behaviour and learning. 

Hannah Field, Mission Development Worker for Girls’ Brigade (GB) 

England and Wales, works to ensure that GB groups are welcoming 

places full of openness and expectancy, where it’s okay to ask challenging 

questions, explore and simply be. 

My second grandchild was born only a week ago, as I write this. I am once again, 

as when my children were born, blown away by the experience of holding a tiny 

baby and looking her in the eye and she looking in mine – searching me out. 

Introducing the first of the conversation booklets that accompany this magazine, 

Mark Davis writes: ‘psychologists inform us that the quality of welcome received 

by infants is highly significant to their development’. I trust that as a second-time 

nanny I will not only warmly welcome my granddaughter, but also be open to 

what I learn in seeing the world afresh through her eyes. 

We welcome your personal reflections and responses to the ideas we raise in 

these pages. 

Lynne Ling 

Editor 

editions • Journeying spiritually with children 

e 

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minding my own 

LANGUAGE 

Stephen Wright, spiritual director and grandfather, reflects on how his ‘god-talk’ 

conversations with his grandchildren challenge him to be authentic, to ‘walk the talk’ 

and to find language and stories that fit with the children’s real world experience 

My 8-year-old granddaughter came home 

from school and announced that there had 

been an outbreak of mumps. “It’s God’s 

punishment” she asserted. Moments like this 

are opportunities for ‘God’ talk. Where did she get this idea 

of a punishing God? What was God really like if not like 

that? Is there ‘God’ at all? That’s how spiritual guidance 

tends to work with kids; it has to be spontaneous. This can 

be scary for grown-ups, pushing us into the difficult terrain 

of doubt about our own beliefs and how to express them 

before a child. 

I’m used to working with adults in spiritual direction, but 

children are a very different kettle of fish. They do not 

process information or possess the personality structures 

or life experiences of adults. Children tend to come at 

things from a much more direct, uncluttered perspective. 

They want to know, they want fixity and they want to work 

it all out. A mature spirituality tends to leave behind black 

and white articles of faith and can be anything but fixed and 

certain. Explaining this to others, not least a child, can be a 

tough call. 

living in a way that is congruent with what 

we say is true, mirroring those qualities of 

the divine that we want children to know… 

My children and grandchildren know something of my 

religiosity – they’ve been to church with me, seen the books 

I’ve written, shared grace at mealtimes. I resolved long ago 

never to proselytise, but such a resolution from an adult 

requires that we feel no need to make children believe 

what we believe, that we are not afraid that they won’t get it 

‘right’ without our instruction, that we trust God is at work 

in them. God talk, when it comes up, can thus be part of 

ordinary conversation. 

When children raise those spiritual questions, such an 

encounter is full of opportunity to edge them towards truth. 

But the adult has to respond from a place of self-awareness 

and clarity of intention; we bring all our unconscious and 

conscious stuff into such encounters. The nature of our 

relationship to the Beloved - the degree of love, trust, fear - 

leaks into any adult-child discourse. 

Perhaps one of the greatest services we can offer to 

children in their spiritual formation is to get ourselves out 

of the way, to put all our stuff to one side and seek to really 

be with the child, to see the world from their point of view 

and find language and stories that fit with the child’s real 

world experience - not just ours. And to do so authentically 

- ‘walking our talk’, speaking and living in a way that 

is congruent with what we say is true, mirroring those 

qualities of the divine that we want children to know. Indeed, 

to children we are Gods, but they also have the knack of 

sussing out hypocrisy and deception. Truth is sabotaged 

when we speak of a loving God, then behave brutally. 

It is common in spiritual direction to meet people seeking 

the reality of God who are blocked by unhealthy projections 

onto God acquired from parents during childhood. One 

woman I met was frightened by God – to her a remote 

male figure always ready to punish if she ‘failed’ him. Here 

spirituality and psychology overlap - for in exploring her 

relationship with her father, guess what he was like? 

