Children and young people are welcome in our church. This means that we actively value them, working to meet their needs and value their opinions.
The younger children are not expected to sit still and silent at all times. There are opportunities for them to engage within worship and other activities which are available at the back of the worship space.
Young adults are valued for their opinions and their contributions. They will be encouraged to ask questions, to challenge norms and to participate in worship.
Every week we all join in the worship as everyone is a child of God. On the 1st and 3rd Sundays our worship is more informal and we stay together with children and adults encouraged to participate. On the 2nd and 4th Sunday the worship is more traditional, so the children may leave half way through and continue to worship with various activities and discussions available for them in the church hall.
Jesus said: “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”
Matthew 19:14
Not only should we openly welcome children we should learn from them.
All adults in the church who work with children and young people have DBS certification and have recently been trained in Safeguarding. The Safeguarding leads in the church are Carol Stunell and Sue Seddon.