Your support for SRE is helping faithful teachers, like Brenda, nurture faith in young lives.

Brenda Poletti started teaching scripture in 1967, following God’s call when asked by a church member to teach SRE. She says:

In 1967, I was going to church with my two year old daughter….as I was walking along, I was talking to God, you know, and I was saying, ‘I know you want me to do something, but what is it?’ and my daughter ran ahead to swing on a railing and that made the man inside the church come out and he said to me, ‘I’ve wanted to speak with you’, and I said, ‘oh what about?’ and he said, ‘I want you to go and teach scripture in school.’ And eventually I went home, and I thought about it and I became a scripture teacher.

Brenda began to teach Years 1 and 2 and loved it when the kids asked her questions.

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Scripture Union India and Youthworks Media working together!

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“I enjoyed it when the kids would ask a question. Even if it was a silly question, you know, it kept them engaged.”

While teaching SRE, Brenda had the joy of being a part of writing some of the SRE curriculum for lower primary, known at the time as The Sword Book. She says:

“One day, a visiting clergyman turned up at church, and after the service, he said to me, ‘I’ve got a job for you.’ So, he wanted me to start writing for The Sword Book. Now I don’t know what prompted him to pick on me because he must have seen plenty of other people. But continued on next page anyway, he did. And so I gave it a go for a few years. “It was a very good experience, we had six of us writing the books. We wrote the first two years’ worth of content. There were two ladies on each level, I was on infants and primary with another woman and we became good friends. Doing it together, you know, we helped each other, making suggestions for each other for teaching as well. Once I finished up that role, I had the opportunity to teach more classes because there was a need there.”

Now retired from teaching SRE, Brenda’s prayer for young people today is, “That they can come to know God and understand what he has done for us. And besides getting to know Him, will want to serve Him.”

Praise God for teachers like Brenda and her faithful service. And thank you for your generous support in helping teachers to be trained and equipped to help generations grow and flourish in their faith now and in the future.

Praise God for faithful SRE teachers like Brenda. Pray that God will use them in his service to see young people explore the gospel for themselves.

Scripture Union India and Youthworks Media working together to help grow believers in faith!

Following the success of releasing Paul Barnett’s commentary on Revelation in Mongolian, through the support of Youthworks Media, Scripture Union India (SUI) has the opportunity to translate ‘GPS: God’s Plan for Salvation’ into Tamil for distribution through Scripture Union units, Christian bookshops and churches in India.

The team at SUI said:

‘We hope that it will serve as a training tool for growing believers in Christ. We would be using the Tamil version for Tamil readers all over the world.

We will arrange to distribute the same primarily through Scripture Union units, Christian Book Shops and the Churches. We hope that it will serve as a training tool for growing believers in Christ.

And..

“We assure you that the book would be used for building God’s people and to help them nurture spiritually.”

Praise God for opportunities like this, where more people will be trained and equipped not only in Australia, but in India as well!

Farewell Youthworks Council Chairmen Rev Chris Braga

After 13 years on Youthworks Council and more than 8 years as our Chairman, the Rev Chris Braga has stepped down from these positions. Chris served Youthworks through some difficult periods and, under God, enabled the organisation to be in the strong position it is in today. Chris says:

“It has been a privilege to work alongside gifted men and women in the cause of the gospel and ensure tens of thousands of children and young people have the opportunity to hear about Jesus.”

Youthworks has clarity on its mission to support the work of the gospel in churches and schools to present children, youth and families mature in Christ. Its leadership team is strong and stable, and Chris’s decision to step down from his roles on Youthworks Council is part of an orderly succession plan in place within the organisation to ensure continued good governance.

Welcome New Chairman

Archdeacon Simon Flinders

We are delighted to announce that Archdeacon Simon Flinders was elected by Youthworks Council as its new Chairman. Simon is well credentialled for this challenging role. He has a demonstrable passion for the gospel, local church ministry experience as a Rector in the Diocese, governance experience having been the Chair of Scripture Union and now its Patron, and his current role as Archdeacon to the Archbishop affords him a unique perspective on how Youthworks can best serve the churches and schools of our diocese in their ministry to young people.

Simon is looking forward to leading the Council and working with our CEO, Canon Craig Roberts, to continue to extend the reach and gospel impact of Youthworks’ portfolio of ministries across the Sydney diocese and beyond.

Effective Ministry Podcast

New episodes out! ‘Youthworks: Church and Family - Partners in Children’s Faith Formation’ with Ed Drew and ‘Youth Ministry with the Family in Mind’ with Isaac Shoemack.