Other Activities:

We have two, separate, lively Toddler Groups which meet each Friday, from 10.00-11.30am and from 1.00-2.30pm in the Church Halls.

We aim to show the love of Jesus by providing a high quality, well organised event in a friendly, caring, supportive atmosphere, and to introduce the children and parents to a very simple prayer.

We have a total of over 200 children (with their parent(s)/carer) on our books.

Toddler group for dads! When we can, we like to give the mums a morning off and help dad to spend time with his toddler, so on occasional Saturday mornings we run the same high-quality toddler group but staffed by the men of the church. Chaos usually ensues but we have a great time providing bacon butties instead of lettuce leaves (just kidding about the lettuce leaves, girls!) and doing craft and play activities with the kids.

Parentalk is a course for parents, which we try to run at least once a year. It lasts about 10 weeks and gives an opportunity for harrassed mums and dads (or those who’ve got it totally sorted!) to share their experience and receive guidance through a video course produced by Care for the Family in a relaxed, welcoming environment.

Courses are usually held on a Wednesday afternoon. There’s no charge. Drinks, biscuits, crèche and laughs thrown in for free.

JC is for children aged 3-11 and meets each Sunday morning. Children remain with the adults for the first part of each morning service and then leave for JC. They then have about 35 minutes of teaching and activity in three age-related classes, followed by a time when all three groups come together to sing songs, play games etc. They then rejoin the adults for the end of the service; sometimes joining in with Holy Communion.

Ultim8 is for young people aged (approx)11-14 and meets on Sunday mornings. Ultim8 begin the service with the adults and leave after the first part. They have their own programme of teaching and activities and also run social activities at other times, including the odd sleepover and time away.

This is an open youth group for 11-14 year olds which meets in the Church Halls on a Friday evening from 7-9pm. It’s a lively evening of activities, games, and disco music with a short Christian message.

Website: crosspoint.org.uk

We’ve joined together with other local churches to form UYF. This is for those aged 14-18 who want to know more about Jesus and develop their Christian walk. It meets from 8-9.30pm on Sunday evenings. It’s mainly a time of teaching but there are many opportunities for members to meet socially and there is a weekly games night and weekly fellowship groups.

Website: wkyf.co.uk

One of the major ways we hope that people will connect with each other at West Kirby URC is through our fellowship groups.

Our aim is to make these groups places of real welcome where we can care for one another and meet with God together. The emphasis of our programmes is on enjoying being with Jesus and making room for him to build us up as Christians. If we’re getting it right, our hope is that we will have a good balance between four elements:

Welcome
Worship
Word
Witness.

That means we want to be able easily to invite and welcome new people into the groups and to have fun getting to know one another; to spend time together meeting with God as we worship him; to study the Bible together so that we encourage one another in getting to know God’s direction for our lives; and to take part in simple pieces of outreach or service into the community.

The groups are also designed to be flexible, so that they can be divided if necessary to allow more people to join in.

The men of the church invade a local café (currently The Galley in Hoylake) at 11am on the first Saturday in each month for a slap-up breakfast and a chinwag (who says men don’t natter?). The ladies get their own back on the first Friday of the month at Sands Cafe in West Kirby when they meet for a light snack and a deep theological discussion. Or is that a deep snack and a light discussion? You’ll have to go to find out!

Alpha is a ten week course geared to helping anyone who wants to learn what Christianity has to say about the meaning of life. For more information on the course, visit alpha.org. There is an informal and welcoming atmosphere where participants can voice their views freely and no question is regarded as too simple or too hostile.

The format usually includes a simple meal, a video presentation and a discussion in small groups.

We try to hold at least one evening course and one day time course each year, and our United Youth Fellowship also runs Youth Alpha from time to time.

Cornerstone provides an opportunity for women to meet in relaxed surroundings on alternate Monday afternoons at 2.00pm in the Small Hall. The meetings last for about an hour and include a brief talk by an invited speaker followed by tea, biscuits and plenty of chat. These are times of fun and friendship, usually attended by the ‘not quite so young’.