Recently my 13-year-old grandson and I took off for a 

holiday to Iona. I was reminded how ‘side to side’ moments 

- in the car or walking the hills - provide a different milieu 

for conversation. Facing outward rather than each other we 

talked and talked over every aspect of meaning in life. The 

ordinary moment cohabited by the young and old person 

is full of potential for truth seeking. It’s always a mutual 

process too; I find it hugely enriching to see faith and 

myself, warts and all, through the eyes of children. 

As for that incident with my granddaughter and the 

‘punishing’ God, it made me much more circumspect about 

church services. I have resolved not to expose any of my 

grandchildren to language that tells them they are anything 

but beautiful, precious and worthy and loved by God as they 

are. To do otherwise would be a kind of child abuse. 

It is worth reflecting on adults that impressed and helped 

form us when we were young with their loving virtues. 

Are they not with us still, and thus enjoying a kind of 

immortality? We adults are doing the same now with the 

adults of the future. Who we are and what we do now is 

helping to form the legacy of Truth in them. That is the 

measure of the responsibility we bear. How will they hold us 

in their hearts long after we are gone? 

r 

Shoreline Conversations 

Editions 3.indd 4 07/10/2015 16:45

I find it hugely enriching 

to see faith and myself, 

warts and all, through 

the eyes of children. 

Stephen Wright works with 

organisations developing the 

practice of healing, spiritual care, 

conflict resolution and staff support. 

He is an ordained interfaith minister 

and spiritual director and brings a 

rich experience of spiritual practice 

from many faiths to his work. 

The Sacred Space Foundation, 

Fell End, Mungrisdale, 

Cumbria CA11 0XR 

t: 01768 77983 

w: www.sacredspace.org.uk 

e: jeannie@sacredspace.org.uk 


t 

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When grandparents come to visit, 

they join us on the prayer stair 

because that is what we do. 

y 


Editions 3.indd 6 07/10/2015 16:45

PRAYING 

as a family 

Halfway up the stairs of their new manse, a mysterious little cupboard 

gave Karen Turner the idea of a new family routine… 

I 

went on a wonderful retreat when my youngest son was 

18 months old. It was very hard to leave him, but to be 

honest it was also amazing to enjoy some solitude and 

some silent time with God. 

When I returned, however, I realised that my experience felt 

strangely disconnected from the rest of my life. I came to 

the conclusion that I didn’t want to have the kind of spiritual 

life that was just waiting for the next retreat (however good 

they may be). I wanted my spiritual life to be about all of 

my life and to include the people that I live with. In fact, I 

wanted my family to be a bit like a monastic community. 

Why not? Aren’t families what monasteries are modelled on, 

after all? 

I know that all families and households are different, but 

in our case there are four of us, and our boys are 9 and 12. 

Several years ago when we were in the process of moving to 

where we currently live, there was a Bible passage that kept 

popping up. You know how that sometimes happens? 

It was the story of Jacob’s dream of a ladder connecting 

heaven and earth in Genesis 28 .In that time of upheaval and 

mourning and change, it comforted us, reassuring us that, 

even if it didn’t feel like it, God was with us in that place. 

‘Wherever you go,’ God says to Jacob, ‘I will watch over you’. 

As we explored our new home, one of the things we first 

noticed was that the house had a relatively large landing 

halfway up the stairs with a mysterious little cupboard in the 

wall. Almost immediately, I think, we thought that it could 

become a kind of prayer corner for us in this house and we 

called it the ‘prayer stair’. 

Our boys, then both primary school aged, chose what colour 

to paint the inside of our cupboard on the prayer stair and 

then they did the painting. We talked about what we would 

do there and how we would do it .We filled the cupboard 

with things that we thought would help us to pray: Bibles, 

books, a candle, holding crosses, pictures and a chalkboard 

where we could write the names of those we wanted to 

remember. 

