“Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the Kingdom of God” (Mark 10:14)
We love to welcome families into our church. We believe the gospel message is not just for adults but includes children of all ages too. Just as Jesus welcomed children to himself, we believe the church should do the same.
At Oldham Bethel, we very much count children as part of our church family and love to include them. This means children go out for their own age-appropriate lessons during the talk for adults, but join back with us for the rest of the service. Our Sunday School follows a “whole church curriculum” which means the children and adults will be looking at the same Bible passage. This is to help parents and carers talk with their children about what they have both learnt from the Bible. Our Sunday School caters for children at primary school (ages 5-11). Children at Secondary School (11+) stay in the main meeting. However, we are glad for children to sit in the main meeting for the sermon earlier than this if they want to do so.
Although we do not currently run a crèche, we love having toddlers and babies with us. We are always encouraged when we see young families. However, we appreciate bringing young children to church can be stressful. To help, we provide a separate room – equipped with baby changing facilities and toys – into which you can take young children at any point during the meeting. The sermon can be followed on a smartphone or tablet by accessing the live stream, allowing you to both hear the sermon and keep your children entertained.