Context and background
Barton Under Needwood is a large village (around 2500 dwellings) between Burton on Trent and Lichfield. It has an infant, primary and secondary school within the village. The Church is Central and is well resourced as is the village with shops and amenities.
Tatenhill is a small village (around 180 dwelling) but has a new build and growing housing estate outside of the village but within the parish boundary. There is no school. The only facilities are the Pub, The church and Village Hall.
What is working well with children and families?
We run WOW (Worship on Weekdays) in 2 of the villages in this benefice. The longest Running is in the Church at St James’ Barton Under Needwood each Wednesday and the other is in the village hall at Tatenhill each Thursday.
The Barton WOW was one of the first things we started as soon as congregational Singing was allowed after covid. This started in July 21 with Tatenhill WOW in July 22 with one of the Barton WOW Mums as the driving force.
The sessions are free but donations are welcome. We meet from 9.15am and welcome with Tea/Coffee and toast and play and chat in encouraged. At around 10am we come together for Worship which usually lasts around 15 to 20 mins and includes a gathering, confession and absolution, a bible story, a short talk, prayer including the Lord’s prayer. We have a song at the beginning and another towards the end and finish with the Grace and a dismissal. Coffee and cake are served after and we finish around 11am.
At Barton we usually have between 55 to 75 attending most Wednesdays and more in the school holidays, at Tatenhill we have 20 to 25 in attendance. We encourage people from the regular Sunday congregation to attend and have a team to help as welcomers, serving on the counter and as cake bakers, on a rota basis. There are some older people who consider this as their church and don’t attend on Sunday.
During summer holidays we have craft activities for older children and encourage primary age siblings to attend. Most adults who bring children are Mums, but we do have a number of grandparents and sometimes Dads attend.
Feedback from adults affirm the worship as vital to WOW as is the relaxed “no pressure” atmosphere compared to other groups with a set curriculum and outcome requirements. It is a great activity to invite baptism families to and many baptisms have arisen out of WOW.
What have you learned?
It has encouraged some of our regular Sunday morning worshippers, who help on the team, to see this as their Ministry and a way of putting faith into practice.
“Gathering time” at the beginning with chat and refreshments works well and allows people feel comfortable arriving throughout that first 45 mins. So we have used this model for our Monthly Dementia friendly session.
We were conscious of losing contact with families when circumstances changed, such as children starting reception or Mums returning to work after maternity leave, so we have introduced “Sunday Sesh” 4 times a year and offer a WOW style session on a Sunday afternoon 2.30 to 4pm with activities across 3 distinct groups: Pre school, Primary age and secondary. We end with a longer Worship session from 3.30 to 4pm. This has been successful and attracts similar numbers.
Contact
- Revd Andy Simpson - 01283 712359