Children & Young People

At Great Ayton Methodist Church we see children as a vital part of the church family. We don’t regard them as ‘tomorrow’s church’, rather as the church of today and the leaders of tomorrow. We work with children and young people of all ages from the church and local community.

We aim to show young people and their families God’s love, help them get to know Jesus and to be a support for them as they grow up. We do this by providing groups and activities, through individual work and practical help.

 A wide range of activities and events take place on a weekly basis or throughout the year. These include:

• Creche facilities during the 10:30 am service on a Sunday
• Kings Kids, for children aged from 3 to 11, junior church activities during the 10:30 service
• J Time on Tuesday afternoons in school time (in conjunction with the church in the community portfolio). Bible related activities and teaching for children from birth to school year 2. This takes place, in church, straight from school. There are videos, singing, stories, crafts ad a healthy snack (plus coffee and cookies for adults)
• Toddler groups on Thursday mornings and afternoons (in conjunction with the church in the community portfolio)
• Youth groups. Groups for teenagers meet on a Monday evening. A younger group (school years 7 to 10) meets from 6:30pm to 7:45pm. The older group (school year 11 and up) meet from 7:45pm to 9:00pm. The younger group is currently not meeting regularly and we are exploring ways of restarting this provision. Both the Stokesley Methodist Circuit and Tees Valley Youth for Christ are working to appoint youth workers who we expect to assist us in this session as well as other work.

See the What’s On page for details and times of the events above.

Special activities and events for children and young people take place over the year. Younger children from the toddler group and J Time joined the church for the family Christmas lunch and enjoyed their visit to Santa. Family Fun Sessions take place on a number of Saturday mornings throughout the year. These see our church sanctuary turned into a soft play area with inflatables and ball pool.

Over the last few years members of the youth group have taken part in a weekend away at a church in Redcar with teaching and worship based on a specific theme. In February this year a group of six young people and leaders from the older youth group spent a week on a discipleship trip to a partner church in Friendswood, Texas. This was a powerful experience that had a massive impact on all who took part. An annual return trip from the young people from Heritage Park Baptist Church in Friendswood takes place in March each year which is a highlight of the year for our young people.

Future plans include involving the young people in work with local charitable organisations.