Children and Young People

Children & Young People at the 10:45 Service

All ages are welcome to follow Jesus and grow in faith at St Mary’s. At our 10:45 service, children and young people will find friends their own age as well as opportunities to connect across generations.

Some children and young people enjoy staying in the main service, while others prefer joining age-based groups designed to encourage their relationship with God.

Sunday Groups (Term-time, every other week)

When the 10:45 service is Holy Communion (every other week during term-time), we run groups for children and young people.
Groups begin at 10:30am and return to church shortly before the end of the service.

Group locations

  • Years 12 & 13: Church Rooms (next to the playground at the end of Back Lane)

  • Reception – Year 11: Age-based groups at Goudhurst and Kilndown Primary School, Beaman Close TN17 1DZ

  • Pre-schoolers: Children’s Room in St Mary’s

A completed registration form is required for each child or young person attending a group. You can download the form in advance from this link or complete one on arrival.

For more details, please contact the youth minister: emma.simmonds@gkchurch.org

Worship for Everyone

On alternate Sundays — when young people’s groups are not running — the 10:45 service becomes Worship for Everyone, a welcoming service for all ages at St Mary’s Goudhurst. There are activities available for primary school aged children in the children’s room during this service. We ask that children are supervised when accessing this.

Baptisms

Baptisms for children, young people, and adults take place during some main services or at other times by arrangement. Please see our Baptisms page for more information.

For Pre-School Families

We also run Café Toddlers, a friendly space for pre-school children and their parents or carers. Visit the Café Toddlers page to learn more.

For answers to some frequently asked questions about our work with children and young people, please click here.

We take our Safeguarding responsibilities very seriously and each group or service involving children or young people is led by adults who have been been through our Safer Recruitment process and a DBS check. We also apply Safeguarding rules to all our online work with children and young people.