Youth and Children

Jesus told his disciples to "Let the children come" to him.

At St Francis, we heartily welcome our younger church goers, so please be reassured that we don’t expect toddlers to sit still in silence! During services, feel free to sit anywhere you like.

The Children’s Chapel can be used as a break area for the youngest children if you feel the need to use it. A selection of books and colouring is available there. Please feel free to move in and out as you need. Alternatively, activity bags with books, toys and colouring are handed out by the Welcoming Team for use in the pews during services. Families can take an active part in the service from the Children's chapel and a screen shows an image of areas in the service which cannot be seen directly.

Youth and Children’s Church (Sunday School) runs during our Sunday 9.15 am service, with different groups to cater for ages 2 ½ to 16 years (one group for all ages during school holidays). A typical session might include a craft activity, an interactive bible story and discussion time, but activities are age appropriate. We also help the children prepare for special annual events such as a Nativity play.

Wild Church offers themed creative crafts after a short informal interactive service on the first Sunday of every month. Please click here for more information.

Frankie’s Garden, our play area in the church grounds, has swings, a slide, a toy train and more. It is open for the whole community to use throughout the week, and is used by families during coffee on a Sunday morning after the service.

Our outreach programme for children from local primary schools includes workshops three times a year, regularly attended by more than 300 children. Visit our Weekday Children's Activities page to learn more.