St James King Street

Kids @ Church

Kids @ Church meets every Sunday morning from 9.00am – 10.30am in the St James' Church Crypt.

Our approach

Someone has said that a child's primary need is to be loved. The same holds true for the rest of the family! Our goal at Kids@Church is to offer an experience of the love of God to children and their families and to enable them to grow in the Christian faith by developing an awareness of God, in the Scriptures, in the life and liturgy of the Church and in their own lives. Three themes inform how we address the special challenges of raising ethical and spiritual children in Sydney. First, God's children are good, made in the image of God. With this in mind, we hold in tension our desire to involve children in all areas of life and worship with acceptance of a certain amount of noise or "holy chaos." It makes for happy, involved children, who enjoy coming to church on Sundays - and a wider parish community involved in their young lives. Second, religious formation for children has little to do with memorising doctrine and a lot to do with creating safe and nurturing spaces for asking questions, sharing experiences of faith, deepening friendships, modelling mercy and justice, and wondering about the mystery of God's presence in our daily lives, as we grow into the people God intends us to be. Third, we nurture an awareness that this community is part of a much larger world community; and we do what we can to broaden our circles of concern through prayer, giving, learning and developing relationships with neighbours in need. We welcome you to St. James’ Church. There is a place for you and your family here.

How Kids@Church works

Please come along to the 9.00am Sung Eucharist in the church. After the Collect for the Day, the children are invited to come forward (with their parents if you wish) and after a prayer they go to the Crypt for Kids@Church. You can join them if you wish or remain at the service. The children will rejoin their parents or others accompanying them, shortly before the time for receiving Communion.

The children join a group based on their age range and have a short period of prayer, followed by a lesson and then craft or other activities.

Each group has an adult leader. Most of the leaders are parents but not exclusively so.

Child protection and safety

The Parish takes its responsibilities in regard to children seriously. All leaders are eligible to be in child-related employment and have made a declaration to this effect under the Commission for Children and Young People Act 1998.

Would you like to be a Kids@Church leader?

If you would like to consider being a Kids@Church leader, we would be very happy to talk to you about that. You might like to talk with one of the other volunteer leaders first. You can also discuss this with Chris Roper, the Director of St James’ Institute. See contact details below.

Children's Eucharist

On the first Sunday of each month there is a special service for the Kids@Church children in the Children’s Chapel in the Crypt, starting at 9.00am. You are welcome to join them, if you wish. The service follows the Eucharist form, but a service book specially prepared for children is used.

For more information

This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it to contact the below Children's Ministry Coordinator:
John Wiltshire