Family & Children's Ministry
Family & Children's Ministry
Julia Wingfield is the contact in the parish for families, children and youth.
She works full-time co-ordinating a team of volunteers who run events for families, children and young people.
Email Julia at families.eastbrighton@abdiocese.org.uk
Children's Liturgies
We offer children’s liturgies in both our churches at the 11 am Sunday masses. The children are taken out of the mass for their own Liturgy of the Word, and return to join their families at the Offertory. The children’s liturgies run for three Sundays each month. Once a month, we encourage children to learn more about the mass by getting involved in a monthly Family Mass by reading, welcoming or taking part in the offertory procession.
Volunteering
There are plenty of opportunities open to all parishioners to become a member of the Children’s Ministry team as a volunteer, whether your talents lie in organisational skills, cooking, music, arts and crafts, administration, youthwork or catechesis. Volunteering with the team is the ideal way for you to build friendships in the parish, learn new skills, serve your Church community and grow as a disciple of Jesus.
Sacramental Preparation
Baptism Courses
We offer baptism preparation courses for parents and carers who wish to have their babies or young children baptized. The course consists of six sessions and are a mixture of in-person and online meetings. Baptism courses run four times per year.
Register your interest through our online
form here, or email families.eastbrighton@abdiocese.org.uk
for more information.
First Holy Communion & First Reconciliation Courses
From October to June, we run sacramental preparation courses supporting families to prepare children who are in Years 3-6 for the sacraments of First Reconciliation and First Holy Communion. These courses are also suitable for children in Year 3-6 who are preparing for Baptism. The programmes are parent-led, and the groups meet once per month on a Saturday morning.
Register your interest through our online form here, or email families.eastbrighton@abdiocese.org.uk
for more information.
Messy Church Community Events
Our monthly Messy Church community events aim to bring together families and individuals in the parish to build community connections. The events take place on the first Sunday of the month, at St Joseph’s hall from 12.30 pm – 2 pm. We start by eating lunch together, then there are Christ-centred creative activities aimed at children of a primary-school age, and we finish with storytelling and prayer celebration.
Youth Minstry
Our youth group Proclaim is a group for young people aged 12 to 17 years of age, which meets twice a month on Monday evenings in term-time from 6.30 – 8 pm, for food, games, group discussion and faith formation. Preparation for the sacraments, including Confirmation, is offered through the youth group, and our young people are further developed through our Young Leaders programme (ages 14-17) which encourages them to become involved in some service to their community. Through the youth group, we also run Youth Alpha courses, and offer opportunities for our young people to join diocese and national events such as the Lourdes pilgrimage, the Flame youth conference and diocesan retreats and evenings of reflection.