Websites

Activities and Lesson Ideas

The internet is now full of endless sites for activity and lesson ideas suitable for all ages. But, you can spend hours surfing and still come up with nothing. Here are some of the more comprehensive sites with a lot of easy and usable content in one place:

Emerging Church Movement

www.zoecarnate.com This site claims to be the largest library of alternative Christian internet sites. The categories are extensive and you could spend a lot of time clicking through these.

Humour

Humour – things people find funny will often vary for each individual. One thing we can definitely be sure of is that most everybody enjoys a good laugh! Here's a few websites that specialize in Christian humour:

www.larknews.com – a farcical news website making fun of all things stereotypical to Christians
www.reverendfun.com – free to use comics. The best part about this site is the comprehensive search engine.
www.alphajokes.com – yes, there really is a site dedicated to jokes suitable for using when running an alpha course.

Intergenerational Ministry

Intergenerational ministry has become a hot model these days. We're pleased to see the Presbytery's actually on the cutting edge by combining youth, child and family ministry resourcing. Here are some other sites you might find useful on the subject:

www.familybasedyouthministry.org – newly launched site, developed from www.wildfrontier.org/mompop.htm it's one of a kind, for theory and praxis.
www.youthandfamilyinstitute.org
www.family-ministry.org
www.cyfm.net – from the Fuller Theological Seminary, great research.

Kiwi sites

www.emergentkiwi.org.nz
www.futurechurch.org.nz
www.the-next-wave.org
www.faithmaps.org
www.harveststone.com
www.challengeweekly.co.nz
www.nzcbd.co.nz – Christian Business directory
www.christian.net.nz – exists to connect resources with needs – jobs, events, businesses, churches
www.daystar.org.nz – church based evangelical monthly magazine
www.soulpurpose.co.nz – youth magazine
www.lifefm.co.nz
www.ywam.org.nz
www.kidsreach.org.nz – training, resourcing, equipping those who minister to children
www.cec.org.nz – responsible for coordinating Bible in schools
www.praxis.org.nz – network of Christian youth and community workers
www.yfc.org.nz
www.cws.org.nz – CWS takes action to end poverty/injustice in the world.
www.parachutemusic.com – charitable trust working in the NZ music industry
www.clca.org.nz – Auckland church
www.parentsinc.org.nz – Encouraging parents to establish self-nurturing and self-governing families.
www.scriptureunion.org.nz
www.aucklandcity.govt.nz
www.bcnz.ac.nz – Training facility

Social Issues

Is your group interested in responding to social issues? Here are some important NZ sites you might find useful on the subject:

Youth Lifestyle

Two fantastic websites I've discovered recently are both online youth lifestyle magazine sites. Both have a wealth of articles on many topics, a message board, and a variety of resources like podcasts and video clips available for download. Great for sermons, youth group chats, or just to keep up to date on how young people are responding to current issues & interests. Have a look at: