PB: Yes, it’s one of the questions I regularly ask when I visit schools: what do people think? And people respect or ignore them but some experience quite severe teasing and mocking.
CT: Are the school leaders aware of that kind of bullying?
PB: I think some of them are aware. But it can be very subtle and therefore not so obvious to teachers.
CT: Is that something the church could help highlight to schools?
PB: Yes, I think so.
CT: Next year marks the 30th anniversary of the UN International Year of the Child and what’s interesting about the ‘Will You make a difference?’ campaign is the breadth of organisations and churches taking part. Does that make you optimistic about the prospects for children’s ministry?
PB: It does. The fact that you’ve got all the main denominations, the Church of England, Methodist, Baptist, URC, plus a lot of organisations like Urban Saints, Scripture Union, Bible Reading Fellowship, the Brigades and so on. I have been working with children since I was a teenager and I don’t remember ever having quite such a breadth of organisations and denominations committed to working together on something like this.
CT: What do you think is breaking down the barriers?
PB: A real awareness that children aren’t necessarily hearing the Good News of Jesus in the way that we long for them to do so and an awareness that in the country there are some really big questions around about what do we really want for our children and for childhood as a nation. We are saying as Christians that we have got things to contribute to this national debate. It is very exciting that so many have come together on this.
CT: What do you expect to see on the ground level inside the churches as they get involved in the ‘Will you make a difference?’ campaign?
PB: My main longing is that every single church recognises that it can be involved in some work with children in its area; because so many churches have little or no contact with children in their area. In their own way, every individual member of the church can be involved through prayer, friendship, being a good neighbour, as well as the more formal channels of helping with clubs and schools and Sunday schools and getting involved with activities and holiday camps and so on.
My prayer is that that the number of people who get involved will rise up significantly throughout the year and that children themselves will respond really positively to the Good News of Jesus Christ and recognise that they are part and parcel of the church and God’s work in the world.
For more information about the 'Will you make a difference?' campaign, visit www.wymad.org.uk