We don’t have a set-in-stone formula that we use, although 

we usually have a Bible reading taken from a lectionary and 

we usually choose one of several ways to pray together out 

loud. Sometimes we use liturgies and set forms of prayer. 

Occasionally the boys take the initiative to lead what we 

do – either by typing up their own liturgy or even by making 

a PowerPoint. We’ve sometimes listened to a song or 

sometimes have sung one. 

This happens most nights but not all nights, for various 

reasons. It could be that one of us has to rush out for a 

meeting or someone calls round. Sometimes the boys 

complain about going on the prayer stair. I should be quick 

to say that the prayer stair only happens most nights 

because my husband is quite good at keeping us to it – 

I tend to be more forgetful. 

Just in case I’m painting a very pious image in your mind, 

I should also say that it sometimes happens that one of 

us gets the giggles, and, catching as they are, it has been 

known for us all to laugh until tears run down our faces. 

This, too, can be a gift. (And to be honest, some parts of the 

Bible are really funny.) 

We filled the cupboard with things that 

we thought would help us to pray. 

The most surprising thing to me about our prayer stair 

tradition is the people who have joined us there. When 

grandparents come to visit, they join us on the prayer stair 

because that is what we do. There isn’t usually another time 

during their visit when we pray together so this has felt 

really precious. 

We recently had some young people from a former youth 

group visiting. They joined us on the prayer stair. It was a 

bit of a squeeze. Even babysitters and our children’s friends 

have joined us on the prayer stair. I think it doesn’t feel 

weird because it has become normal for us. 

When storms rage outside or within us, the prayer stair 

offers a moment of sanctuary that we are sometimes able 

to accept. At times this has felt life-saving. 

It may be that the prayer stair pattern won’t work so 

well when our children are teenagers, or if we move to a 

different house, but whatever form our prayer takes, I hope 

it will be as normal a part of our lives as the stairs that we 

walk up and down each day. 


u 

Editions 3.indd 7 07/10/2015 16:45

of children 

and christian 

meditation 

Roz Stockley explains the benefits of children’s regular meditation times 

Children are natural contemplatives so if we 

encourage them to be still and open their hearts 

to the divine love within, they will have a gift to 

last the rest of their lives. Sowing the seed of 

meditation in the young child allows God do the work of 

God and provides the foundation for paying attention, which 

is love 1 . 

Why is it that children understand about Christian 

meditation, when it may take a lifetime for adults to find this 

out? You would be amazed that children as young as four 

‘get it’ quite quickly, without the agonising and prevaricating 

that often haunts their older relatives, friends or teachers. 

After being introduced to the mantra, or prayer word, which 

is to be repeated throughout the silent time, children settle 

into this silence naturally and calmly. There is no objective, 

we tell them, but to spend time with Jesus. And that is what 

they do – once a day, every day, in many Christian schools in 

the UK and in 25 other countries throughout the world. 

“Sometimes the children who benefit the 

most are the children with special needs” 

It was in 2005, through the initiative of Bishop Putney, in 

Townsville Diocese, Australia, that all school children were 

introduced to Christian meditation, following the practice 

adopted by Dom John Main and, after his death, by The 

World Community for Christian Meditation (WCCM). Once 

the practicalities had been worked out and the programme 

implemented, it began to have a powerful transformative 

effect on children. Through teaching the children the value 

of silence in a very noisy and busy world and introducing 

them to prayer that is not talking to God but listening to 

him, the teachers began to notice the fruits of the spirit 

(Galatians 5:22) – joy, peace, love, understanding, patience 

etc. – developing in their students. This was alongside 

improving academic performance. Moreover, the children 

themselves began to understand that they were becoming 

different through meditation. Praying together in this way – 

Christian meditation is often called the prayer of the heart 

– seemed to be developing community in a way that had not 

been obvious before, where children become more aware of 

the other and more considerate towards them. 

Following on from this wonderful example, Meditatio, the 

outreach arm of WCCM, adopted the practical principles 

and developed a programme for introducing meditation 

to primary school children in the UK and other countries. 

