It was suggested in a recent (2004) Junior Church meeting that we, as leaders in the various Junior Church departments, report each month on what the various departments are up to! I was asked to go first, so here goes ...

I don't want to give them big heads or anything but the young people in Knutsford Methodist Church are amazing! I sometimes come away from a Sunday morning teaching session feeling I have gained as much from them as they have from me.

We try where possible to follow alongside the programme of the TNT (Thursday Night Truth) Youth Group, discussing things such as the value of life, death, and other faiths, to name but a few.

Last term we looked at spiritual gifts and tried to explore what, if any, we have. These sessions were not only challenging for the young people - I know I had to face issues regarding spiritual gifts which I found hard. Together as a group we looked at healing - why does God not heal all of the time? - why would a loving God let some one young die? Not easy questions to answer but together we worked through the issues, gaining a better under standing of God and his plans for our lives.

As I said earlier, we are looking at other faiths this term and our response as Christians to them. One forthcoming session, on "Methodism and Christianity", has been identified as a promising candidate for reporting. In this session we will be looking at what makes us Methodists and what that means for us as Christians - report, hopefully, to follow. So please watch this space!