CHILDREN
It is often said that 'children are the Church of the future', but here at St Mary's we believe that - more importantly - chidren are the Church of today! We welcome children and young people of all ages to all aspects of our church life including our worship.
We do recognise, though, that church worship can be 'boring' for young folk and keeping children entertained whilst parents or guardians try to worship is no mean feat. Whilst we don't believe in excluding any child from any of our services, we do try to cater for their needs by providing an experience of church which may well be better suited to their particular needs.
CRÈCHE
We offer a crèche service for parents or guardians with very young children , but least one parent / guardian must stay with the child.
JUNIOR CHURCH
For children a little older, our Junior Church is very popular. Here children are taught from the Bible following the same theme and readings as the adults. The way we teach is interactive, using the best of modern techniques and resources. For the first part of the service the children enjoy their own space in our Junior Church room, and about half way through the service the children are invited back into the main body of the church and the priest invites them to the front to share with the adults what they have been doing. The children then remain in church for Holy Communion.
RAINBOWS
Rainbows meet on Wednesdays from 5pm 6pm in the church hall. They are the 9th Ilford (St Mary's) unit and the Guiders are Penny Wallace and Lauretta Dike.
Rainbows are the youngest members of the Guiding family and we welcome girls from 5 to 7 years. We meet during school term time and offer a range of indoor and outdoor activities for the girls to have fun with and to develop as an individual. There is a weekly charge to cover materials for activities of £1 this also covers membership insurance.
BROWNIES
Once a girl is 7 years she can move on to, or start as new member, at Brownies. The 9th Ilford (St Mary’s) Brownies are also run by Penny Wallace on Tuesday nights in term time from 6 to 7.30pm.
Brownies have many adventures both at the meeting place and also out and about. Penny tries to include a unit holiday each year when they go away as a pack to a Brownie house owned by the Guide association. Brownie subscriptions are £13 per term.
CHILD PROTECTION
The protection of our children from those who would wish to cause them harm is at the forefront of all our minds these days. At St Mary's we are committed to providing a safe environment for your child.
All of our children's workers, clergy and church officers have (where appropriate) been screened and checked by the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) at Enhanced Level, and received clearance from the Child Protection department of the Diocese of Chelmsford to work with children. St Mary's PCC has adopted and works closely with the recommendations for the protection of children as set out in the House of Bishops' policy document 'Protecting all God's Children'.
The Child Protection Officer for St Mary' is Mrs Janice Houghton. She is appointed by the PCC to work with the Parish Priest in ensuring that the highest standards of child protection are met at all times. Along with the Parish Priest, Janice will be happy to answer your questions about child protection. Should you have any child protection concerns please contact either of these people in the first instance via the CONTACTS page of this website.
Our Child Protection Policy can be downloaded HERE
Contact
The Parish Office
26 South Park Road
ILFORD
IG1 1SS
020 8478 0546