I divided them into two groups. We were on the ground floor of our Junior Church building, and I was leading Bubbles. It had come to this. Splash were making quite a bit of noise upstairs, perhaps some discipline issues there, but we soon settled down nicely in Bubbles. Everyone drew around their hands, then coloured them in, some using glitter pens but others settling for a dependable felt tip. When they had finished, I asked them to write their name in the corner – it’s nice not to lose your work when you run back into the Abbey. We sang ‘Jesus is the Son of God’ to the tune of ‘London Bridge is falling down’ and we then did a really, really big shout – it’s the Bubbles song after all; yay! I checked that nobody needed the toilet, and then we talked about the Antichrist.
Last Sunday at 4pm we had a sort of back to front Sunday. At the break in our service instead of the Junior Church & Trax going out into groups and
It was a chance for us ‘grown-ups’ to see a little of what it is like being a child in our church community. It was also a chance for us to say to our young people that you really, really matter, you are church; and we are committed to making Junior Church the best bit of your week.
The festival of noise and wheels that is about to hit the abbey (Malmesbury Abbey Skate) also functions on that level. Across the Church of England 48% of Anglican churches have fewer than 5 young people attending. It is crucial that the abbey says again and again to the children and young people of our community that this Abbey is yours, your culture is welcome, and the faith that you’ll find at the heart of it will shape your life and transform your future.
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