Young People
We love children and young people at St Mary’s! Children of all ages are always welcome at all our services, and we want parents to feel comfortable and confident in bringing children to church. Worship as a whole community is integral to life at St Mary’s and we pursue our vision of Everyone Becoming More Like Jesus.
Below are details of some of our activities for children and young people.
Junior Church
As part of our 10am Communion services on the 1st and 3rd Sundays of each month during school term, we offer Junior Church where children worship separately to adults. Activities are aimed at 3-12 year olds but older children are welcome to join the fun as part of the team. Parents/carers don't attend the session, so children need to be comfortable with attending by themselves and must be toilet-trained. Younger children stay in church with their parent/carer and can use the Crèche (see below).
Children are registered for Junior Church as families arrive in church but remain with their families until those going to Junior Church are called to the front of church. The children are then led out to the Millennium Hall, and are collected from the hall after the service ends. Do stay for coffee and a chat after the service, if you are able.
All Age Services
Our 10am services on 2nd and 4th Sundays of each month are all age services where all ages worship together in the church.
All Age Parade services typically take place on the 2nd Sundays of each month and are attended by the uniformed organisations - Rainbows, Brownies, Guides, Beavers, Cubs and Scouts. If your child is part of a uniformed organisation then please encourage them to wear their uniform and take part in the parade.
Crèche
In all our 10am services we provide an unsupervised Crèche space at the back of church to give little ones more flexibility to move and play as they join in with our worship. Please feel free to take your babies and toddlers to this area if this would be helpful to you. We are very happy to have children of all ages worship with us and enjoy the spontaneous contributions that they make.
Youth Activities
Children in Year 6 and above are welcome to join the Youth Hub which meets on some Sunday evenings in the Millennium Hall. Activities include: table tennis, badminton, table pool, discussion, socialising and refreshments. We also welcome interest from children aged 10 or above who would like to explore Confirmation.
A number of young people are involved in helping lead our Sunday worship. Some of the different ways include serving at Communion, singing in the choir, reading, leading prayers, joining the welcome team or helping at Junior Church.
Please email parishoffice@stmarysosterley.org.uk to receive further information about all our youth activities.
St Mary's Toddler Time
Babies and pre-school children and their parents or carers are welcome on Thursday mornings during term time for Toddler Time in the Millennium Hall . Doors open at 9.30am for free play followed by snack time around 10.30am.
Youth Alpha
We are launching Youth Alpha on 4 May 2025, held at St Mary's in collaboration with St John's Church, Isleworth. The course will run from 4-6pm on Sundays in May and June, and is an interactive look at life's big questions and the Christian faith.