St. Mary's Childrens Liturgy Group

Our Children's Liturgy meets during the 10am Mass on a Sunday in the church hall. Children gather at the altar at the start of Mass and process to the church hall for liturgy. At the Offertory of the Mass, the children return with their messages. We would like to extend the invitation to all children of primary school age to come and join us for Children's Liturgy. If you have any queries please contact one of us and we would be happy to discuss them with you.

What is Children's Liturgy?

Through a separate Liturgy of the Word for children, we aim to introduce children of primary school age to important aspects of God's message. We try to do this by allowing them to celebrate God's Word at their own pace, giving them the opportunity to offer their thoughts and reflections, following the pattern of normal congregational liturgy.
We hope that they gain an experience of being part of a community, the parish, and the feeling that their thoughts and ideas are valued by that community. By using symbols and movements of the liturgy we endeavour to help them discover how the Word of God has meaning in their daily lives. We hope that by offering a Children's Liturgy of the Word, we can help support families with young children in the parish.

What happens during the Children's Liturgy?

The children gather in the church and begin the Mass with everyone else. After the Sign of the Cross and the Greeting, the priest hands the Children's Lectionary to one of the leaders and the children process to the hall while a hymn is sung. The Liturgy in the hall usually includes the following:
Time for reflection/penitential rite, using focal point display
Gloria (not during Advent or Lent)
Reading
Gospel Acclamation and Gospel reading
Discussion and focussed activity
Prayer

The children then join the rest of the people in church by leading the Offertory Procession, often with some visual display from their activity. One or more children from the group will read a short prayer to the congregation.