Level 1: Bishop's Certificate in Children's Ministry

It is highly desirable that those responsible for nurturing children in Christian faith should have appropriate skills, values and knowledge for this important ministry. But how can parishes respond to this? The Bishop’s Certificate in Children’s Ministry could be the way!

The Bishop’s Certificate is awarded at three levels.

Level 1

Level 1 is an enjoyable, user-friendly, non-threatening and largely DIY package comprising six sessions:

  • Safeguarding children
  • How children develop
  • Working together
  • Planning what we do
  • Children and prayer
  • Children and the Bible

To receive the Level 1 Certificate, a volunteer must have: 

  • participated in the six training sessions detailed in the DIY pack or
  • participated in the Safeguarding Children (Child Protection) session together with training sessions that meet the aims of the other five and enable the volunteer to do the things listed in the session introductions from the DIY pack.


A pilot of the material was run in the diocese during summer 2008 and of the 133 participants who completed feedback questionnaires, 86% said they would recommend it to other children’s work volunteers.

Click here for the introductory section and the sample ‘Children and Prayer’ session

For more information or to sign up, contact Steve Dixon on 0161 828 1433 or email stephendixon@manchester.anglican.org.