Mainly Music: Reaching Families at Burra Baptist Church
Written by Sarah Adamson, Burra Baptist Church, Shetland
…”we never anticipated having a connection with over 50 families…”
We are entering our 5th year at Burra Baptist church of using Mainly Music and it is such a great addition to our ministry in the church. As a resource, it is opening so many doors and building incredible bridges between church and community.
Our group runs weekly during term time, from 10 – 11.30 am each Thursday morning and we cater for 0 – 5year old children and their parents/carers. We begin with a time of music, singing, and dancing. The songs are interactive and allow for parents/carers to connect with their children 1 – 1 during this time. During music time each family has their own space providing more personal connections between adults and children.
Next is a time of ‘eat, play, and chat’. This is where the heart of our mainly music ministry lies we get to know our families and build relationships with the adults. It is also a time for our adults to have 5 minutes of peace and a cup of tea or coffee, whilst other volunteers play and look after the children. To quote one mum “this is the best bit as I can completely relax for a few minutes and enjoy a hot cuppa”.
Each term we try to have special days and additional events to allow us more opportunities to connect with our families. We’ve hosted beach parties, an animal-themed day, a breakfast party, a parachute day, and Christmas parties. Recently we hosted a Jubilee party for our mainly music families with songs, dancing, a royal parade, and a high tea. People in our church also came to experience mainly music and encourage more connections between the church body and our mainly music families. It was a great day with lots of fun all around.
Our mission statement for mainly music is that we want to break down the barriers to church and share the wonderful love of Jesus and his desire to be their forever friend too. We are passionate about sharing Jesus through our words and actions and coming alongside people.
Through this connection families reach out for prayer in times of crisis and we are able to provide practical support as needed (meals, helping with children, just being there to talk). These lasting connections with families are seeing ripples affecting other areas of our church life with older children attending different youth events and parents attending Alpha groups.
We were always told to expect great things with mainly music, but we never anticipated having a connection with over 50 families. God has been so incredibly faithful to our ministry and blessed it in ways we will always be thankful for.
If you would like to find out more about the work and resources of Mainly Music, why not check out their website here.
