Children and Young people
Children and young people are a very important part of the St Mark’s Church Family.
We want to help them to experience God’s love for them and to discover more about what He is like. So there are lots of opportunities for them to meet together to do this and, at the same time, to make new friends.
Sunday Services
There are activities for children at our main Sunday morning services unless they are all age services:
9am Service: Followers for those between approximately 4 and 11, T412 for those aged 12 and over on the second Sunday of the month. (Not the 3rd Sunday of the month, as it's an all age service)
10:30am Service: Bouncies for 3-5 year olds, Generators for 5-11 years, and T4.12 for those aged 12 and over. (Not the 1st Sunday of the month, as it's an all age service)
There is a crèche area in church for toddlers up to 3 years old, where parents can spend time with their children during services. The area has various toys and books.
Smarks
On a Wednesday afternoon from 1.30-3pm we have a group in the church hall for parents/carers and under 5's called Smarks. There are lots of toys for the children to play with and refreshments. We continue to meet during the school holidays, unless it holiday club is on.
If you would like to bring your young children along to SMarks, you are very welcome to come and join us even if you have no connection with the Church Family. The entrance to the hall is around the back of the church.
We aim to run a holiday club during the main school holidays where we do a range of creative activities and aim to have fun too!
We regularly make use of the church grounds for children's activities. December 2010 saw lots of snow and an opportunity too good to miss! We also like to use the space in better weather, especially at our holiday clubs.
Christmas Eve sees a Christingle Service at 4pm which includes making a Christingle to take home.
Good Friday sees a Hot Cross Bun Service to explore the Easter story and to eat Hot Cross Buns.
You can see a selection of pictures from our activities by clicking here.
You can read about the work with children and young people in our monthly magazine, Re.Marks.
For more information contact
Child Protection policy
St Mark’s adheres to the Rochester Diocesan child protection policy which includes the use of Criminal Records Bureau checks on all volunteers working with under-18s. Our Parish Children's Representatives are Louise Warner and Debbie Marsden.