Children’s Church

This is the part of Christ Church which caters for children aged 3 (or rising 3) to 11.

We believe that children are especially important to God, and we want to communicate to them how much he loves them and has in store for them.

Our aim is to help each child to:

Discover that they are special to God and loved by him
Discover and grow in their own relationship with God
Relate to each other and the rest of the church as fellow-members of a Christian community
Learn how God wants them to serve him and contribute to the life of the church

At present the main meeting time for children is during the Sunday 11:00am service.

On a Sunday morning we use the premises of Christ Church School (adjoining the church site), which enables us to provide for the children in small groups. Children are brought directly to their group rooms before the service; they may be dropped off any time between 10:45am and 10:55am, so that parents can return to church in time for the start of the 11:00am service. They then walk up to church, in their groups, closely supervised, for the last part of the service (at about 11:50am on a baptism morning or at 12:00 noon on other Sundays).

Group details are currently as follows (exact groupings vary from year to year depending on the numbers in each age group):

Bubbles – ages 3-5
Splash – school years 1 & 2
Xstream – school years 3 & 4
Liquid – school years 5 & 6

Activities on a Sunday morning will vary according to the age of the group, but all sessions are Bible-based. Younger groups will have a Bible story, often followed by a simple discussion of what it means and how they can apply it. They will then have a mixture of games, drama, music, craft, prayer, etc, related to the theme – the youngest group also have some free play time. Older groups may read aloud or dramatise their Bible passages, and their discussion is more in depth – the related activities are also appropriate to their age, including quizzes, role play and silly games in addition to those already listed. The emphasis throughout is on relationship (with God and each other) rather than on learning although learning is also intended to take place.

Once a month we have an "Activity Week". All the children in the older groups (aged 5 – 11) join together for a mixed age activity. This might involve watching a film in the school hall with ice cream and pop corn, or pond-dipping at Rye Meads, or playing basketball and badminton at Wodson Park. Activities are well supervised according to Herts County Council guidelines. A small charge is made per family for activities that involve hire or entry fees.

Each group has a team consisting of two leaders (or couples) and a number of helpers depending on the needs of the group. Leaders work on an alternating basis (often month on, month off) so that they can spend time in church. Many of our young people (14 and older) act as helpers, and a number of them are currently in training for possible leadership – young leaders have to be at least 16 and usually work only with under-8s. All leaders and helpers are screened in accordance with the church’s Child Protection Policy, and follow approved procedures and guidelines.