We invited half a dozen families from outside the church who would provide us with honest feedback as the sort of people who might (hopefully will) come along to the weekly service when it starts in September.
We ran the service exactly as we plan to, allowing us to see how it works and learn from the trial. We started at 1.15pm; welcoming families as they arrived, inviting the kids to play with the toys or partake in the craft project and offering the adults a hot drink. After an hour of play and craft we tidied up and gave the kids drink and snack; and today, as a thanks for coming to the trial, a slice of the cake I made.
We then gathered at the front of church in a circle for a few songs, a bible story (today of Noah's Ark), a brief talk on the story and an opportunity for the kids to show their craft, prayers and a final song or two. This took us upto the time when parents needed to start heading off to collect older children from school, as we had planned.
Those of us planning and leading the session were pleased with how it went and encouraged by the fact that parents said they'd love to come in September when we start up properly. We also learned a few things; about the layout of the church and provision of hot drinks, the need for a few more older kids' toys and the need to encourage our invaluable granny helpers to get more involved with the families themselves.
All in all it was a fantastic afternoon; we look forward to making it an every monday provision at St Nics for the entire community. If you'd like to come then just remember it's at 1.15pm Mondays from 5th September.
don't forget....don't be a dinosaur.....
3 comments:
excellent!
sounds really positive - a great initiative!
Sounds great fun!
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