Sixty mini-theologians visit St Anne's

To St Anne's for a visit by sixty five and six year olds from Ilderton Primary School. They were an extremely well-behaved bunch who listened intently to what I said and then asked LOTS of questions.

The visit was about things we do in church, like communion (a special meal with bread and wine), baptisms, getting married, having stories about Jesus, and even funerals.

They liked seeing one of their classmates have a pretend baptism; they loved the big brass bird from where we read the stories about Jesus (actually the Eagle lectern); they loved climbing up into the pulpit, and when I said 'does any one have any questions?'about sixty hands shot up simultaneously and we had about 20 minutes of non-stop questions, before everyone had the chance to explore the building before it was time to go back school.

The questions? Some great theological posers: like 'Who made God? Who made the devil?' 'Why do people worship God? and 'Why has God got the whole world in his hands?' (they must have been singing that song). I also liked: How did the man who made the picture of Jesus (in the stained glass window) know what Jesus looked like? Where do you get the bread and wine from (for communion)? What happens to the bodies (after the funeral service)?

Basically they kept me on my toes and I had to think quickly to keep up with them. I loved their enthusiasm and their curiosity.