CHILDREN’S MINISTRY

"Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these." (Matthew 19:14)

We as a Parish value children and see them as playing a key role in the everyday life of our Churches. Our Parish School provides a strong focal point for our Church Community and this is complimented by a wide and varied Children's programme such as Sunday Clubs, Mystery Evenings, Holiday Club, and Girls' Friendly Society.

For more information on St Peter's National School please see the link on our Home Page.

SUNDAY CLUBS

Our Sunday Clubs meet regularly on Sunday mornings during Sunday worship in all of our Churches. The children leave for Sunday Club at the start of the Church Service where they enjoy their own teaching through crafts, games and music. Once a month in each Church the children join us for All-Age Worship. We are delighted that a new Sunday Club has been launched in the Rathmolyon Group of Churches.

MYSTERY EVENINGS

Our Mystery Evenings meet once a month during school term time in the Parish Centre Dunboyne and are aimed at primary school aged children. Each month the mystery evening has a different mystery element, ensuring an element of surprise when the children arrive! Each evening there is a mixture of games that aim to help the children build friendships and get to know each other better in a fun and relaxed atmosphere. The games range from sporty to whacky to messy with a running theme that links into our Bible teaching. Here the children are introduced to a topic from the Bible in a relevant and interesting way that allows space for them to explore the topic for themselves. Our next Mystery Evening takes place on Friday 31st March at 7.30pm.

HOLIDAY CLUB

When it comes to children's ministry in our group of parishes the annual Holiday Club is a real highlight of the year. The Club meets in Dunboyne every August for a week of fun, friendship, crazy games, challenges and Bible teaching. The Camp is for all primary school age children who have completed a year in Junior Infants.

Each year our Holiday Club has a theme for the week ranging from the Olympics to a popular movie. Every day holds new exciting activities from crafts, games, challenges to Bible teaching - all done for the different age groups in a fun and engaging way. Throughout the week the children are split into four teams with points being awarded for anything from best behaviour to who manages not to crack an egg on their head!!!! A week of laughter, new friends and fun is guaranteed.

This years Holiday Club was entitled Monsters Inc, based on the film of the same name. We had well over 50 children registered for the week and they enjoyed a a range of activities including games, challenges, crafts, sports day, carnival day, Bible Stories and so much more. The Carnival Day proved as popular as ever with the mixture of whacky games and the inflatables going down a treat. The daily challenges brought much excitement as the scores for each time were added up daily leading to an exciting finish on the Friday. Of course the main focus of Holiday Club is to share with the children how much God loves them and we did this through many of the classic Bible Stories such as Daniel and the Lions Den and The Lost Sheep. Our songs also added to the Gospel message as well as being a lot of fun.
A massive thank you to all of our wonderful adult leaders and young helpers without who it simply wouldn't be possible to run the Club, you were all magnificent…looking forward to see what's in store for 2017!!!

GIRLS’ FRIENDLY SOCIETY

Our GFS group in Rathmolyon are not currently meeting due to lack of numbers. We hope to start up again in September so if you are interested please let us know. The GFS is for girls aged 4 and over, new members are always welcome. If you know any children who would be interested please speak to Rev Janice or Rev Colin.

AFTER SCHOOL CLUB

Our After School Club currently meets this year on Wednesday afternoons from 2.15 - 4.00 p.m. in the Parish Centre Dunboyne. The Club is open to all children of primary school age cost is 5 euro per child or 7 euro for 2 or more children from the same family. Each week we enjoy games, crafts, a snack and a Bible Story.