Stanley Bear is back!

Hello! My name is Stanley Bear and I like working with children (under 5’s) and families. I’ve got my own club which meets in St Ann’s Church every Monday morning during school term-time, from 9am – 10.30am.

We meet for breakfast followed by fun, child friendly worship. I’m assisted by a team of lovely ladies from church who welcome people in, make tea and toast, and are generally brilliant at looking after people. I also have two PA’s, Margaret and Rachel, who get everything ready for me to lead the service every week…

So what happens at your club?

People are welcome to come to church for 9am, to have a piece of toast and a bowl of cereal with me. Then at 9.30am we gather together on the carpet in the side-chapel to sing some songs. I let Margaret or one of the mums lead that bit. Then comes the good bit: I’ve got this blue backpack that is full of bits and pieces to help me tell stories from the bible. There could be anything inside – sheep, disciples, a boat, the sea, Egyptian soldiers, Jesus, you name it! When we’ve finished the story, all the children can head off to tables at the back of Church to do some craft relating to the bible story. It’s a fun way of learning!

What else do you do?

After the story and the craft it’s time for more singing – usually songs about God, Jesus, and being a Christian (just like in Sunday services, but the songs are better!). Then we get the prayer parachute out.

Er, prayer parachute???

Yes, the prayer parachute. It’s parachute that help us to pray. My other friends – Molly Dolly, Paddington and Poorly Puppy – help us to focus on different kinds of people who need our prayers, and we also roll a globe across the parachute to help us pray for the world. The we sing one final song, and ask God to look after us all for another week before we head off. I like to give everyone a hug and a high-five at the door on the way out.

So if you have a little one then I would love to see you both, come and say hello! And don’t forget we meet in St Ann’s Church every Monday morning during school term-time, from 9am – 10.30am. Everyone who is under 5 is welcome, and they can bring along their grown-ups too!