All Saints Children and Youth
As a church, we strive to cater for all ages, from the youngest to the oldest and to make them feel welcome and valued, and to include them as much as possible in all our activities.
Worship
We encourage children to actively participate in worship, and try to ensure that our music includes songs our children can relate to, without necessarily being “childish”. Often, a child or family group will read a reading, or sometimes lead us in the Lord’s Prayer or the Gloria. Our use of Zoom allows us to offer such opportunities equally to those in church and those joining us live from home.
During term time, children normally go to the hall for their own groups for a part of the service. At other times, activities are distributed for completion during the service or at home. Towards the end of the service, children are encouraged to share what they have been doing, and with Zoom, those at home can do so on an equal basis to those in church.
SAS
All Saints’ members are active in the leadership of SAS, a parish-wide group catering for children in school years 6 – 9. This meets on a Sunday 5-7pm for fun, games and food, and a reflection on some aspect of faith. Sometimes a visiting speaker will be invited to lead the group, and a term’s activities normally includes a fun outing.
Busy Bunnies
Busy Bunnies is an open group for toddlers and their parents or carers. All are welcome to come on Thursdays from 9.30 – 11.30am during term time. We have many toys, games and even a bouncy castle! Tea and coffee are available for grown ups and a drink and a healthy snack for the little ones. This friendly group is a lovely opportunity to meet people and to talk and play in a safe environment. Donations of £1.50 are requested for a grown up and child and 50p for each extra child. You can stay up to date by joining our Facebook group.
Other Activities
We will grab any opportunity that arises to engage our children and young people in the life of the church.
On a sunny afternoon in June, children (and adults) were encouraged to explore the plants and wildlife in the church garden, and to enter a giant sunflower growing competition.