January 2026
Scripture for This Season: Romans 12: 9-10 (NLT)
"Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honouring each other."
These beautiful verses are a wonderful reminder of what we want our children and youth to experience every single week: real love, real care, and real goodness. As a church family, we want to keep hold of all the things that have always made our ministry rich and warm while also finding new ways to show love in practical, supportive, and joyful ways.
That’s why, with Russell’s great help, we’ve refreshed our church website to make things clearer for interested families, and why we’re organising our Sunday groups more closely with the school year. Our hope is simple: that every child feels seen, settled, and supported, and every parent feels confident and encouraged.
Exciting Changes for 2026!
We are delighted to share our new children and youth group structure, designed to help children settle with friends their own age and grow at the right pace:
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Little Angels: Birth to Nursery
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Kingdom Kids: Reception to Year 2
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Faithful Disciples: Year 3 to Year 6
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Youth United: Year 7 to Year 13
This Easter, we’ll also be holding a special “gifting and prayer” time for children who are already due to move up to their new groups — especially those who may find transitions a bit more challenging. We want everyone to feel excited, supported, and prepared before the new school year arrives.
We Need Your Help — Volunteers Welcome!
We are so grateful for everyone who pours time and love into our young people. Our older groups — Faithful Disciples and Youth United — have plenty of willing helpers, and we’re celebrating that!
But we really need extra helping hands in:
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Little Angels
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Kingdom Kids
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Friday Fizz (our community nurturing nursery)
If you love the idea of helping little ones discover God’s love, or if you simply enjoy being a friendly, dependable presence for families, we’d love to chat. Serving in children’s ministry is one of the most joy‑filled ways to bless our church family.
Growing Partnerships in Youth Ministry
Our Youth group has had a fantastic season of encouragement! Opening up our Christmas Jumper Social at AirHop to Young Adults interested in volunteering has led to fresh enthusiasm and wonderful new relationships.
Special thanks to all volunteers both old and new who’ve brought faithful dedication and fresh vision to our burgeoning team.
We’re especially excited that some of our own Youth have begun helping in children’s groups — a lovely picture of disciples making disciples!
CANDY Choir — Back This February!
The CANDY (Children AND Youth) Choir meets every other Monday at 6pm, starting again on 9th February.
Why should your child join?
Apart from free dinner afterwards, the CANDY Choir is:
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Fun; Creative; Worship‑filled; Confidence‑building; Friendship growing
Whether your child loves to sing, likes being part of a team, or just wants to try something new, the choir is a wonderful space for exploring joy together!
Other Special Opportunities Coming Up…
NewDay 2026 – Volunteers Needed!
If you feel God nudging you to help with NewDay this year — either at the event or beforehand — please contact Jamie by:
📅 Friday 30th January
📱 07515 872579
February Conferences
A Youth Workers & 15–18s Conference — Kaitlin will be taking a group from King’s.
A Children’s Ministry Volunteers Conference — Jamie will be leading this, with a follow‑up training and social for anyone who can’t attend.
Parent Meeting (Coming Soon!)
We’ll announce the date next month, but we do want to remind parents about our traffic light system for group behaviour. If a child reaches a third red stage, they will be returned to parents — always gently and with care. Here’s also the Golden Rules Kingdom Kids came up with to help them though, and you’ll see Little Angel’s next page whilst other classes are still finalising their illustrations…
What We’ve Been Learning Together
Our younger groups have been exploring the Ten Commandments and creating their own group rules inspired by God’s wisdom. And here’s also some Red Sea craft, though Moses needed no craft (only God’s help) to escape Pharoah’s cunning!
Next month we’ll be learning about the
Fruits of the Spirit, helping children understand what God grows in us when His love fills our hearts.
To help keep things meaningful, we’re also adjusting our curriculum so special celebrations like Easter fit naturally — meaning Easter teaching will move forward from June to March so we can build excitement and understanding ahead of April.
With Heartfelt Thanks
To every volunteer: thank you. Truly. You help make our ministry a safe, joyful, and faith‑filled place for our children and young people.
To our church family: thank you for trusting us with your children and for supporting this ministry with your prayers, encouragement, and kindness. I am deeply grateful to serve alongside such a gifted, gentle, and open‑hearted team.
With love and appreciation,
Jamie
Jamie Wright, 29/01/2026