CHILDREN’S MINISTRY

A Children’s Liturgy is held each Sunday at the 9am Mass.  The Liturgy is currently run by a number of women in our Parish on a roster basis.  The children are welcomed to the altar after the first prayers of the Mass and then are led to the Church Hall.  We then read the Gospel in a form easily understood by the children.  The aim of the liturgy is to explain the message of the Gospel and to stimulate involvement from the children so that they can relate to their own lives.  We do this through role plays, discussion, making prayers, song and other activities.  We are only out of the Church for about 20 minutes, returning the children to their families just before Offertory.

Our liturgies during Advent, leading to Christmas, and Lent, leading to Easter, are very special where the team try to instil the messages of Jesus through our Liturgy.  We run a Children’s Mass during the year plus the Children’s Christmas Mass.  At these masses, the children sit at the front of the Church, they do all the readings, the Prayers of the Faithful, the music is targeted to their age group and they process in and out of the Church with the Priest.  It is important that the children see the Church as  a safe place where their involvement is welcomed.  They are asked to sit at the front, listen up, sing along and be involved!  Other initiatives include the Children’s Stations of the Cross on Good Friday.  This is held outside the Church and the children walk from station to station either in quiet prayer or are involved in the readings.