During term time we take children from 0-3 years old (during holidays we take 0-5 years) for all or part of the service depending on parents’ needs. Parents are always welcome to stay with their child in crèche if they wish, but really the aim of the crèche is to provide a safe, appropriate environment for young children so that their parents can leave them and enjoy the church service without distractions! We will, however, always come into the service and find a parent if we feel their child is too unsettled at being taken away from them.

We have structured the crèche so that as children arrive they are encouraged simply to enjoy playing with the wide range of toys we are blesses to have available. About 40 minutes into the service we gather together for a short bible story, songs, prayer and related “crafty” activity. We believe that even at a young age, children can be encouraged to start to learn about the wonderful truths of the bible. Our bible stories are very short though, with lots of actions to engage even the youngest of children!

The crèche team consists of four “team leaders” who rotate on a fortnightly basis to cover both services, together with a team of over twenty helpers who rotate on a 4-6 weekly basis to support the team leaders. The system ensures that on any week children should always be familiar with at least one of the leaders and we hope this makes parents feel more comfortable about leaving their children.

In terms of the formalities we try to ensure each new child who attends crèche is registered so we have some basic details about them and each week we take a register of the children in our care. All our volunteers are police checked and they are all lovely too!

We see our work in the crèche as an important ministry; these children are gifts from God and they are the future generation of Christians so we believe our ministry to them is the first part of their Christian journey. An exciting prospect.