Children and Youth
We love to welcome children and provide a Children's Corner, where young children can be with their parents during the service until they feel happy enough to join Lighthouse. Our church operates a "Safe to Grow" policy, and all of our children's workers are DBS checked.
Lighthouse runs during the morning services, after a short time of worship with the church family, during which we also celebrate communion all together twice a month. During Lighthouse, the children have their own programme of activities, starting with prayer, a chat with refreshments, interactive stories, games, songs and crafts. There are several “Lighthouse Keepers” and we operate Lighthouse during normal school term times, which enables the session content to remain fresh, but also gives the Lighthouse Keepers and the children a break from each other, as well as allowing both the Lighthouse Keepers and the children to be regularly included in the wider church services. Lighthouse operates to encourage the children to develop their understanding of and have a relationship with God, through prayer, worship and hearing His Word in an age appropriate way, and to think about and apply this within their lives today. The session content is found from many different sources, various lesson publications and the internet.
Lots of singing, games, sticking, colouring, cutting, reading & learning Bible verses, viewing relevant video clips and cartoons, discussions and prayers. The children have been bringing prayers that they have written during the week so we can start each session with their own prayers. We thank God for our children, for enabling us to provide teaching and a safe environment in which to do it. What a blessing God gives to both the children and the Lighthouse Keepers during this work. It would be great if there were more children and helpers, but as ever we continue to rely solely on God and His future plans for Lighthouse. Please continue to pray for the children, the leaders and helpers, and the work in Lighthouse.
The Pre-School is run in two parts – The Pre-School caters for children aged between 2 and 5 years and operates Monday to Thursday, 9am - 4pm and Fridays 9am - 1pm. The Toddler Group meets in the upstairs hall on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday mornings 9.30am - 11.30am. For more information, check out the Bideford Baptist Pre-School website. http://www.bidefordbaptistpreschool.co.uk/ |