Breakfast Church

The Trinity Centre, North Ormesby

Lee-Anne (Multiply Lay Minister) explains how the New Worshipping Community she set-up is thriving:

“North Ormesby is in the second poorest parish in the UK. It’s a transient community with asylum seekers and more recently International students.  

What gets me out of bed everyday is knowing you never know what to expect, but making a difference.  

I run three afterschool clubs, a community café and a toddler group. I have a team who play with the children which enables me time to get alongside the parents, hear what’s going on in their lives. 

A couple of years ago we were thinking about how we could start a new service that was better suited to families and so we started Breakfast Church!  

Breakfast church is an all age interactive service that replaced the traditional Sunday service once a month.   

Making the change was a little tricky, some of the older people don’t come but they often ask how it has gone, but people recognise that some families need to meet in a different space from the main church. It’s a safer place for people to come and learn who God is. After the breakfast church service in the hall we offer a short communion service so there is choice there. 

The service is short enough to keep the children engaged, there are families from church who sit with new families and make them feel welcome. Listening to the community is important, for example after the first few months we had some feedback that it was difficult to engage with the Lords Prayer and so we found a song where we sing the lords prayer instead.  

It does take time to invest in the preparation, food, a craft and a game and songs, but the children really love it.  

In all the groups there is now a core of regular families who come and trust is building to the point where we can invite them confidently to breakfast church. We recently had a pregnant mum visit and we were able to give her some clothes, she said she was leaving “with joy in her heart” 

Growing a team is always difficult but it’s recognising peoples strengths and working with that. The transiency in our community can mean one day you have a really good team and then it changes! 

When I started breakfast church I had quite an established team but we are in a new season now where some of them have stepped back now. With breakfast church we are now working with the youth, certainly the boys, they will set up the tables, help in the kitchen, help with the powerpoint and that helps them feel they are part of the church as well.  

One mum is brilliant in the café because she does have leadership qualities, she was coming to the groups but is now on the team.”

You can read more about Lee-Anne and her New Worshipping Community here.