Children & Youth
Here at St. Mary’s we value our children and young people and are passionate about helping them discover Jesus and learn to follow him and live like him.
Throughout the week we offer various opportunities for our children and young people to connect with God and one another.
Visit our FAMILIES RESOURCE PAGE for great ideas, activities and devotional resources to help your children and young people grow in faith.
For more info on our Children’s activities, contact kids@stmarysballybeen.com
Beenies
Parents and Tots group meets Thursdays at 10am in the Church Hall during term time.
Sundays
Children and young people begin the morning service with their parents and join in with our opening worship. They then go out to their own age specific ministries:
Parenting Room for babies
Little Church – for playgroup, nursery and P1 aged children
Kids’ Church – for P2-P7 school children
Youth Church – for Year 8 to Year 11
Youth Fellowship – for Year 8 and up on Sunday evenings, 7-8.30pm
Uniformed Organisations
Boys’ Brigade
Mondays
Anchors: 6.30pm – 7.30pm (P1 – P4)
Juniors & Company Sections: 7.45pm – 9pm (P5 and above)
For more information, contact:
Captain: Roy Kirkwood
bb@stmarysballybeen.com
Girls’ Brigade
Tuesdays
Junior Explorers: 2.45pm – 4pm (2.5yrs – P1)
Senior Explorers: 5.45pm – 7.30pm (P2 – P4)
Junior Section: 6.45pm – 8.30pm (P5 – P7)
Senior Section: 6.45pm – 8.45pm (Yr8 – Yr10)
Brigader Section: 7.30pm – 9.15pm (Yr11+)
For more information, contact:
Captain: Catherine Hadley
gb@stmarysballybeen.com
Men
Life is tough. Even harder when you’re trying to go it alone.
We think it’s essential for men to experience real community in a relaxed and fun way. But in the midst of it all, our greatest hope is that we’ll encounter the risen Christ and be changed, so that together we can become the men God has made us to be — agents of change and hope in our community and our world.
Through Band of Brothers we seek to do just that. Click here for opportunities to get involved!
Seniors
If you are ‘of an age’ and fancy meeting and spending time with others, come along to one of our ministries for Seniors in our community.
Silver Threads is our weekly lunch club that meets on Monday mornings from 10am. There is something for everyone – short mat bowls, craft, dancing, crochet and ‘armchair’ games. The club also organises a number of outings during the year and we have occasional guest speakers.
A hot 3-course lunch is provided by the Belfast Health Trust and served by a team of volunteers.
SIXTY+ meets on the last Saturday of each month in the Hall from 7pm. Each meeting includes supper, an activity such as a quiz, tea-dance or movie, and usually an epilogue.
Our church minibus is available for transport to and from both these events.
Please contact the church office for more information.
Worship and Prayer
We love to worship God together.
Our worship is contemporary in style, dynamic in nature, informed by our Anglican roots, and lived in our daily lives. And at the heart of it all is prayer. In addition to the prayer we share in our Life Groups and times together in worship, we have a dedicated prayer meeting called The Boiler Room that meets before our church service each Sunday from 10-10.30am. No one needs to feel pressured to pray out loud, but everyone is encouraged to join in by sharing their prayers or praying quietly. All are welcome!
Life Groups
…life together.
Through Life Groups we expect to see transformation in our lives, our church and our world as we put Sunday’s teaching into practice, learn to serve one another with the gifts God has given us, and reach out with the Good News of Christ.
Life Groups meet on the first and third weeks of the month on various days in the week. Some meet in the church and others in homes, some are for women or young people and others for any and everyone. Whatever the case, there’s something for everyone, and always room for more. Click here for more information.
Compassion
We long to see the practical needs of our community met as we reach out to others in Christ’s name.
We seek to help and provide materially for those in our community who find themselves in need and we partner with other churches and groups in our community to do this. During the pandemic we worked closely with the Dundonald Foodbank, the BT16 COVID-19 Relief Team and the Ballybeen Improvement Group to bring help where it was needed most, and we seek to continue doing this wherever we can.
We also support the ongoing work of the Dundonald Food Bank through our giving and through our volunteering connections.