Adventure Books Guidance for Group Leaders
Contents
Introduction
This year, all children and young people attending 3Generate will be given the gift of a 3Generate Adventure Book – a year-long journalling resource inviting children and young people to start or continue their faith journey, encounter God and live the best life imaginable, bridging the gap between 3Generate 2026 and the next one.
Primary and secondary versions will be available.
Each week, the Adventure Book offers a new way to explore faith and keep the journey going, long after the 3Generate weekend ends. It will help children and young people to stay curious, connected and open to what God might be doing in their lives.
Adventure Books will be available to buy for children and young people who do not attend 3Generate. You can order your copies after 3Generate here:
The Adventure Book builds on the principles of the new On The Way course. Find out more about that here. In addition to this guidance, a lot of the advice in the On The Way Leaders’ Guide could also be helpful.
Engaging with the Adventure Book at home
There is a note for parents and carers at the start of the Adventure Book, and this has been adapted as a letter that you can copy, adapt and send out.
Encourage children and young people to share their adventure at home with their family. Perhaps they could even invite their family to participate in one or more mini adventures with them?
Could you invite parents, carers and wider family members to a gathering after 3Generate, where they can find out about what happened on the weekend and learn more about the Adventure Book?
Your church might want to think about taking this opportunity to run an On The Way course (www.methodist.org.uk/ontheway) and invite parents, carers and other adults connected to the children and young people. There might also be other opportunities during the year to invite parents and carers into further engagement.
As well as praying for children and young people as they embark on this year-long adventure with God, your church could also pray for parents, carers and families that they are a part of.
Engaging with the Adventure Book in small groups
Whether in a Sunday School, house group or youth group setting, as a leader you can help to establish a rhythm of ‘checking in’ and mutual accountability and reflection. This could be weekly, fortnightly, monthly or termly, depending on your context.
If you are planning your group’s programme for the year and want to build in content that supports engagement with the Adventure Book, you could use the 12 Methodist Way of Life practices as your framework. The Adventure Book focuses on a new practice every month – find out below what’s covered when.
What’s covered when?
- 5 October to 25 October 2026, Flourish: We care for creation and all God’s Gifts.
- 26 October to 29 November 2026, Live: We live in a way that draws people to Jesus.
- 30 November 2026 to 3 January 2027, Share: We share our faith.
- 4 January to 31 January 2027, Challenge: We challenge injustice.
- 1 February to 28 February 2027, Notice: We notice God in Scripture, and the world.
- 1 March to 4 April 2027, Worship: We worship with others regularly.
- 5 April to 2 May 2027, Care: We care for ourselves and those around us.
- 3 May to 30 May 2027, Learn: We learn more about our faith.
- 31 May to 27 June 2027, Pray: We pray daily.
- 28 June to 25 July 2027, Open: We practise hospitality and generosity.
- 26 July to 29 August 2027, Serve: We will help people in our communities and beyond.
- 30 August to 2 October 2027, Tell: We tell of the love of God.
Alongside the Methodist Way of Life pages, you can search the Methodist Resource Hub for worship and prayer ideas on specific themes (eg justice or creation).
Creating a safe space
Don’t worry about having all the answers. Your role is simply to hold a safe space for conversation.
Start by creating that safe space – this isn’t about making sure that people have done homework, it’s about journeying and discovering more about God together. It’s important to acknowledge that not everyone will have a profound sense of encountering God every week. That’s normal and it doesn’t mean that God wasn’t there.
We can sometimes only see where God was alongside us when we reflect afterwards – which is what conversations in small groups can help with.
Remember that smaller groups work best for deep sharing. If you have more than ten people in your group, you might need to think a little more about structure or extra leaders to help facilitate.
It can be very helpful to name, together, the kind of space you are hoping to build.
Talk openly about values such as:
- safety – people feel respected and not judged
- vulnerability – sharing honestly, but with permission to pass
- bravery – being willing to ask questions or offer reflections
- openness – welcoming different perspectives and experiences
- listening and sharing – giving space to one another.
Making these expectations explicit helps people feel secure and sets shared boundaries from the start.
Checking in
Your check-ins could follow a very simple structure, inviting reflection with questions such as:
- What did you notice?
- What surprised you?
- What did you write or record in your journal?
- I wonder what God might be saying?
- I wonder how you might respond?
Allow time for everyone who wants to share, while making it clear that passing is always okay.
Wrapping up and On The Way prayer
To wrap up, you could say the On The Way prayer (below) or even invite the group or individuals to say their own prayer, depending on what is appropriate for the group.
God of the journey,
thank you that you guide us as the journey unfolds.
Give me curiosity to explore,
courage to go deeper,
and wisdom to notice where you are guiding me.
