Revd Donneta Thomas
Donneta Thomas is an ordained Distinctive Deacon in the Church of England. She is based in North Yorkshire where she serves as Children and Families Minister and Children, Youth and Families Network Consultant in the Mowbray Deanery. Her passion is to see children and their families’ lives transformed through the love of Christ. She has a BA (Hons) in Education Studies and a BA (Hons) in Theology, Ministry and Mission. Combining the two, her passion is to support, equip and enable others in this rich, (at times challenging) and extremely joyful ministry.
Cours dispensés par Revd Donneta Thomas
Children's Ministry Essentials 1: The world of the child
In this module we start to explore the world of the child as shaped by the culture that they are born into. Both our own experience and that of the children we work with will shape why and how we do the mission and ministry we are aiming to develop through this course. So as…
Children's Ministry Essentials 2: The developing child
This module gives an overview of how children change and develop as they get older and introduces faith formation theory. As we understand better how they think and interact with the world and its creator so we can better enhance their relationships and wellbeing.
Children's Ministry Essentials 3: Biblical perspectives on children
This module introduces some biblical perspectives on children, including how these influence practice. It also considers conflicting views and approaches to using the bible with children to nurture faith.
Children's Ministry Essentials 9: Pastoral Care
Sometimes we might feel overwhelmed by what we see and hear in the news and with more and more evidence that children are struggling with their mental health and other issues, we can feel helpless and unsure where to start or what to do. This module aims to equip those of us working with children…
Children's Ministry Essentials 4: The role of play in faith formation
This module explores the innate spirituality of children and the importance of play, not only for a child’s emotional and physical wellbeing but also for their spirituality and faith development. It considers the benefits and drawbacks of digital play, storytelling and different types of play, and introduces Godly Play.
Children's Ministry Essentials 10: Leadership and teamwork
This module considers how leaders create vision and help their teams through effective goal setting, planning and communication, as well as sustain their own wellbeing and growth.
Children's Ministry Essentials 5: Creating space for children in our church communities
This module focuses on creating welcoming spaces for children in all church communities. Exploring more than the physical factors it helps us think about how to nurture children’s faith and spirituality through care and consideration of what and how we do things when we gather.
Children's Ministry Essentials 6: Inclusion
This module helps us celebrate our differences, and explore how we can ensure that children and their families in our communities do not feel excluded because of differences in physical or intellectual abilities, gender or sexuality, race or ethnicity, education, language or social-economic background.
Children's Ministry Essentials 7: Participation
Children’s ministry is sometimes seen as something that it is done ‘to’ rather than ‘with’ children. Perhaps another reason why many children are put off from joining in. In this module we are going to consider what healthy participation looks like and how to facilitate it
Children's Ministry Essentials 8: Contexts of mission and ministry with children
This module encourages you to think about the wider context of your mission and ministry, and the impact this context has on the children you are working with. Time is given to thinking about how you can work better with organisations in your neighbourhood and ‘join up’ engagement in school with the church and home…