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We have an active Junior Church within St Johns with four main age groups catered for. The children join in with worship in Church for the first 20 minutes or so and then leave with their leaders to spend time on activities, games, and craft related to the theme of the day.
We have four main age groups. The crèche children have their own carpeted room for fun and games from babies up to about 3 years or so. They have soft toys, cars, train sets etc. to play with as well as the ever popular cozy coupe cars! Two adults are always with the crèche children to ensure they are in a safe environment, and that there is another adult present in case a parent or guardian needs to be called back from church.
Our next group up caters for children from around 3 or 4 up to the end of Key Stage 1 at school. They meet in our main hall with their own Junior Church leader and helper. Also meeting in the main hall is our group catering for Key Stage 2 children, again with their own Junior Church leader. They learn about the theme of the day in fun way through craft, painting and games – but we do have times for quiet thinking and reflection with them sometimes!
Our youth group (High school age upwards) have their own Youth room which they have helped to decorate and furnish. They meet again with their own team of leaders, and determine a programme of exploration based on biblical material of their choosing.
The Junior Church children are also very active participants in the church service – particularly in their weekly ‘all age talk’ before they leave for their own groups. Some of the children are also learning instruments, and play in church or accompany the younger children. Often the Junior Church children will prepare and perform something themselves in church – particularly around church festivals and major dates such as Christmas, Easter and Mothers Day.
The Junior Church children also have fun outside Church – from Christmas parties and pantomime outings to lazy summer picnics in the park (who can forget the all rules abandoned, children vs adults rounders match?).
