Children and Young People
Young Church
Each Sunday at the 10.30am Family Eucharist, we invite children to attend Young Church. They meet in the Brooke Room at the back of church and children gather there during the first hymn. All our leaders work under the church Safeguarding Policy and maintain a current advanced DBS clearance. Children are then invited to share their work with the congregation towards the end of the service.
Little Fishes
Especially for very young children and their carers. On Wednesdays at 9.30am Little Fishes offers worship for Babies, Toddlers, and Preschool Children every Wednesday during Term Time, followed by crafts and coffee for carers.
We meet in the Lady Chapel and share a bible story or theme, some prayers and songs, and celebrate special events in our children’s lives. The highlight of the year is the Little Fishes Nativity! Do come and join us, you can find out the dates we are open by contacting our Parish Administrator.
Messy Church
All over the country, Messy Church is taking off as a new way of engaging with God, for all the family. We meet twice a term, six times a year, exploring different themes through worship, craftwork and a shared meal. Messy Church happens after school on Wednesdays and Thursdays, starting at 3.30pm. It is supported by all of our local schools, who promote the Messy Church gatherings through school.
Parents, Grandparents and children of all ages come together to learn new songs, hear a bible story, and then respond to the theme in all sorts of different ways. There are usually up to ten different craft projects on offer each time, painting, sticking, making models, as well as games that help people to explore the church.
The shared meal is an important part of Messy Church, it brings the whole community together as one family, and we aim to make it the main meal of the evening. There is no charge, because we want everyone to be able to come, but we do invite donations to help us to cover the costs. For more information and the latest dates you can reach us at the following e-mail address:- shifnalmessychurch@gmail.com
Messy Church is part of The Bible Reading Fellowship (BRF), a Registered Charity. brf.org.uk
Big House Holiday Club
This amazing holiday provision for children runs in church for most of the school holidays. We have around 50 children a day and can offer wrap around care for busy parents. Kelly and her team provide a rich and interesting programme of activities and also welcome all sorts of visiting musicians, magicians, and other folk to extend our programme. Contact Kelly on bighouse@shifnalbenefice.org.uk for more details.
Centre Stage
A separate charity meeting in St Andrew’s Church on Monday evenings in term-time from 6-8pm. We offer three age group classes, Minis, Juniors and Seniors where children can learn all sorts of performing arts skills, singing, acting, dance, script writing, scenery and technical skills. For more information contact CentreStage@shifnalbenefice.org.uk
Youth Alpha
If you want to find out more about faith why not join out Youth Alpha Group meeting on Wednesday evenings led by Mark Williams contact sayyesmark@gmail.com