Families
at
Grace
Church
Whether you are single, a couple, or have children, you are very welcome at Grace Church, and we want to encourage you as you seek to work out your faith in your own context. Recognizing the unique pressures family life can bring, we have a particular concern to support marriages as well as those whose marriages have broken down or who are parenting alone. We also understand that many considering Christianity are not in a traditional family setup, and we want them to feel very welcome too.
We are aware that being a Christian is likely to be harder for the next generation than it is for us. So we have a strong vision to equip our children and young people to live wholeheartedly for Jesus as they grow up. Because we have a good number in our kids groups, newcomers tend to settle quickly with us, even if church is new to them. And we seek to include our children and young people in all we do as a church, so that they can learn from the example of older Christians, appreciate what it means to belong to a church, and feel just as much a part of the family.
Growing young disciples from 0-18 years
Our vision verse for ministry within the church is: "They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor." (Isaiah 61v3). This is what we pray our little saplings will grow to become as they are fed and nourished with God's word.
Mini-kids@4 (pre-school): Meeting during our service, our little ones begin life with teaching from picture Bibles, fun songs and prayers. This follows the Mustard Seeds Bible Tots Curriculum - teaching them the foundations of who God the Creator is, what he has done, and about Jesus as the Son of God.
Younger kids@4 (Reception to year 2) and older kids@4 (years 3-6): Meeting during the service, they cover a four year curriculum twice during their primary years, which takes them all the way through the Bible with materials from Mustard Seeds, and key Christian truths from the New City Catechism Sunday school resources.
Younger SALT (years 7-9) and older SALT (years 10-13): Meeting in a home on tuesday evenings, our young people cover Bible books and topics applied to the varying situations they face during these years. Each term the group also join with the youth groups from Christ Church Haywards Heath and Cuckfield Baptist Church for a special evening called UNITED.
With other local churches our young people also benefit from camps:
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EXPLORE (years 4-8): Staying in dorms at a centre on Ashdown Forest, over 80 young people enjoy games, activties, Bible teaching and worship for 5 days during the May half term.
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Sparkford (years 9-13): Similar to Explore, this is a longer 7/8 day Ventures camp with young people from all over the country, held at a school in Sparkford from the end of July to early August.
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Weekend away (years 9-13): This is a joint youth group weekend with Christ Church Haywards Heath and Cuckfield Baptist Church.
Our Sunday Gathering
Our meeting (service) begins at 4.00pm, with refreshments being served from 3.45pm. It ends around 5.30pm when we have more refreshments.
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Pre-schoolers and Children from reception to year 2 leave after the first section of the service, and enjoy having tea together after their groups finish.
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Years 3-6 stay in a little longer so that they learn to acclimatize to church, leaving before the sermon.
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We want to help those of secondary school age make their faith their own and be fully prepared to continue with Christ when they leave home. Young people from year 7-13 therefore remain throughout the meeting, and we ensure that the songs, prayers and talk engage this group as well as those of us who are older.
Of course, we are more than happy if parents wish to keep their children in with them, and want no-one to stay away because they are worried about their child being disruptive. And if you are breastfeeding it is easy to go into the foyee to do that during the service and still hear what's going on.
Click here for a very brief guide to how parents can teach their kids the faith.