Ham and Shalbourne Sunday Club

The Sunday club is now well established. We meet on the second Sunday of the month at 9:30 at the school. The usual pattern is a story, a related activity followed by a song, and then down to the church to join the end of the service. We average 10 children each time with nearly 20 different children who come from Ham, Shalbourne, Tidcombe, Hungerford and Bagshot.

We ended the last school year with an outdoor Sunday club – marching around the walls of Jericho, followed by a picnic and train rides at Laurels which was a great success.

This year we have decided to take a more structured approach as the children are now mostly school age and show greater understanding. We have taken the idea of the Jesse tree – where symbols represent stories from the bible - to guide us through the Old Testament. The autumn term started in October with the children learning about creation, Adam and Eve, and making 3-D pictures to show God created the world around us. In November we learnt about Noah and made animal masks. December saw us decorating multicoloured coats after hearing the story of Joseph. In January and February we heard the story of Moses, the exodus and the Ten Commandments. The children made spoon puppets of Moses and Pharaoh – and enjoyed showing them off to the congregation with comments about the naughty Pharaoh! The Ten Commandments were learnt using a series of finger actions to represent each one (for example - number 1, hold up one finger – have no other gods, we worship one God). The children have also made their own “tablets” for each commandment, which are displayed in the church. In the church you will also see the Jesse tree with symbols to represent what we have learnt.

In the next meetings, we will be hearing about Samson and Delilah, Samuel and Eli, and David and Goliath. We are very pleased with the success of the Sunday club and the positive feedback from the children who all enjoy themselves and are keen to keep coming. The Trapnells have very generously given money to the Sunday club, which we are using to buy more resources (book of 365 Bible crafts, craft materials, some more music). We are also grateful to the school for their continued support and allowing us to move into the main hall to accommodate the larger numbers of children who now attend. As well as our work with children in the local parishes the Savernake team also hold two workshops a year. These are very popular and a lot of fun.

Christmas 2006 and the New Year

December and January saw many successful childrens' activities. The Christmas Eve crib service was attended by a large number of families. The children joined in by bringing up felt figures to stick on the crib scene, as Alan told the Christmas story. They also played instruments during the Calypso carol before gathering round for a candle lit blessing of the crib at the end of the service.

The children of the Savernake Team started the New Year with a big Epiphany event in Burbage. Nine children from Ham joined in games and activities about the three kings who brought gifts to the baby Jesus. The older children attended a drama workshop and the younger ones made wise men and gift boxes. They all enjoyed a delicious tea and came together for worship at the end of the afternoon.

The children of the Sunday Club had their own celebration of Epiphany a little later - decorating biscuits for the Shalbourne congregation to enjoy on January 14th.

Remembrance Service November 2006

Our Remembrance service was taken by Richard Graham and was very well attended.  It being the first year that we have been part of the ‘cluster’, we remembered the fallen of Fosbury, Tidcombe and Oxenwood in addition to those of Ham, Shalbourne and Buttermere.  At the end of the service we were joined by the little children of the Sunday Club, carrying a lovely poppy wreath which they had made of tissue paper, with the help of Christina Rennie and Katherine Hastie.  As they laid their tribute beside the other wreaths of remembrance at the altar, Richard reminded us that the children are our future.

Unless stated otherwise, all Sunday club meetings start at 9:30 at Shalbourne School before joining the end of the communion service.

For more information please contact: Christina Rennie 01488 66906