'Bubble Church' is godsend for families with babies and toddlers

Since I arrived in Gosport as the vicar of Bridgemary and Elson almost three years ago, I’ve been praying for more children and families in the two churches I have responsibility for.
By the Rev Samantha Martell, vicar, Bridgemary and ElsonContributor
Published 27th Feb 2024, 16:48 BST
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Then one day, just a few weeks ago, I stumbled across something called ‘Bubble Church’, and everything changed.

It is advertised as: “a Sunday church service especially for babies, toddlers, and young families. It's a puppet-packed, Jesus-centred, coffee-and-croissant-fuelled, 30-minute kids-and-families adventure.”

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Bubble Church includes action songs, a Bible story, puppets and a simple activity. Parents can sip on real coffee and eat croissants and pastries while their children have an amazing time learning more about Jesus.

The Rev Samantha Martell.The Rev Samantha Martell.
The Rev Samantha Martell.

It was an exciting answer to prayer, even for me as a more traditional priest. It works in all kinds of churches, because the central values are those we as Christians hold dear: welcome, hospitality, fun, creativity, Jesus-centred and family-oriented.

I thought it would run especially well at St Matthew’s Church, Bridgemary, as we already have links with plenty of families there. So we held our first Bubble Church last Sunday [Feb 18] and everyone had a great time.

Bubble Church can be run weekly, fortnightly or monthly. We have started monthly, but we’ve quickly realised that it won’t be long before we are baking pastries and practising with the puppets on a weekly basis, as everyone is loving it.

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It is for families to do together, and everyone joins in! It is best suited to children under seven years old, but older siblings, and even grandparents have been caught doing the actions from the songs and saying the special ‘Amen’, which we say after every prayer.

Bubble Church is a service where we worship, learn about Jesus and develop our Christian faith. It’s not a way into church - it is church!

Our excitement for this has grown quickly and we have a team of enthusiastic volunteers willing to work with the puppets, be on our meet-and-greet table, offer prayer for anything big or small after the service, help with the technology and be on kitchen duty. We are encouraged that already some of our families would like to be a part of this.

All of this means that we have seen a new church congregation grow from nothing! Our next service is on March 17 at St Matthew’s Church. The pastries and drinks will be ready for 9am and we start promptly at 9.15am. For more details see: www.northgosportparish.co.uk/bubblechurch/

ST MATTHEW’S CHURCH, Wych Lane, Bridgemary, Gosport, PO13 0NLwww.northgosportparish.co.uk

Related topics:JesusGosportParents