Everyone becoming more like Jesus
We have a thriving children’s ministry at St Mary’s, with activities on Sundays and during the week. Worship as a whole community is integral to life at St Mary’s and we pursue our vision of Everyone Becoming More Like Jesus.
We are passionate about helping different generations to work and grow together in mission and ministry. We actively seek to encourage children’s participation in the whole faith community and to enable the adult church community to own and support the children’s ministry in a variety of ways.
Below are details of our regular activities. Seasonal activities can be found on the What’s On page.
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. No parents or carers are able to join the session, so children need to be comfortable with attending by themselves and must be toilet-trained. Younger children are very welcome to stay in church with their parent/carer and make use of the unsupervised Crèche space at (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. (Please could an adult accompany any 3 or 4 year olds.) The children are then led out to our main church hall – the Millennium Hall. Children are collected from the hall after the service ends. Please retain your collection ticket and follow the path to the right of the church after the service to collect your child(ren). Do stay for coffee and a chat, if you are able.
For more information about Junior Church please email: juniorchurchadmin@stmarysosterley.org.uk
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.
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.
Children in Year 5 or 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.
Babies and pre-school children and their parents or carers are welcome on Thursday mornings during term time for Jump for Joy in the Centenary Hall behind the church for a fun time of Bible stories, songs and activities. Doors open at 9.30am with a Bible story at 10am followed by snack time. Lots of fun to be had and everyone is welcome.