Adel St John the Baptist Church

Junior Church

Introduction Junior Church is run for boys and girls aged between 2 and 15. We meet at The Old Stables - the Church Hall - before the 10am service starts and join the main congregation in the Church at about 10:30. Junior Church is split into five age groups and some of them present their work to the rest of the congregation when they rejoin the service.

Junior Church has been running since Spring 2001 and has a large, engaged and interested pool of adult helpers. The 'teaching' is offered by a group of adults who include 'current' parents as well as other members of the congregation who engage with this important area of nurture of our children. The format is based on Susan Sayers' excellent resource called Living Stones. This uses the Revised Common Lectionary as a guide and follows the same three year cycle that the adults follow in the main church.

Creche For the youngest ones we offer a safe, warm environment where they can play and make as much noise as they want! There is a carpet where there are toys to play with and books to read, or they can see if they can 'join in' with the older group and do some colouring in, or other activity based play

Pebbles For ages 2-6. For the smallest ones there are the toys to play with on a carpet and colouring in, but for those a little older, we try and encourage then to create and think about an aspect of God or the church in an accessible way. The older children in this group often present back to the congregation a prayer, reading, song or action.

We aim to provide an environment where the care, good humour and friendliness of the people around them will help them realise how much God loves them and enable them to develop trust - the beginning of faith.

Rocks For ages 7-10. We challenge the Rocks with bible passages so that they can relate the readings to the activity of the day. The children are encouraged to pray during the week, using the suggestions on their worksheets. These can be collected into a personal prayer book. These children are also encouraged to actively think about God's world and their part in it.

Boulders For ages 11-13 years. This is an important age for the next generation of church activity and we try to create a path between the children's ministry and what the adults do in the church. This is a forum for questions and discussion, in an atmosphere which is accepting and willing to listen.

The factfiles on each week's worksheet can be collected into a book so that the course becomes a reference manual. It can be used as an on-going course for Confirmation or preparation for Communion. The Boulders material provides a transitional course from separate ministry for children to full participation in the service with adults.

Quarries For the teenagers, we try and offer some more challenge and thought about what it is to be a Christian and what we are trying to get to grips with in the main church this week. To avoid self-concious teenagers standing up in front of the congregation, we usually let them off having to stand on the chancel step!