The last time that the Seniors (11–16 year olds) met together in person at Hendon Baptist Church, we were preparing to take part in the upcoming Family Service. The whole Sunday school were due to be involved and our involvement was to be a sketch about the prophet, Jeremiah, and a performance of the song “Our God is an Awesome God”. In addition, the children would be leading every aspect of the service, from the welcome and opening prayer, to the offering and the sound system. We practiced and practiced, giving each other feedback on the performance and we were all excited to be taking part in the service. Little did we know that by the following Sunday, the country would be in lockdown and our service would be postponed indefinitely.
A few weeks into lockdown, Zoom meetings started taking place between some of the Junior Church (Sunday School) leaders and the newly-formed Online Ministry Team to discuss how we might move our meetings online. Friday evenings were decided upon and WhatsApp groups for the parents of 4–7, 7–11 and 11–16 year olds were set up. Attendance has been really consistent and it has been wonderful to see the young people every week, even if not in person. I asked the children and the leaders to share about the ups and downs of online Seniors. We hear first from the children:
What do we do in Seniors?
Mary: In Seniors we do fun games and learn important lessons that are in the Bible. We also read Scriptures and watch videos.
Livie: We read the Bible and discuss God’s word.
Esther: In Seniors we have been learning about forgiveness.
Jessica: We learn about the Bible stories through fun activities, we learn about the characters of the people of God that can inspire us to be better.
Leke: In Seniors we learn about God, the Bible and Christianity in general and also go into deeper meaning about what the Bible means.
Kessri: In Seniors, we learn about the Lord, and his salvation on earth, his Son, Jesus, and how he healed many people. We also read the Bible.
Katie: We learn about the Bible.
Joel: In Seniors, we learn about being Christians and how to get closer to God.
OB: Play, pray and learn Biblical stories.
Ethan: We pray, do quizzes and games and we learn about Bible stories.
Geoleand: In Seniors we talk about the gospel and we also play games and watch videos about the Bible.
Sean: In Seniors, we learnt the importance of prayer and why it is so important.
Nina: We do fun things and talk about Jesus.
What do you enjoy about it?
Mary: I enjoy getting to see everyone at Seniors considering the fact that the pandemic is restricting us. I also enjoy listening to the word of God.
Livie: What I enjoy is learning new things about God and the Bible that can help your life.
Esther: I enjoy Seniors because we play fun games and I can see other people.
Jessica: The opening games are very nice and fun and I like to watch the videos
Leke: I enjoy the fact that we have fun whilst learning and we communicate a lot as well.
Kessri: I enjoy reading the Bible and its verses.
Katie: We interact with people.
Joel: I enjoy getting to do the activities and discussing things in the breakout rooms.
OB: Fun and friendly people.
Ethan: I like that we are given challenges to complete during the week.
Geoleand: I enjoy when we play games together.
Nina: Everything!
What are the challenges of online Seniors?
Mary: A challenge of online Seniors is not being able to be there in person.
Livie: The challenge of online Seniors is going round the house asking my older siblings for their laptops/tablet, asking my mum for login details and logging in. I always leave it till the last minute. Another challenge is not seeing each other face to face.
Esther: If there are problems with technology people do lose connection and it can be difficult to see and hear each other.
Jessica: Having the sessions when it is dinner time, sometimes the connection is not great and the audio and video doesn’t work.
Leke: The internet not working sometimes in certain areas.
Kessri: I have to admit, at times it is quite boring, due to unfilled gaps. I believe at many times people are left out of most of the session. At times some people don’t give a chance for others to speak. I believe that people who don’t speak are not spoken to. Most of the time it’s at least half the group. People should be included whether they speak or not.
Katie: When we get asked to talk I feel nervous.
Joel: A challenge is that if my mum is not home I cannot join because her phone is the only device with Zoom.
OB: Difficult to communicate, not as fun.
Ethan: Not many people speak and sometimes when the leader shares their screen, it’s blurry.
Geoleand: I find it challenging when the leaders ask you questions and everyone stares at you.
Nina: For me, I don’t know some of the Bible stories.
What have you learnt?
Mary: One thing I learnt is that you need to forgive everyone before God can forgive you.
Livie: I learnt about how to speak to friends about Christ and also helping others in challenging times.
Esther: I learnt about the importance of reading your Bible.
Jessica: I’ve learnt stories from the Bible that I’ve never heard before.
Leke: I’ve learnt about different stories in the Bible and what it actually means and how to understand the Bible itself.
Kessri: We have learnt about the book of Jeremiah. We learnt about many people Jesus healed such as the blind man and the woman on the Sabbath day. We have also learnt about forgiveness and other things. All in all, it’s a very nice environment and is very enjoyable.
Katie: A lot about Christianity.
Joel: I learnt about forgiveness.
OB: God can speak to us in many ways like he did to Jeremiah.
Ethan: We learnt about Jeremiah, we were challenged to read our Bibles and we learnt about forgiveness.
Geoleand: We have learnt about forgiveness and Jesus healing people.
Sean: We learnt all about the different ways that God has blessed us.
Nina: I’ve learnt a lot to be honest. It’s really fun learning new things.
The leaders also shared their perspectives of our online meetings:
Giovanni: It takes a lot of time to prepare for the session but it’s so rewarding to hear a “thank you, it was good” from some of the kids at the end of the meeting. It’s frustrating that we can’t meet in person but at the same time I’m grateful that this technology allows us to be creative and to still be present in the life of our Church children. The Seniors have been amazing during this unusual time; they have been supportive, encouraging, committed, challenging, fun, inquisitive and a blessing.
Ugo: I have enjoyed working with the Seniors. Having worked with the Juniors you see the contrast in character. Seniors seem more reserved. Although it was an initial challenge to have them engage during the online sessions, they really opened up more and I was encouraged by their maturity and understanding of the material we covered with them. They do take things in and seem to apply it. God is working in their lives and may he continue to guide and protect them.
James: At seniors, we teach and disciple secondary school age children at HBC. We teach core Biblical principles while also empowering them to learn about and draw closer to God on their own. I enjoy the opportunity to bring the Gospel to the next generation. There are two main challenges that I face: the first is the inability to meet and teach in a single location. Teaching online is tough and nothing compensates for in-person fellowship. The second is time, we are limited on time which makes it difficult to really delve into Scripture – but our classes are always happy to go over our allocated time! Every day is a school day for us teachers as much as it is for the children.
Lindsay: As you can see from the responses of the children and teachers, we have mixed feelings about the online ministry. On the one hand, I am so glad we are able to meet every week. I cannot imagine going months without seeing them or allowing them to see each other. On the other hand, it is really challenging. There are many awkward silences and I don’t think anyone is used to seeing their own face on screen yet! I long for the day when the whole fellowship can return to church and Junior Church can resume properly. In the meantime, we will continue to make the best of what we have been given. I would like to thank all the children for joining in each week, and to the parents for their help and support. Please join us in praying for all the children at our church, their parents and the Junior Church leaders.