Two years ago, there were no children attending Sunday services at St Nicholas’ in Longparish. Now this rural church in Hampshire has a growing family attendance.
The church has spent time in prayer and planning and just over a year ago established a family service which takes place one Sunday a month. It’s brought families from the community and surrounding villages to join the fun and hear more about God’s love.
Gill Williamson was one of the initial organising team. She explained, “To be honest God gave me a great big prompt. We moved to Longparish just over two years ago and we visited the church, and it was sad to see that there were no families here. So, I prayed with my prayer partner, and I began to feel a calling to start something here and she had a picture of Noah’s ark and felt God saying build it and they’ll come. Then on the day we launched the service, they were queuing down the path to come in, just like my friend had said. I was in tears, and it’s just gone from strength to strength.”
The church is situated next to the village primary. The school use the building for worship and Revd Russ Smart is one of the governors. The church spent time growing those connections with the school to raise awareness of the new family service.
They also met with other churches who ran similar services.
Revd Russ said, “I think that we’ve just felt God has been encouraging us in this journey as we’ve been praying, and I think one of the keys has been working with the local school and building up the relationships there with parents and families. We’ve had a few people who’ve really been praying about it, and I think that’s been underpinning everything. Then we have a core group of people who are committed each month to making it happen, sorting out the activities and ideas and then drawing other people in. It’s just amazing how successful it’s been in terms of families wanting to come back and be involved.”
The service involves singing with audience participation encouraged! There is a Bible reading, talk and sometimes a drama or puppet show. It’s designed to hold the attention of the children and make them feel involved but is also relevant to all ages.
Halfway through the service there is a break for a craft activity, biscuit decorating and a coffee and biscuits for the adults.
February’s family service had the theme of love with the Parable of the Lost Son performed with drama and a talk.
Sarah Smart who led the talk said, “It’s been incredible to see how open families from the village and surrounding areas have been to coming to church. It’s not being scared to take away the structures. All that we’ve done really is say that they’re welcome and organised activities that are appropriate to children and families, and it seems to be going well. The really exciting part now is that we seem to be building a community, so some of the parents are involved in planning the crafts and baking the biscuits and doing the talk and it feels like it’s becoming a big team effort which is lovely and such a testimony to what God is doing in this place at the moment. A lot of prayer has gone into this, a lot of hard work as well and a real desire from a few people who are part of the church to see it full again of children and families. It’s been amazing to see God working in that way.”
She added, “The National Church wants to double the number of children and young people by 2030 and hopefully services like this can make that happen”
Word has spread about the family service and numbers have grown with up to 70 attending each month. Church leaders say they have seen confidence, and the community grow with more and more people helping to run the service. Children are also encouraged to take part with the prayers and reading.
7-year-old Elizabeth read the Bible story at February’s family service and attended with her sister Clara, godmother, and mum Sarah. “My daughter loves to hear about Jesus so it’s great to come here. There are positive activities, and I feel very involved. The family service is perfect especially for my little one as she can run around, and all her school friends come. It’s a lovely community.”
Harriet Barfoot has come to the service with her husband and two children (pictured at the top of the page) and said, “It’s lovely to bring the families together. A lot of the children go to the school or live in the local community. Each month they hear Bible stories and learn through play and craft. It’s a really relaxed service. There’s a lot of noise and a lot of fun and that’s important”.
Revd Russ Smart added, “Many of the parents don’t have church backgrounds particularly but they come because the children love it and they’re here with their friends and they get the opportunity then to hear Bible stories. We have seen quite a few people starting to ask questions. I think they’re wanting to explore faith themselves in a very sort of gentle way which is really encouraging.”
The vision for the future is that the monthly family service will continue to grow, and more people will get involved as well as further opportunities to explore faith through a possible Alpha course. In the last year they have shared meals and picnics after the service to extend the social side of the community. There are plans to introduce a communion service for families too.
Churchwarden John Young has been coming to the church for more than 20 years.
He commented, “Over the last 20 years we’ve had a pretty small congregation that’s been dwindling so this is fantastic. It’s a way we see of building up the church again and in time to encourage more people to join us. It’s early days and we’re hoping to introduce a family communion. More people are getting involved and they really enjoy being here. It’s very exciting to see what God is doing for us.”
Revd Russ continued, “People have been really excited to have children back in church and that they’re happy to be here. It’s been quite a shock for some of them because they were used to just having a weekly communion service and a little children’s corner at the back. So, there were one or two people who weren’t happy because a family service was such a different approach but most of them have come on board now and see it’s so good to have all these families coming in. I think they’re recognising they are the future of the church.”
St Nicholas in Longparish is part of the Bright Waters Benefice. Other churches in the benefice have also now introduced family services once a month and are following the same model.
Gill Williamson finished, “A lot of people have tried to put us up on pedestals and say we’re doing an amazing job, but it doesn’t matter what we do here, God’s got to bring the people in through the door. It’s all about prayer and we pray and pray and pray and I believe what we’re seeing now is the fruit of what God’s done. He’s just given us another nudge as well because we were praying about what to do next and we’ve just taken on the village toddler group, so we’re really excited about that too.”
