Playgroup at Kingston Community Church is flourishing thanks to lots of prayer and a great team, says leader Emily Birkin.
The playgroup has grown in recent months attracting a mix of church families and those from the community. This growth follows the opening of KCC’s new community hub last year, which Emily says has led to a broader cultural shift within the church.
“There’s been a renewed desire from the church to welcome the community into the KCC family,” she shares.
The team wants playgroup to be a place where people feel comfortable and welcome. More than that, they want the gospel to be part of the DNA of playgroup—for it to be woven into all they do in an intentional but natural way.
“By keeping the gospel at the forefront of your mind, conversation and opportunities to share just happen naturally” says Emily.
This gospel-centred approach is expressed through Bible stories during mat time, conversations with parents, and even science experiments that point to God.
Rebecca Treanor, who is currently completing an internship at KCC, is a valuable member of the team.
As part of her course, she was required to share the gospel in some way. Rebecca chose to write a children’s picture book, which she read to the group at Easter.
Emily acknowledges the struggle to maintain the balance between the programme aspect of playgroup and ensuring there is space for meaningful conversations.
“There are a lot of distractions, and conversations get interrupted” she says, “But being available to connect and get to know people and where they are at is important.
“Reminding ourselves of the great hope we have helps us to have the boldness we need to share. We often don’t how realise powerful our stories can be.”
The team has had great opportunities to share the gospel and have also been able to invite several people to explore faith further through an upcoming Alpha course.
Emily says prayer is the key to this thriving gospel centred ministry. “Pray for opportunities to share and for hearts to be open.”
By Julie McKinnon, CCCNZ Children and Family Ministries Enabler
