Children & Youth
- for Parents
We hope that you will find Christ Church a warm and friendly place for you and your family. We aim to provide a variety of services and facilities to support you in bringing up your children, belonging to the Christ Church family and journeying in faith together, growing together and discovering the difference that faith makes.
Creche
To help parents with young children who get restless during the services we have provided seating in the Rotunda with a sound and visual link to the service. There is also a crèche provided in the Foyer with toys suitable for younger children and adults to help or supervise (2nd, 3rd & 4th Sundays). We also have proper baby-changing facilities for use by all with young children.
Children
Junior Church is for those aged 3 to 11 years and has its own activities on the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th Sundays of each month. Everyone begins in Church at 10am, with the children leaving the adults for their own teaching and worship at about 10.10am. They explore a wide variety of themes and express their friendship with Jesus through craft, prayer, storytelling, games, singing and sometimes eating! They return to join their families for Holy Communion.
The first Sunday of each month is an all-age Family Service which lasts for about an hour and takes into account all ages in its music and activities.
There are a number of Festival services through the year very suitable for younger children, including Easter, Harvest Festival, Advent and Nativity and Crib Services at Christmas. Some of these are Family Services and some are Family Holy Communion Services.
Children's Events
We run a special social event each term for Junior Church age children. In the Spring term we have a children’s Film Night, in the Summer Term a Friday Night Fun & Games Evening and in the Autumn Term an All Saints’ Eve Party. Regular social events punctuate Christ Church’s year; events including Sunday Lunches, walks and BBQs, Look out for details in the Link.
School Prayer Groups
We support our village schools by praying for them. Prayers for the two Carrington Schools take place on the first Thursday of each month at 9.10am and prayers for Juniper Hill School take place on the first Monday in the month at 9.30am.
Youth
SWAMP is for school years 7-9 and Re:Vitalise is for school years 10+. Both meet from 9:30am on 2nd, 3rd and 4th in the Upper Room for breakfast. They meet during the 10:00am service for their own activities and teaching and then join ‘Adult Church’ for Communion. Some of the youth assist in crèche and Junior Church, and others are involved in the worship Group or other ways of serving. TMoN (The Middle of Nowhere) meets on alternate Friday evenings, from 7.45pm to 10.00pm and isfor those aged 14+. The youth also run a Puppet Theatre (No Strings Atached) which contributes to children’s activities and to church services.
BBeebies
BBB’s is our pre-school Toddler Group and meets every Monday afternoon from 1.30pm to 3.00pm during term time. There are plenty of toys, large and small, with games and activities, songs and fun. Refreshments are provided. At the end of the Christmas and Easter terms there are short services in Church, as well as a short service for Harvest. There is also a Christmas party and one at the end of the school year in July. The cost is just £1.00.
Baptism
Having a child baptised is a very special and happy occasion but it is more than a reason for a celebration party! It is a service of promises and commitment to see your child grow in the Christian faith, nurtured and supported by parents, godparents and the Church. It is about beginning a journey of faith that will hopefully lead to your child being able to confirm for themselves what you are choosing to do for them in baptism.
Baptisms take place on a Sunday, often in the 10am Family service on the first Sunday of each month and occasionally at other times for Church or family reasons.
We encourage parents to visit the Church on one or more Sundays before the baptism is to take place and will arrange a preparation evening to help them with the vows and promises. In addition we highly recommend the Alpha Course as a way of exploring the basics of the Christian faith.
An alternative service, which leaves open the possibility of baptism later, is a Service of Thanksgiving, where the birth of your child is celebrated and your child welcomed and prayed for.
For more more details on baptism please see the information on 'Community - Baptisms' and please contact the Church Office.
Child Protection
Christ Church adheres to an agreed Child Protection Policy and both Government and Diocesan guidelines concerning safe practice. We are committed to the welfare, nurture and safety of children. Those who work with children hold Enhanced Criminal Record Bureau Disclosures.
Lighthouse
Lighthouse is a holiday week for children between the ages of 4 and 11, run by Christians from local churches. Lighthouse High Wycombe is held at the Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe, and Lighthouse Hazlemere at Sir William Ramsey School, Hazlemere. Both usually run during the first week of the school summer holidays, with over 700 children at each site. Other Lighthouse events run in other towns and villages locally.
Faith at Home
I wonder if this scenario sounds familiar to you?
Barney (age 4) 'Mummy, do you think Adam and Eve had belly buttons?'
Mummy (busy cooking the dinner) 'Um, well, I don't know darling, why?'
Barney 'Christie says that you get your belly button when you're born but Adam and Eve weren't born were they?'
Mummy (pasta now boiling over whilst the garlic bread smolders gently in the oven!) 'Er, probably, well I mean no, um, why were you talking to Christie about belly buttons?!'
Barney 'I wasn't, I was talking to her about being born - where do babies come from anyway?'
We all want our children to come to a point where their faith is the most important thing to them - just as ours is for us. We want them to grow up with Jesus as a best friend and knowing that the Bible can serve as a guide book through their whole life. The problem is that to get to this point we must travel through all the hard and awkward questions, we must be living and discussing our faith 24-7 at home, not simply relying on a quick dash through a topic on a Sunday morning.
'Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.'
Proverbs 22:6
'These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.'
Deuteronomy 6:6-7
Children will always ask awkward questions and usually choose to ask them at really inappropriate times, just like the example above, this is all part of their natural inquisitve approach to life - a quality that we should look on as a blessing rather than a burden as it presents us with a golden opportunity to introduce them early on to the wonderful truth of God. No-one has all the answers to how this should be done but you can find some excellent advice from our Diocesan Children's Adviser, Yvonne Morris by clicking the link below:
Dealing with Difficult Questions
There are also several published resources available for exploring faith at home ranging from children's Bible notes to family table discussion topics. If you are interested in finding out more about what is available please contact Ellie Wartew, our Director of Children's Ministry.