Through the Year with Jesus!

Eleanor Zuercher

From The Church Times - June 2009

It is increasingly hard to persuade children and their carers to come to church at weekends when family commitments are greatest. Churches, too, have difficulty finding people with both the time and the theological expertise to enable worship for children on Sundays, when their own spiritual needs also need to be met.

For those working within these constraints, Eleanor Zuercher has produced another excellent monthly resource for local churches working with 3 to 11s. Through the Year with Jesus! follows her successful Not Sunday Not School! showing a model for children's work developed in a multi-benefice rural parish setting. This midweek, monthly group is a sound model when it is not possible or practicable to run a weekly Sunday group.

Zuercher articulates the importance of integrating children's work with the church and the community, and this book engages with themes that include faith, prayer, forgiveness, and blessings. Its strength lies in the freedom it allows the leader. While detailed guidance is given for activities, the teller is encouraged to prepare to tell the story and lead the prayers in the most appropriate style. A summer activity programme based on the 'I am' saying of Jesus is also included.

Reviewed by Dana Delap

From: Country Way - Summer 2009

Eleanor Zuercher's earlier book, Not Sunday Not School!, is a big-seller on the ARC's bookstall. This is a measure of its approachability and relevance to small churches. This new book is more of the same. It is overflowing with even more ideas for innovative and engaging work with children which have clearly been tested with real children and real leaders.

This book is structured around a monthly programme introducing children to the life of Jesus and allowing them to explore this through numerous media and activities. It also includes a structured activity programme for a holiday club based on Jesus' 'I Am' sayings. Alongside this are numerous templates for drawing and construction, a helpful bibliography of other resources and more reflective material that provides the theological and methodological foundations for what is offered here.

As with the earlier book, and like many resources from Barnabas, the material here is entirely suited for dipping into, mixing and matching, or generally employing in whatever way is most suited to your own context.

Reviewed by Simon Martin

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