Year 5 visit SSBB Church

What an informative trip we had to Shoeburyness and Thorpe Bay Baptist church on Monday afternoon. Our Year 5s walked beautifully along to the church and were welcomed by Mark (Children’s worker), Jo (Pastor) and Chris (Caretaker) They had a small refreshment and then moved into the church to firstly discuss the history of the church. We did not know that the church was 120 years old and it used to be a rose garden!

We were then lucky to be told about the baptism pool and shown a video of it in action.

Jo then explained about the wonderful stain glass windows they have around the top of the church depicting the story of creation. 

Lastly we moved onto our most recent work on ‘Green religion’ Mark, Chris and Jo all spoke about their ‘Eco Church Movement’ Chris spoke about how green the grounds were and how they recycle consumables. They also spoke about an Eco Fair in October that is planned. At the church they have solar panels fitted and Mark explained how important these are. We discussed hymns that are sung about the environment and how recycling is so important in the community. 

The children asked about clubs at the church and Mark spoke about ‘Kids Collective’ which is on a Thursday 5.30-7pm. It is a fun weekly club for children aged between 5 to 11 where you can play games, create things, learn new skills and build friendships. Some of the children were very interested in this and have bought a leaflet home. Chris also spoke about ‘The Shoebury Bookshed’ which is a secondhand bookshop with fiction, non-fiction and children’s book sections. They are open every Saturday morning 10-12pm as well as at various times during the week. They always welcome donations.

Our Year 5s gained a great experience at Shoeburyness and Thorpe Bay Baptist church. We will be back…