Welcoming Children & Families

Jesus taught his disciples to welcome children and receive God’s Kingdom like a child (Matthew 19:14). From the ‘Cot Services’ that Laura Bullock remembers in the early years of the 20th Century, to the games and stories we use to involve children in our services today, the Tab has sought to welcome children and families throughout the years.

In its early years, when a high proportion of Liverpool would have attended church on a Sunday, Sunday Schools were the main way children were welcomed. Two Sunday Schools operated, one at the Tab and the other at Ebenezer Hall, Millar Street, with hundreds of children enrolled and the Tab filled on Anniversary Sunday. Memories of Sunday School treats including outings to a big house on Aigburth Road, with special trams laid on from Dingle Tram Sheds to Oaklands. Groups developed for young people including the ‘Christian Bank’ and ‘Gospel Tea’ on a Saturday night, and rambles and picnics in the summer. Many still remember the ‘Vacation Bible School’ and ‘Children’s Christian Crusade’ meetings around the 1950s. Music was another way children and young people were welcomed, forming choirs and various bands.

In the 1980s, the Boys Club ran weekly and there were visits to Frontier Youth Camps. (See Community Stories for more about the development of the Pre-school and Level 3 Skills School in the 1990s).

Cheryl Kidd followed a call from God in 1999 to leave her teaching job and start as the Tab’s Children’s & Family worker (even before a salary had been found). The work progressed and new ways of welcoming children and families developed including Summer TAB (Totally Amazing Boss) Kids Club and then weekly Kids Club meetings (with Captain Ketchup, a friend of Steve’s, popping in), Sparklers Mums and Tots group, and Breakfast Clubs at local school assemblies. Weekends in Wales and a young people’s small groups developed from this. Cheryl was followed by a number of committed Children’s & Family Workers including:

Cheryl Kidd (now Cross) 1998-2003

Amy Bryan (now Bodman) 2003-2009

Danni McGuiness 2010-2013

Neil Hayes 2013-2016

Joe Doogan 2017-2020

Andy Langton 2010-2012 (Youth Worker)Into the 21st Century and Tab Tots began and continues to this day (10am, Thursdays in term time), providing a large space for children and their carers to play and receive friendship in a christian setting. Various family friendly activities have taken place over recent years including family nights and games nights, Light Night parties and pop up Nativity services. A Friday Night youth group was followed more recently by a ‘Bang’ mid-week group.

During lockdown the church family persevered and family prayer times, quizzes and parties were provided online, with prizes being delivered to some very excited faces at their front doors! Tab Tots met in the park, when it could, and faithfully kept in contact through Facebook.

Since 2021, members from the church have been involved in welcoming families seeking refuge from Afghanistan, Ukraine and other countries, including visiting them in hotels and hostels. Although it has taken some time following the return of the Tab to the building, to re-establish Sunday School groups and grow Tab Tots again, the Tab continues to seek God’s guidance as to how it can welcome, support and share Jesus with children and families into the future.