Kathy Bland is the Intergenerational Enabler for the diocese and regional coordinator for our Messy Church programme. Here she talks about how each Messy Church is a unique expression of faith.
I wonder what you think of when you hear the words Messy Church? Sometimes people who haven’t been before feel worried that it might be TOO MESSY! for them or they assume that it’s just for very young children, but in my experience, just like ‘tidy church’, each Messy Church is different, unique and has something wonderful to offer to the community it serves.
Our Messy Churches all share the same values, which means that people who go to them will be offered welcome and hospitality - whatever age they are - and will experience creativity and celebration with Jesus at the centre of it all. In our Diocese, we have some tiny Messy Churches and some other very busy Messy Churches; all of them sharing God’s love with the people who come through their doors.
At the Scout Hut in Hunderton, Hereford, St Martin’s Messy Church is almost overflowing if more than 5 families arrive because the scout hut is not large. They celebrate being a small community of friendship and care where the people who come are very much part of things – helping to get the tables ready for mealtime and ‘mucking in’ as one of the family.
Stretton Messy Church is blessed with a lively group of families. Celebration time is followed by a delicious sit-down meal usually for around 50-70 people which brings a great opportunity for more conversation and friendships to grow.
At Leominster Messy Church they love to make use of the Churchyard in the summer months and to ‘go wild’ with Messy Church, enjoying lots of outdoor activities and celebrating God’s good creation. Being outside also means messy activities are easier to clear up!
Hereford Cathedral Messy Church, much like the Cathedral it is part of, offers a welcome to friends and strangers – often welcoming visiting families and scooping up tourists in amongst their regulars. A cooked meal is not easily possible at the Cathedral, but thankfully they have a café on hand to offer plates of pizza and other treats to their Messy Church congregation.
In the north of the Diocese, Pontesbury Deanery shares resources and some of their volunteer team across two of their Messy Churches. Each Messy Church chooses the same Bible story or theme each month with the same activities and yet they find each Messy Church is very different from the other because the people who come are unique and different and so is the space they use.
Food plays a vital part in the welcome at Orleton Messy Church who love a challenge; so their ‘welcome’ snacks are sometimes hung along a line of string and have to be accessed without using hands! Linking in with School fairs and Harvest enables them to be seen and for more people to join in with what is on offer.
Our Messy Churches are all so brilliantly and beautifully different, offering what is needed in the areas they serve; welcoming people of all ages with love and sharing Christ with everyone, just like Church always should!
If you would like to know more about starting a Messy Church or want to find your nearest Messy Church you can learn more on the Messy Church website or email Messy Church regional coordinator Kathy Bland.