Families

  

          Palm Sunday Worship for all March 24th 10.30am

               

Welcome

Do bring your family to join with us on Sunday mornings, or to our fortnightly Families Church on Saturdays aimed at babes to age 9 and their relatives, or to one of our social events for families. Many young families also attend our Baby Group and Toddler Group. Details of regular events below - we look forward to meeting you. 

You can contact our Community and Families worker, Wendy on 07904 517384 or wendy.lidgate@outlook.com     

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Saturday Families Church 

Our relaxed Saturday morning welcomes families  for playtime, activities and refreshments and includes a bible story, Christian songs and child-friendly ways of praying. We are meeting twice a month in 2024 on the 1st and 3rd Saturday between 10:30am and 12:15. We have a broad age-range from babies and toddlers to age 9, parents and grandparents and enjoy using the garden in summertime. All children must be accompanied by an adult.

Contact: Wendy.lidgate@outlook.com  tel 07904 517384

Sunday mornings – Young People's Church fortnightly and monthly FamilyWorship@10

Our Young People's Church caters for ages 5 to 14 on the first and third Sunday each month, and younger children may join in with parental support. Toddlers may play with their parents in the Childrens’ Corner in church.

Young People's Church meets twice a month. We include a bible story and discussion using material from Roots ecumenical resources, and craft, prayer, games or toys. We also join with the main congregation for some of the worship.There are usually between 3 and 8 young people with two leaders, and parents may stay with young children who are settling in. The age range of our group fluctuates depending on families' busy diaries, but over time all the youngsters make friends. It's a good contrast to school - a small group with older and younger ones who help each other to have fun! If your child has some particular needs, please have a chat with Wendy and we will try and accommodate.

We also welcome families to occasional All Age Worship with the whole congregation, in which some of young people usually take part.

Each month we also enjoy FamilyWorship@10, a shorter 40 minutes service commencing at 10am with content geared for the children and activities on tables for those who like to be doing something as well. Everyone is welcome at FamilyWorship@10, and afterwards there are refreshments, and activities for families to continue socialising in the adjacent hall, whilst the church holds a traditional service from 11am. Often the garden will be open for play. During 2024, FamilyWorship@10 is being held monthly on the 2nd Sunday each month - next dates: March 10th, April 14th, May 12th. 

And we encourage children to join in special worship events such as Harvest, Carols by Candlelight and our Young Families’ Christmas Special. Our Christmas Special is geared for ages 0 to 7 with older siblings welcome. On Remembrance Sunday we encourage families to take part in the town centre event on Howardsgate. 

Friday evenings for Families

We often host an event for families on a Friday evening starting 6pm or 6.30pm, including Bible Heroes, Gamesnights and Filmnights. Bible Heroes is an opportunity for a small group of parents and children to engage with a Bible character, including bible reading, games and crafts and discussion in a fun atmosphere - in spring 2024 we are learning stories from the book of Daniel.  Gamesnights are outdoors when possible, else indoors with team challenges and traditional games like Jenga and Bingo. And most terms we show a family film - recently 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe', and 'The Star' and share pizza and hotdogs.  Coming up: Family Gamesnight Feb 23rd & March 22nd; Bibleheroes March 8th. 

Baby Group

We are open every Wednesday afternoon during term-time (not closed during halfterm), and occasional weeks during school holidays for a drop-in for babies and parents from 1.30pm to 3.30pm.  Free parking in our adjacent carpark (contact Wendy to get the code).  This is a friendly multi-cultural group available to pregnant women and mums and dads with babies up until they are toddling. A few people manage to get along the third week after birth but for most it takes a few weeks to start getting out and about. Come for refreshments and a chat, playtime for your baby, and our short singing session.  If needed, you can bring an older child along too and we will find them some toys. It’s usual for people to feed their baby during the sessions – breast or bottle. There is no religious content in this session, which is open to people of all faiths and none. Donation suggested £2 per family. To check on dates, visit our facebook page WGC Baby Group.

Contact: wendy.lidgate@outlook.com.   07904 517384

Our Baby Group Facebook feed

https://www.facebook.com/wgcbabygroup

Chatter and Tots 

Our Toddler Group meets on Thursday mornings at 9.30 until 11.15 for children aged 0 to 3 with their carers - parents and grandparents and foster carers all welcome. ( We have a separate group for paid childminders - please call 07904 517384 to enquire).  We have no booking system* – just turn up, first come first served and we will limit numbers to 50 people in the room, usual attendance is 12 to 15 families.  A chance for the toddlers to play followed by singing. Suggested donation of £2 per family.  There is a counter where you can make hot and cold drinks and biscuits are served to children at the end of the circle time. Our carpark usually has spaces and there is an access code we can give you on your first visit. Please park your buggy in the lobby on the way in. Open to people of all faiths and none, we tell the story of Christmas and Easter each year. This group is closed during school holidays, but we usually organise some summer playdates in the garden. Contact: wendy.lidgate@outlook.com 

(*Why don’t we operate a booking system? Well partly because we would struggle to support the administration of it, and partly because we believe it would favour families with a predetermined schedule – and many families are needing to opt in at short notice as their circumstances change (shift working, illness etc). Fortunately we are right in WGC town centre by the gardens so in the unlikely event that you arrive to find the door already closed we hope you will find something else to do!)