Suffer the Little Children...

 

The dedicated group of volunteer guides ready for action

One of the great things about working with the HLF is that it stretches you to do things that you might not otherwise have done. Last Tuesday we held another of a series of highly successful visits by local primary schools to St. Peter's to tell them some of the key stories of our Christian faith through the fabric of the church itself. The beautiful Victorian painted stained glass windows are great sources as are the various "props" of Christian worship: the high altar, the font etc.

So ready for action, 60 children aged 8-9 years came along with their teachers and support staff  and were split into 6 groups to be led by our dedicated volunteer guides.

The first stop was the high altar (looking a bit naked as Covid has forced a slightly different approach to giving and receiving communion). 

The beautiful, ornate Reredos telling the story of the Last Supper.

Our namesake saints of St. Peter and St. Paul both with incredible  powerful stories to tell of faith, service and dedication within the Christian life and to whom we owe much of our understanding of the life of Christ.

The  birth of Christ and the adoration of the shepherds and the Magi. The window proudly overlooks the space set aside for the Russian Orthodox faith to worship within St. Peter's as part of the wider community 
 

Other stories were that of the Good Samaritan and why there are trefoil carvings on the choir stalls (channeling the inner Joyce Grenfall: "Johnny please don't stick your hands through the carving...Oh dear!"), then on to the font and the huge west window. All topped off with squash and biscuits in best school trip custom. 

The children were amazing: engaged, interested and knowledgeable. One little boy proudly told us how purple dye came from snails ( he's quite right: the reason the Romans captured Carthage was to get control of the market of the rare snails on the rocks on the North African coast that gave the purple dye). Most amazing of all, when we talked about good deeds, one shy, quiet little boy said that he had walked past a homeless man and had gone back to give him the £2 coin in his pocket. 

Bring on the next group!