This programme involves, as a general rule, introducing 

meditation to all the school staff at one time, to enable 

them to take it to the children themselves, at a time in the 

school day where it is most appropriate. As a consequence, 

it is a whole school activity, although year groups will 

meditate for different time periods. The rule of thumb is 

that each child will eventually meditate for one minute per 

year of age, even though the start point can be as little as 

one minute in total. The most common time to pray in this 

way is after the lunch break, when children return to a 

classroom bathed in gentle music and prepare to meditate. 

A timer installed on the school server enables the start 

and end of meditation to be selected by the teacher before 

meditating so that all staff present can meditate with the 

children. 

Sitting together in meditation where there is no competition, 

no judgement, children from all backgrounds or with special 

needs are equal in this genuinely inclusive practice. Some 

of the children come from very difficult backgrounds; some 

are unduly pressured by parental expectations of academic 

success, but no matter what their background is, it seems 

that all benefit from periods of silence and stillness and 

enjoy the opportunity of building a relationship with Jesus 

through silent prayer. 

Of course, introducing children to meditation in school is 

not the only pathway and grandparents, parents, First Holy 

Communion and confirmation classes can help a child to 

know the inner room of prayer. All it needs is the belief that 

God is with them and that this silent time is a lovely place 

to meet him. And as one school governor said “The child 

probably knows far more than we know already … and it is 

they who will teach us.” 

1 Born Contemplative: Introducing Children to Christian Meditation, 

Madeleine Simon 

8 i 


Editions 3.indd 8 07/10/2015 16:45

“When you meditate you’re 

straightaway at peace and that, in 

turn, generates positive feelings: 

feelings of kindness and goodness 

and that really helps with the 

children’s self-control, 

perseverance and patience.” 

Teacher, primary school, Luton. 

Roz Stockley is the National Coordinator for WCCM 

in the UK and Team Leader, Meditation with Children, 

in the West Country. 

For more information about Christian Meditation: 

www.christianmeditation.org.uk 

www.wccm.org 

To enquire about Christian meditation with 

children, email: 

ukmeditationwithchildren@wccm.org 

ukmeditationwithteens@wccm.org 

editions • Journeying editions spiritually • Glimpsing with children God o 9 

Editions 3.indd 9 07/10/2015 16:45

eyes open 

WIDE 

Hannah Field is blessed by an encounter with openness and expectancy 

that reminds her that “God has lots He wants us to see” 

it’s important we recognise 

the different needs and 

passions of the children 

10 a 


Editions 3.indd 10 07/10/2015 16:45

I’m not usually a fan of traffic jams. To be honest, I don’t 

think they’re generally that keen on me either; especially 

given their track record of occurring whenever I’m in a 

hurry! Today though was different. Today, the traffic jam 

brought a smile to my face. You see the queue had been 

caused by people eager to get into church. 

Over the past few weeks the Girls’ Brigade (GB) team has 

been sharing in local schools about the opportunity for 

children to join the adventure of exploring life and faith. 

People had been praying that the youngsters would come 

along to the group to find out more, and God certainly 

answered in a massive way – in a way that was far 

beyond anything that we had even dared to imagine. Our 

expectations were blown away. 

While we busily put out more paint pads, pom-poms and 

packets of stickers, more and more children bounced 

through the doors; their hearts, minds and eyes expectant. 

We greeted them enthusiastically, looking forward to 

revealing many new things to them, whereas actually, it 

was to be them that revealed many new things to us. In 

particular they revealed much about journeying spiritually - 

and the importance of being open to God, as demonstrated 

by this young child’s comment, whilst clambering through a 

hoop: “Keep your eyes open wide – God’s got lots He wants 

us to see.” 

She, and her friends, were expectant. 

It is a blessing to encounter openness and expectancy like 

this. It is one of the great things about working for and being 

a volunteer with GB, as week by week I have the privilege of 

walking alongside children; of seeing God’s world through 

new and fresh eyes; of exploring, imagining, hoping and 

dreaming. It’s great to be able to journey and grow together. 

