The Revd Michael Moore from St Mary’s Church in Peterborough has seen his congregation more than double over the time he has been in post and the average age is just 43. 18% are over 70, whilst 31% are under 20, including 15% under age 10, bucking the national trend for older and declining church attendance.
But Michael says it’s not about doing anything special, ‘its all bog standard Church of England stuff’ he says. ‘I started by changing the name of our services. Instead of Holy Communion, we have Family Communion, as we are all one family with God as our Father, and we are all brothers and sisters in Christ’. This made church inclusive even to those who didn’t have children, and moved the focus from the age of the people attending to the sense of community it engenders.
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When children’s church join the full service once a month, they are fully involved doing the readings and serving. They are readers, crucifers, or servers, ‘they do everything’ he says. There is even a waiting list for those who want to help. It’s about getting them involved in a normal service – not doing something different for them but making sure they feel part of what is going on.
Children’s church has more than 35 children attending every week and they have no paid staff. Although this may cause a last minute call for some extra helpers, the children are fully supported, and most importantly loved, by a small team of volunteer helpers, and some parents being asked to stay to help out.
Just after communion the children share what they have been doing, so even when they are not in the full service they are fully included. When notices take place, Michael noticed that the children were getting bored, so they now give out a packet of sweets to each child afterwards and it helps them to feel that they are loved and cared for.
Michael and his PCC gained permission to give Communion before Confirmation some time ago and again Michael feels this is an important part of including all in the church family. He talks to the children and their families about what communion means and says ‘if Jesus was giving the bread out and a child reached out to receive, I can’t imagine Him saying “wait another ten years”. They need to feel part of it’.
When it comes to the transition to children over the age of ten Michael says the important focus needs to be on engagement. They may be too old to want to be involved in the childrens activities, but there is still something for them. It’s making them part of the service, it’s not about providing something for them, it’s about getting them involved and saying church is for them too.
In addition, St Mary’s runs a youth club every month on a Saturday morning which is part food, part games and craft and part Christian talk. Again, Michael says its ‘nothing special, really silly stuff’, with their favourite activities for both boys and girls including sticking small beads on cards and skipping! The youth club is a phone free zone providing crucial digital free time for this age group to enjoy spending time together. ‘It’s not clever, it’s just letting the children know they are loved’.
Michael and the team focus on simple things like praying with them when they are approaching exams or noticing when they are feeling down and reminding them that God loves them, ‘because the world often doesn’t love children, especially teens, so we need to let them know that God does’ Michael says.
In the early years, there were some people who complained about the noise of the children, and so Michael explained how special it was to have children in church as some churches weren’t lucky enough to have any children. He also refocuses the conversation on those adults who may talk through communion or at other points in the service, showing that we all experience and relate to the liturgy differently. What he has noticed is that when it comes to a quiet time of reflection most children sense it and will be quiet and engage.
‘It takes time’, says Michael ‘but the focus has been on family since day 1, and it does make all the difference’.