Families
Family Filmnight Friday March 10th 6pm til 8.30pm showing Miracle Maker
All age Worship for Palm Sunday April 2nd at 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 held about four times a year. 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 2023 on the 1st and 3rd Saturday in term time between 10:30am and 12:15. We usually hold one session in August too. 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
Our Young People's Church caters for ages 5 to 14 on the first and third Sunday each month, and toddlers may play with their parents in the Childrens’ Corner in church.
Young People's Church meets twice a month in the garden or in the Lower Hall depending on the weather. We include a bible story and discussion using material from Roots ecumenical resources, and craft, prayer, games or toys. There are usually between 3 and 8 children with two leaders, and parents are encouraged to stay with children who are settling in. We also join with the main congregation for some of the worship. 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, in which some of young people usually take part, and to FamilyWorship@10.30, a shorter 40 minutes service with content geared for ages 6 to 10, activities for families on tables. Everyone is welcome including Spiko the Monkey puppet with his theological questions. Often the garden will be open afterwards for play and refreshments. During 2023, FamilyWorship is being held monthly on the 2nd Sunday in the Lower Hall - next dates, March 12th and May 14th.
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.
Baby Group - in 2023 this is running as usual
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
Chatter and Tots – in 2023 running as usual
Our thriving 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 (bring your own cup if possible) 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 include a christian song every week and tell the story of Christmas and Easter each year. This group is closed during school holidays. Contact: wendy.lidgate@outlook.com if you have questions.
This year our child-minders are organising their own session on Mondays to free up Thursday places for families, and if you want to contact the child-minders, Wendy can put you in touch.
(*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 if you arrive to find the door already closed we hope you will find something else to do, but in 2023 we think it unlikely the group will be full.)