CHILDREN will take over the running of Methodist Church House in London on Friday 23 November. The date has been designated the 11-Million Takeover Day by the Children’s Commissioner for England, Professor Sir Al Aynsley-Green.
He is urging businesses and organisations to hand over the reins to children, as a way of demonstrating a commitment to listening to and recognising their talents. The Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, has invited the UK Youth Parliament into the House of Commons on that day.
The Methodist Church was one of the first denominations to sign up to the event, described by its children’s work development dfficer, Doug Swanney, as “a fantastic opportunity to recognise the importance of children and young people in our society and the role they have to play.
“We’re looking forward to the takeover — it will be great to hear how the children would like to see things done here, and what they can teach us.”
Oxford is the first C of E diocese to back the day, which also forms part of the celebrations of the 18th birthday of the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of the Child. “We want to encourage parishes and schools to take the lead in actively supporting Takeover Day, and encouraging members with key roles in their own workplace and businesses to get involved, too,” a statement said.
“We particularly want to encourage churches to enter the spirit of ‘Takeover Day’ by allowing children and young people to take over worship on Sunday 25 November.” Another plan is to invite a small group of children to be a bishop for the day.