As I continue on the way,
may your spirit inspire me,
so that my faith may grow
and my life show your love.
Amen.
Engaging with the Adventure Book with the local church community
The adventure is even richer when the whole church community joins in. Here are some ways to encourage participation across the generations.
Prayer
First and foremost, please do encourage your local church community to pray for the children and young people as they embark on this year-long adventure with God. This could be done together during church services and encouraged as part of people’s individual prayer rhythm each day.
Intergenerational participation
Think about how the adults in the church could also join in with the mini adventures, and how you and your church could facilitate some appropriate intergenerational reflection and conversations.
- This might be a great opportunity to host an On The Way course (www.methodist.org.uk/ontheway) for adults in the church, as well as parents/carers of your children and young people.
- You could include a mini adventure and shared reflection time as a part of the church’s worship on a regular basis, perhaps every three months.
Remember, the goal is not just to give children and young people a moment in the spotlight, but to nurture a culture where their voices, insights and gifts are woven naturally into the life and worship of the church. How do you facilitate genuine conversations across the generations, so everyone learns together?
Accessibility and inclusion
Children and young people will engage in different ways. – Not everyone will find it easy or possible to engage with a journal resource. Feel free to take the ideas in the Adventure Book and simplify or adapt them to allow for those with additional needs to participate in the adventure too.
Below are some things you could consider if supporting a child or young person with additional needs.
Reducing expectations
Some children and young people might find the amount of information and the implicit expectations overwhelming. You can support them by reducing these expectations. For example, the dates given in the book are a guide to help people use the resource over the course of a year, but it's ok to do as much or as little as works for the children and young people, and ignore the dates if they aren't helpful.
Adapting the Mini Adventures
You could adapt the Mini Adventures by bringing resources (such as pictures, videos, natural objects) to your group or to the individual, rather than asking them to go out and create their own adventure.
Making Bible passages accessible
Help children and young people find a way to access the Bible passages that works best for them. This could be an audio version, video, simpler language or more image-based Bibles.
Supporting participation
During group sessions you could support participation through clear structure, illustrations or objects that link to the Bible passage, colouring while listening, building in movement or keeping sections short.
Remember that participation does not always mean ‘verbal’ or ‘outward’. Simply watching or listening may be deep engagement. Observation, movement, silence, drawing and wondering are all valid forms of participation.
Support with tricky questions
Some children or young people might find the open-ended nature of ‘I wonder…’ questions overwhelming. They might also struggle to answer questions about feelings. Offer alternatives, for example:
- What were you thinking about during your mini adventure?
- What did the mini adventure remind you of?
- Was it easy or difficult to pay attention on your mini adventure?
Or you could offer sentence starters for the children and young people to finish:
- I noticed...
- I was surprised by...
- This reminds me of...
- God might be showing me...
You can support children and young people to respond in different ways, such as drawing or doodling, selecting images or emojis, or using feelings charts or stickers.
Above all: assume competence, offer choices, reduce pressure, value every response.
The Adventure Books will be made available as downloadable PDFs on the Methodist website. This means that those who are visually impaired should be able to access them using screen readers.
You might find this page on adapting the On The Way course useful as you think about the Adventure Book as a flexible resource.
Letter to parents/carers to be adapted and sent
Dear
This year at 3Generate, your child was given a free gift: an Adventure Book that is designed to help them engage with faith and the Bible in a thoughtful, reflective and active way. The book encourages them not only to read the Bible stories, but also to explore their meaning and connect them to everyday life through simple, accessible activities. Your encouragement can make a real difference: whether that’s giving them space to explore independently, showing interest in what they’re discovering or by joining in conversations sparked by the book.
Please do encourage your child to be curious and open to what they notice about God, their feelings, and the world around them. Remember, they may not have the words to express what is happening spiritually, which is normal and okay (if a little frustrating at times!). This book recognises that much of spirituality and faith is beyond words and therefore encourages drawing, doodling, composing, singing or playing music, signing, making, being silent, or any number of other ways to connect with God. Your child should be free to experiment with different things but notice their preferences and when they are most at peace with God, themselves and their surroundings.
These experiences can spark deeper discussions about faith, identity and purpose in a way that feels natural and relevant. And if you’d like to know more yourself, ask at your local Methodist church about a place on the On The Way course. Visit methodist.org.uk/OnTheWay for more information.
You might also find it helpful to visit methodist.org.uk/PrayerCards for more ideas to creatively engage spiritually with God for you and your family.
Our local church will be praying for your child as they embark on this year’s adventure with God – and for you as you support them and, hopefully, join in!
Further resources
Here is a useful list of weblinks to help you as you support your children and young people: