On a Sunday morning during worship we have three different age groups set up so our children can receive God's message in a way that they can understand.

Crèche: This group is for anybody three years old and under. This is held throughout the service every week. A small soundproof room just off to the left of the main worship area has toys and simple activities for the children to do while the accompanying parents can still listen to the service through the sound system projected into the room. Wendy, one of our Church Counsellors is usually to hand to support so that parents can enjoy worship, and children can be entertained!

 

Junior Church: For anyone in the 4-10 age group. We follow and adapt the "Splash" series from Scripture Union. This includes interactive ways of bringing God's word to life; worksheets to do, songs to sing, drama to act out, and discussions on how Jesus is in our everyday life. Jenny, Amy, Claudine and a group of others committed workers facilitate this group, which is always designed to be fun and relevant.

A RAP poem, made during Junior Church by one of our own young people . . .

I have something to share with our large world That goes like this:

Accepting a messenger is good as good,
And being God’s messenger is like sharing each other’s food.
Accepting someone’s help is as good as gold,
You know what to do, and do what you’re told.
It’s better to start with something small
Than to start with nothing, nothing at all.

Oke Obiunewbi. Thank you, Oke!

A Couple of Thoughts to Follow Oke’s Poem . . .

“It’s better to start with something small”… In the face of so much need in the world, as brought to our attention by the Make Poverty History campaign and the sad story reported in “Overseas News” this month, it is tempting to think, “What on earth can I do? The problems are just too great.” But during our Church Forum on 26th June we were introduced to a new thought: “If you think you’re too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito”!

That’s a good joke, of course, and a vivid illustration of how being small doesn’t stop us affecting larger matters. But perhaps more profound was a story in a recent issue of “Sunday Link”, which went something like this: “A man walking along a windswept beach saw a little girl picking up stranded starfish and throwing them back into the sea so that they would not dry out and die. He looked at the miles of coastline and thought of all the thousands of starfish and other creatures stranded on the beach, and said to the girl ‘You can’t pick up all the creatures you see here. What difference do you think you can possibly make by throwing some back into the sea?’ The little girl looked at the starfish in her hand and threw it into the water as hard as she could. ‘It will make all the difference to that one,’ she said.”

We CAN all do something, and make a difference. Give? Work? Write? Think what YOU could do.

Family Service: The first Sunday of the month is Family Service. This is designed to contain elements suitable for all ages, with a talk assessable to most listeners. It is always our desire to be multi-sensual, inter-active, multi-media and fun, as well as challenging and life-changing! (God help us!)

The Family Around the Table: At Leytonstone United Free Church we believe that the Table of the Lord is open to all, and at Christ's invitation we come and are fed. To facilitate this, there are always grapes on the communion table for those who feel unable to take of the Bread and Wine. The grapes represent the unfermented fruit of the vine, not yet down-trodden by the feet of those who would desire to make them into something else, yet full of potential and a vital part of life of the vine - like our children to our church! Small children and babies are invited to the table to receive a prayer of blessing.

Junior Church Leader and Helper Rota: To find out who is leading each Junior Church session, click here.  If you would like to be involved in LUFC's youth work or want to know more about what's going on, click here. There are regular meetings celebrating what is good, adressing the challenges of what could be improved and discussing new initiatives.