After all, no matter who we are, or what our age, we are all 

made in the image of God (Genesis Ch.1:26) and as shared 

by Kathryn Copsey: ‘It is not just when a child begins to take 

an interest in and respond to Christian teaching that he or 

she suddenly develops spiritual qualities: they are within the 

child from the moment of conception.’ 1 There’s lots that we 

can learn from one another on this journey - and it’s often 

the case that children have the best vantage point; pointing 

out the things which I can so often fail to see! Children, after 

all, are naturally inquisitive; they will dive in and explore, 

pray the bold prayers and see afresh those things which can 

so easily become over familiar. 

Rebecca Nye explains how this helps the journey, as 

‘Spirituality depends on our being open and willing to go 

deeper;’ 2 . As a mission movement, working with and among 

children, this is something that we at GB are passionate 

about nurturing as we long to see people discover who 

and whose they are; to discover life in all its fullness (John 

Ch.10:10). 

Volunteers work hard to ensure groups are welcoming, 

where children are known, cared for and encouraged. 

Places which are full of openness and expectancy, 

where it’s okay to ask challenging questions, explore and 

simply be. While groups have programme material to 

follow, they are encouraged to see this, not as tasks to 

be accomplished, but as tools to be used; to help unlock 

potential and encourage discovery. According to Nye having 

structure like this can help as: ‘So much of spiritual life 

involves surprises, ambiguity, mystery and creativity, that 

more and more children 

bounced through the doors; 

their hearts, minds and eyes 

having a certain number of known reference points can 

give us confidence to go farther and deeper.’ 3 A range of 

experiences are needed. 

Alongside this it’s important we recognise the different 

needs and passions of the children. For some, they will 

be helped in their spiritual journey through outdoor 

adventures; boating, camping and searching for treasure. 

For others, it’s the opportunity to simply sit on a bean-bag 

and be still. It’s amazing how God reveals Himself and it’s 

always helpful to remember He’s not limited by any of our 

plans, programmes and approaches. As shown earlier, we 

will indeed often have our expectations blown away. 

And so, the next time that I’m in a traffic jam (most likely 

tomorrow, M25 here I come), instead of pointlessly weighing 

up which lane is likely to move the fastest, I will instead 

smile. I will remember the spiritual lessons revealed by God 

through children. I will keep my eyes open wide. 

God certainly has got lots He wants us to see! 

expectant 

1 Kathryn Copsey, From the Ground Up: Understanding the Spiritual World of 

the Child (Oxford: The Bible Reading Fellowship, 2005) p 24 

2 Rebecca Nye, Children’s Spirituality: What it is and Why it Matters (London: 

Church House Publishing, 2009), p. 49 

3 Nye, Children’s Spirituality, p. 61 

Hannah Field is Mission Development Worker for Girls’ 

Brigade England and Wales; working with churches, 

schools and Girls’ Brigade Groups. 

The Girls’ Brigade England & Wales, 

Cliff College, Calver, Hope Valley, 

Derbyshire S32 3XG. 

t: 01246 582322 

w: www.girlsb.org.uk 

e: gbco@gb-ministries.org 


s 

Editions 3.indd 11 07/10/2015 16:45

And a woman who held a babe against her bosom said, 

“Speak to us of Children.” 

And he said: 

Your children are not your children. 

They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself. 

They come through you but not from you, 

and though they are with you, yet they belong not to you. 

You may give them your love but not your thoughts. 

For they have their own thoughts. 

You may house their bodies but not their souls, 

for their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, 

which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams. 

Kahlil Gibran 

‘The Prophet’ 

12 Shoreline Conversations 

www.shorelineconversations.com 

© The Shoreline Consultancy 2015 

Editions 3.indd 12 07/10/2015 16:45

Journeying spiritually with children

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