Bubble Church is a special service for babies, toddlers and young families. Since it started a year ago at St John’s in Hythe, numbers have increased from one family at the beginning to twenty who now regularly attend. It takes place every Sunday morning and leaders say they have seen God at work in those who come along.
Vicar Lee Davies said, “I’ve been involved in leading or encouraging fresh expressions for the last 15 years and I’ve not seen a fresh expression that has been this successful this quickly before. Around 80 percent of people who come are unchurched or de-churched people. It’s blown our expectations by far.”
“It’s been amazing,” Chris McMahon, Children and Families Pastor added, “The whole congregation has been behind it, right from when we told them about it initially. They supported to us going to the training and literally everybody’s come on board with it. We decided it was going to be weekly from the off and it just grows. We have had so many people and families who have come to join us who were totally unchurched beforehand. We’re getting more and more people coming along to Messy Church and other church services so it’s really exciting.”
Bubble Church was originally devised by Ascension Church in Balham with liturgy developed to engage the spirituality of the very young and their families. It has now been rolled out to other churches in the Church of England.
It begins with coffee, drinks and croissants. Families gather on bubble shaped mats and then share songs, prayers and stories helped with the use of puppets, which are enthusiastically welcomed. The service lasts just half an hour, and the children are engaged throughout.
Chris McMahon added, “It’s great to see the children’s faces, it’s just so amazing to see the joy. The parents and carers are taking all that on board as well and if they are new on their faith journey, you can see them starting to explore.”
Bishop Rhiannon helped St John’s mark their anniversary with a special cake, which was also cut by the oldest and youngest members of Bubble Church.
She said, “It’s fabulous to join this church in Hythe today and to see so many people of all ages, lots of little children but lots of older ones as well, all coming to celebrate a year of Bubble Church. You can tell how much they’re enjoying it and they’re learning how to pray and how to worship God. Even today, there’s new people coming all the time and people bringing their friends. It’s a really good thing.”
St John’s is seeing the fruit of their work spreading throughout the church. Families often stay on for the 10.15 service which looks a bit deeper at the story told in Bubble Church. Vicar Lee Davies says new people are also attending the traditional 11.15 service too.
He said, “To begin with, we encouraged people to come and see Bubble Church and we had people come in early for the next service and sit in the pews and watch from the other side of church. They’ve quickly found a role within Bubble Church as surrogate grandparents. So, we’ve seen people come with a little bit of suspicion really and very quickly get it and want to be part of it. I think they get the heart and the vision to see families come and to introduce them to Jesus.”
The Bubble Church team are made up of children and adults who provide the welcome, refreshments, puppeteers and stewards.
Carly and James went on the training course with son Jake and now regularly help out. “We only came to Messy Church beforehand, Christingle and main events but now we come to church every week. We enjoy it and the kids enjoy it. Grace, my youngest who is 3 years old, loves seeing the puppets and coming to church. It’s nice to be here every week and we’ve encouraged others to come.”
Michaella Mintah comes to Bubble Church with her Mum and three children aged 2, 6 and 8 years old. She said, “It’s helped the children to remember the stories through the puppets. They were given a Bubble Church bedtime prayer book and each night now when they go to bed, they pray. They can now recite the Lord’s Prayer and that means a lot to me. By coming here, we’ve met other Christian friends and parents as well.”
Bubble Church also saw its first baptism this month. Heidi has attended Bubble Church with her 4-year-old daughter since it started. She said, “I’m already a Christian and we started coming to Bubble Church when it opened. I wanted her to be baptised so she can learn the story of God and the love of God a bit more. She loves Bubble Church, she’s always singing the songs at home, repeating the stories, which is great because it means that the word of God is going into her. We feel very welcome coming to Bubble Church. I’m a single mum and there’s never been a judgment. It’s just me and her and we feel very happy here.”
Revd Lee Davies commented, “We’ve got one mum who takes a Bubble Church sticker every week and puts it on her pram because people stop her when she’s out and about and ask what it’s all about and she loves just talking about Bubble Church. She’s not a fully committed Christian just yet but so excited by what God’s doing here.”
Later Bishop Rhiannon joined Coco the donkey for a Palm Sunday procession through Hythe and ending with a service in St John’s. The donkey also played a role in the service with the church’s Open the Book team acting out the gospel reading.
Bishop Rhiannon gave the sermon and took part in a question-and-answer session giving the congregation a chance to get to know her better.
She urged anyone who hadn’t already seen Bubble Church to visit. She said, “If you’ve never seen a Bubble Church in action before, there are a number around the diocese, but I would recommend coming here. It’s every Sunday at 9.15am. Come and see what it’s like. It’s just a phenomenal thing and we just love to see it happen everywhere, as many places as possible.”
