Your children in our parish
Baptism
Preparation
 Our parish support
for your child and your family begins even before your
child’s Baptism. We offer a blessing for mothers and
their unborn children: just ask! The Baptism Preparation
is part of our parish community’s process of welcome
of your child, and we will try to support you in any way
we can from then on. New ideas are always welcome: in
what other ways can we help you and your child?
Christingle Mass
On the Saturday before Christmas, at the 5.30 p.m. Mass, the Music
Group and Brownies help us to have a very
special candlelight celebration. All babies baptised in
the previous year are invited to bring their parents to
this Mass, and to come forward for a special blessing.
Families bring their crib figures of the infant Jesus for
a blessing at the end of the Mass, and there is a social
in the Meeting Room afterwards.
Children’s
Liturgy (9.30 Mass)
On most Sundays, there is a special Children’s
Liturgy during the first half of the Mass. At the
beginning of Mass, those children who wish to do so leave
the church in four groups with a team of catechists; they
are divided into 2.5-4 year olds, 4-6 year olds, 6-7 year
olds, and 8-11 year olds. In the parish hall and three
meeting rooms, they have a service of their own, and then
return to the church after the Bidding Prayers.
Parents
& Toddlers Group
On Wednesday mornings from 10.00 until noon, a group
of mothers & fathers and their babies
and toddlers gather in the Meeting Room at St
Augustine’s. There is always coffee and tea, and
plenty of toys to keep the children happy.
Buggy Mass
 On the first Wednesday morning every month at 9.45 there is a simple Mass for
parents with their babies and toddlers in the Meeting
Room, followed by tea and coffee. At each Mass, there is
a moment of special prayer for the children present.
Pregnant mothers are very welcome.
St
Augustine's Nursery
 Although the
‘St Augustine’s Nursery’ has no structural
link with the parish, it was established in the past by
parents from the parish. It is a voluntary group, funded
by parental fees, fundraising events and an annual
outreach collection at St Augustine’s. It currently
meets in Subud House at 14 Culverden Down. The pre-school
serves a wide surrounding area, and the majority of the
children are from Catholic families.
Your
babies, children and young people are very warmly welcome
in our parish. Jesus encouraged children to come to him.
He was upset when his disciples tried to stop them. Jesus
laid his hands on children and blessed them. In our
parish, he continues to welcome them and touch their
lives. Open your hearts and your home to him, and your
family will be blessed with the wonder of his divine love
and his gift of peace.
LOVED and SAFE
Our parish policy is
that every child and young person in our community should
feel both deeply loved and completely safe in every way -
in body, mind and spirit.
As a parish we are
committed to child protection, and seek to work fully
with our Diocesan Guidelines for Good Practice as well as
guidance from the Catholic Bishops Conference.
Our Parish Child Protection
Representatives is Mrs Lorna Priddle
Please do not hesitate
to contact her if you have any concerns
about the safety and welfare of children in our parish.
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