Children and Young People

Lent is here! Over the next 40 days, the children and young people of St Martin in the Bullring will be challenged to find new and different ways of meeting with God in their lives. In the past, people fasted and gave up eating luxury foods during Lent.  It is still good to do that and no doubt most children and young people can think of some things that they could cut down on! But what about doing something extra?  What about spending more time talking with God?

Lots of schools come in to visit us here at St. Martin’s.  Here is a blog post from one group who visited recently… Students from 3.2 and 3.3 visited the parish church of St Martin’s in the Bullring on Wednesday 11th June. The day began with a special welcome from Ollie Preston, education officer at the church, who asked students to be still as soon as they came in to the building and then write down or draw what they felt. Students were amazed by the size of the church, the quietness inside despite the busyness outside, the sound of running water inside a church and a calm stillness. Then went on to learn about who St Martin was and how his example of helping others is part of what the church does today. It was a great trip and students also learned about the importance of prayer, how Christians celebrate holy Communion and Mr Moss even played the organ for them! The students asked some great questions and really gave Ollie a thorough test of his knowledge. The visit ended with a quie

Thank you so much to everyone who sponsored the three of us from St. Martin’s who did the St. Basil’s Big Sleep Out in December.  It was cold and exhausting, but at least it didn’t rain and it was fun to meet so many people for such a special event. We are still collecting in the last bits of our sponsorship money, but between us we have already raised over £700 (not including Gift Aid)!  At the event we were part of a much larger group of young people from churches all over Birmingham (about 17 of us).  We are hoping to find out how much we all raised together, and will let you know when we find out…  Thank you all again for helping us to support this fantastic charity.  If you would still like to make a donation then you can give cash or cheques (payable to St. Basils) to Oli Preston or you can donate online through www.virginmoneygiving.com/OliPreston. Photo by Jas Sansi (Birmingham Post)

After careful consideration, it is with great regret that the decision has been taken to postpone Catalyst Culture, due to take place in the Cathedral Square THIS Saturday (20th July). Catalyst Culture will be rescheduled to a day. To be kept up to date please keep an eye on this website or visit www.b-inspired.net.

Aged 16-29? Searching for something more? Looking to explore or refresh your faith? Wondering what to do with your life? Saturday 10th – Monday 19th August 2013 Diocesan Pilgrimage to Taizé At Taizé there is an opportunity to share life and worship with thousands of people from all over the world and time for Bible study, discussion, silence and fun. Being part of a group from Birmingham means that we prepare well beforehand and reflect together while we’re there. Those who travelled with us last year found it a really enjoyable and transformative experience. This year’s pilgrimage will be led by Faith Claringbull, Susannah Rudge, Manda Howett, Oli Preston and Tom Ruston. There will be an introductory meeting at St Francis, Bournville on Saturday 23rd February, 12.30-2.30pm. The church is at Sycamore Road/Linden Road, B30 2AA. It would be helpful to know numbers in advance. If you would like more information, would like to watch a 4-minute youtube clip of the 2012 pil

Watch this space for the exciting upcoming Chocolate Lifepaths schools programme coming up at St. Martin in the Bull Ring…   Click here to read more about Scripture Union’s Lifepath model.     Image John Loo

Here’s some info about a project that our young people, working with other young people in the city, did recently. Transforming Church – St. Martin in the Bull Ring – St. Thomas Garretts Green MyFaith Video Project Just before Christmas 2011 we applied for and secured funding from the Transforming Church Fund to run a video project at St. Martin in the Bull Ring. The concept was: – to team up with another youth group from Birmingham; – to run training sessions for all aspects of film-making, recording and editing; – to use workshops, activities and discussions to explore what faith is and what it means in our lives. The working title for the project was ‘My Faith’, and we hoped that by the end of the project the young people would have developed the skills and ideas to produce several short films about their faith. In Spring 2012 we linked up with the youth group at St. Thomas Garretts Green, and we held our first project day just after Easter 2012. Through the