Mothers' Day in your church

Mothers' Day in your church

Mothers’ Day, or Mothering Sunday, is really special and many churches and schools will celebrate it with a service or activities. Read on for more about what to expect in church along with ideas to prepare for Mothers' Day at home.

Your local church will probably have a Mothering Sunday service. Many churches will have a time in the service when children give flowers to their mothers, or to those who have played a mother’s role in their life.

Your church may even be looking for volunteers to help get ready – making posies, decorating the church, getting the word out to toddler groups, and so on. If you’d like to join in and help with these activities, your church will no doubt welcome some extra hands!

If you’re preparing for Mothers' Day at home, it can be a good time to help children learn about God’s love for them too, which is also like a mother’s love. Here are some things to do together as you think about that love:

  • Make a few pom pom chicks, (you can save them for Easter Day as a table decoration). An example is on Homemade Gifts Made Easy.
  • Ask your child who the chicks’ mummy is. If you like, you can talk about how they are born from an egg.
    Talk about how a hen protects her little chicks by hiding them under her wings. She feeds them and holds them close to her to keep them warm and safe.
  • Think about how God’s love is like this. We are like God’s little chicks and God wants to keep us safe too, just like the hen.
  • Why not play at being hens and chicks together, spreading out arms and gathering underneath them?
  • At home, you can also read one of the Bible stories that has a mother’s love at its centre – for example, the story of Moses. This one, by Jenny Koralek, is great for children three and up.

A mother’s love is so special it’s worth celebrating, but some people may find Mothers' Day difficult for lots of different reasons. Some people may not have a mother who they see any more. She may have died, or they just never knew her. Some parents find Mothers' Day sad because they have lost a child and still grieve.

As well as celebrating the love of mothers, a church will always remember that Mothers' Day can be difficult as well, and will often say prayers or provide a place to light a candle during the service. The vicar can even offer a confidential listening ear and prayer at this time, if that is something you would like.