Sharon Moughtin Mumby
author of Diddy Disciples
How it started...
Diddy Disciples began when Sharon's wriggly children were aged 3, 3, and 2, and it felt impossible to take them to church on Sunday.
When we started, everyone asked why. We only had five children and they belonged to the two leaders! To start with, we aimed only at toddlers, but soon decided to include babies. They arrived with their parents & carers just before Christmas, giving us a timely reminder of how much change babies can bring with them!
Diddy Disciples Book 1 includes lots of tips on how to include babies in worship alongside toddlers.
A passion for children as disciples...
Worshipping with babies and toddlers began as a survival tactic, but it soon became a passion.
The more we learned about the first six years of life, the more important they seemed. During those early years our sense of who we are and where we belong is shaped.
We realised that, if we wanted to build up a People of God:
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who take part fully in worship
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who are willing to lead
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who see God and the Bible as relevant to life...
... this had to begin during these first six years.
To see what we created, go to:
Diddy Disciples
at St Peter's in 2017...
Taking babies and toddlers seriously has changed us.
For a start, we’ve grown, as families have felt welcomed and - most importantly - full members of our worshipping community.
A wonderful moment was when our bishop visited St Peter's. Instead of staying upstairs with the adults, Bishop Christopher came down with us to lead our Diddy Disciples worship. He then returned with us at the Peace to preside over the Eucharist for the whole church.
For us, this represents what worship at St Peter’s Walworth is all about: different ages meeting in different spaces, each engaging in different forms of worship, and all fully part of the church.
Opening up space for our very smallest disciples has brought and taught us so much as a church.
We can’t wait to hear about Diddy Disciples taking root in other churches.
