Scope

SCOPE

What's in a name?
SCOPE stands for Strandz Community of Practice for Everyone.

The Oxford University Press define ‘scope’ as “the extent of the area or subject matter that something deals with or to which it is relevant” with synonyms including freedom, opportunity, room, range, breadth, spread, horizon. A ‘scope’ (noun) can also be a target, an instrument for observing, viewing or examining, or a length of cable extended when a ship is at anchor. These definitions and synonyms reflect a group that has the freedom to observe and explore, while being supported by a strong anchor in Christ.

SCOPE is a community of
practice for children and
families ministry leaders
in the Anglican Dioceses
of New Zealand.

Sessions

Scope groups meet fortnightly on Zoom* for two blocks of six 90 minute sessions. Each session includes:

Welcome - a time of welcome, regrouping
Prayer - asking the Holy Spirit to guide and grow us through this time
Feedback - feedback and accountability from the previous session
Discussion - we come ready to discuss a topic, article or book chapter
Reflection - we reflect on what God might be saying to us through this topic
Action - we device on an action we will take and follow up with in the next session

* Zoom is an online video conferencing platform, that is free to use.

Participants

Scope is open to leaders within the Anglican Church of Aotearoa New Zealand and Polynesia who have a passion and heart to minister with children and families. We want to introduce you to like minded leaders from across the church.

Places are limited, so please email us to secure your space.

There is no cost for leaders to take part in Scope, however there may be some costs for an optional midyear retreat (tbc).

Each participant will receive a Scope box in the post, prior to the community of practice starting, which will include:

The book you will need for the fortnightly discussions*
A reflective journal to process the session in. Click here to download a copy of the journal
And some other Strandz goodies that will make your Scope adventure fun.

* If you have access to the book through your diocesan library, or can hunt down a copy, that will help us keep costs down :)

Scope Streams

In 2020, we will be offering multiple Scope streams. Choose one for the year. Scope is open to children and families ministry leaders within the Anglican Church of Aotearoa New Zealand and Polynesia. Places are limited, so please email us to secure your space.

Children's Ministry in the Way of Jesus

The theological foundations of ministry with children and families.

Intergenerational
Ministry

How can an intergenerational church support and nurture faith of all ages?

Family on Mission

How can we mobilise our families for a life of faith, mission, and life long discipleship?

Block 1
Meets fortnightly from the weeks beginning 9th March (with time off over Easter) through to the week starting 25th May.

Block 2
Meets fortnightly from the weeks beginning 20th July through to 28 September

#1 Children's Ministry in the Way of Jesus

This foundational stream will take a walk through Children's Ministry in the Way of Jesus from Ivy Beckwith and David Csinos. This is a foundational text for anyone in children and families ministry, and unpacks the theological underpinnings of how we minister to and with our youngest pilgrims in Christ.

Block 1	Topic
#1	Introduction Welcome and introduction to Scope
#2	Doing Children's ministry differently Our first chapter of the book, helping to frame up our Scope sessions (Introduction)
#3	The task of children's ministry (Chapter 1)
#4	Authentic Spirituality Learning about God vs learning to know God. Children as co-pilgrims in Christ (Chapter 2)
#5	Formational Discipleship (Chapter 3)
#6	Vibrant Theologies (Chapter 4)

Block 2	Topic
#1	Living Stories Learning and telling God's big story, connecting the puzzle pieces together (Chapter 5)
#2	Honest Questions (Chapter 6)
#3	Meaningful participation (Chapter 7)
#4	Radical hospitality (Chapter 8)
#5	Transformative Justice Empowering children to transform the world, serving the last, lost and least (Chapter 10)
#6	The end of children's ministry Wrapping up the book, childrens ministry as the start of a longer hope-filled discipleship journey.

#2 Intergenerational Stream

To give you an idea of what a SCOPE cluster looked like, here's the outline for our Intergenerational Cluster in 2019. The Intergenerational cluster have been working their way through InterGenerate: Transforming Churches Through Intergenerational Ministry, by Holly Allen. This has been a transformational book in the way we lead and see intergenerational ministry unfolding in New Zealand.

Block 1	Topic
#1	Introduction Welcome and introduction to Scope
#2	Why now? The story so far, reflections on the current children and families ministry practices in New Zealand. (Chapter 1)
#3	A theology of accommodation Ministry for the benefit of others (Chapter 2)
#4	Learning to love together Biblical theology of intergenerational ministry (Chapter 3)
#5	Generational Theory and Faith Communities Belonging to a church with generational differences (Chapter 4)
#6	*From Multigenerational to Intergenerational* The journey of adaptive change (Chapter 5)

To get an idea of what these teaching sessions included, here's a summary of chapters 1-5 of InterGenerate

Block 2	Topic
#1	Intergenerational Principles and Three Stories John Roberto's 17 principles of intergenerational ministry (chapter 6)
#2	Unlocking the Power of Intergenerational Leadership How do we break down the walls and give all generations a place to belong together? (Chapter 7)
#3	In it for the long haul Sustainability and perseverance in leadership (Chapter 8)
#4	Well-being, Discipleship and Intergenerational Connectedness Does discipleship in an intergenerational Christian congregation contribute to better well-being? (Chapter 10)
#5	Walking beside each other Values and actions for the intergenerational journey (Chapter 18)
#6	The Intergenerational Sticky Church Wrapping up the book (Conclusion, p.253-263)

#3 Family on Mission

The church hasn't often made it easy for leaders and their families to do mission. It has often been the family or mission, or the family and mission. This short series will look at how the church can support families on mission - together.

Block 1	Topic
#1	Introduction Welcome and introduction to Scope. What is family on mission, and longing for family (chapters 1 & 2)
#2	We are created for this We are created for this (chapter 3) and Jesus looks for a family (chapter 4)
#3	Jesus builds a new family (Chapter 5)
#4	Leading as spiritual parents Beginning to build a family on mission (Chapter 6) and spiritual parents (Chapter 7)
#5	Growing in predictable patterns (Chapter 8)
#6	Moving out in missional purpose (Chapter 9)

Scope Retreat

While Zoom is an amazing platform for our Scope sessions, we are thinking about hosting a Scope retreat over the final weekend in June 2020, open to all involved in our Scope streams. This will enable the streams to spend time together and share with others involved in other groups. The retreat details have not been finalised yet, but we'll keep you updated!