Growing Faith
Growing Faith is the movement that exists to put children, young people and families instinctively at the heart of all the mission and ministry of the Church. It aims to bring together churches, schools and families to help to create a new generation of disciples. It’s one way of trying to combat the tendency to compartmentalise different parts of our lives, which can sometimes mean our Christian faith is confined to what we do on a Sunday morning.
This image aims to show how church, school and families can work together to help children and young people as part of Growing Faith:
The Growing Faith Foundation seeks to benefit children and young people, helping them create the world they want to live in, specifically through the lens of the Christian faith.
Our diocese is at the forefront of this movement, as the Dioceses of Portsmouth and Winchester are jointly one of the 12 Learning Hubs that are helping to develop this work. It echoes the priorities of our diocesan strategy, which aims to prioritise our work with children and young people. Growing Faith also links with the national Church of England strategy, to double the number of young disciples in the Church by 2030.
The Growing Faith Foundation is developing work in four main areas: Networks, Learning Hubs, Programmes and Research.
Chatting Faith
Chatting Faith is the name given to the project being run by Portsmouth and Winchester dioceses to bring together schools, churches and families to help to disciple children. It involves using secular books that can be found in any school library to prompt in-depth conversations with children about spiritual, moral and ethical issues. Find out more here.
Strategic Leaders Programme
The Growing Faith Strategic Leaders’ Programme is a one-year course aimed at leaders and aspiring leaders working in the spheres of home, church and school. The Programme provides a space for a collaborative learning community modelling the intersections of Growing Faith. The programme seeks to deepen a sense of calling, instil confidence and equip participants to bring sustained change in a range of contexts, bringing transformative impact on children and young people’s faith formation.
If you are a leader or aspiring leader who works across the spheres of church, home or school, then we would love for you to consider joining a cohort on the Growing Faith Strategic Leaders’ Programme.For more information about the programme, click here.
Growing Faith in our diocese
Our diocese has been chosen as one of 12 places that will serve as 'Learning Hubs' for the Growing Faith project over the next two years. From summer 2023, funding will be available to help to develop some work that brings together church, home and school to help to create new disciples. The project, called Chatting Faith aims to help give parents confidence in talking about aspects of Christianity. Read more here. If successful, it will be rolled out elsewhere in the Church.
Our diocese has also been chosen to help pilot a new initiative called Flourish, which aims to create new worshipping communities based in schools. Four of our schools will launch this initiative from September 2024. You can read more about it here.
Growing Faith also encourages us to share good practice across parishes, as we aim to inspire more young disciples. So in the videos below, we examine some of those existing parish projects that already echo the Growing Faith themes:
1. Worship Wonders and Cygnets toddler group, Swanmore
Volunteers go into Swanmore C of E Primary School to lead worship, and also run a group for babies, toddlers and parents in St Barnabas Church. Read more here.
2. Work with children, young people and families, Lee-on-the-Solent
This church ran an Easter family fun day in Holy Week, as part of its regular commitment to children and young people. Read more here.
3. Toddler group, camping weekend and nursery at St Jude's, Southsea
This church hosts a weekly group for toddlers, runs a camping weekend for dads and their kids, and runs a successful nursery school for pre-schoolers. Read more here.
4. Collective worship at Bembridge C of E Primary
Volunteers from Holy Trinity Church, Bembridge, regularly lead worship at their local C of E school, including this celebration of the Coronation:
5. Wild Church and Breakfast Church, Emsworth
Two different style of worship help to cater for children and families at St James, Emsworth. Wild Church takes place outside and focuses on nature and creation. Breakfast Church involves breakfast, worship and families activities.
