Messy Church

Something we had heard about and were really anxious to see was Messy Church. It's an approach to family ministry that started in Portsmouth and has spread widely in England.

Messy Church takes place outside Sunday morning. It includes people of all ages. Most churches have it on weekdays, usually once or twice a month. They begin with crafts and other activities, followed by a time of worship for all ages and then a meal. It centres around hospitality, creativity and celebration. Typically, Messy Church will start around 4 p.m. and end by 6-6:30.

We attended Messy Church on June 21 at All Saints Lightwater, west of London. Ruth Kidd coordinates the childrens' ministry at All Saints. We arrived in time to help her with set-up. The Scripture story they were using was Philip and the Ethiopian (tactfully avoiding the inevitable question: "What's a eunuch.") So, there were long sheets of paper and plastic bins with water soluble paint the kids could step in and make footprints, an inflatable pool with water for baptism, candle making, making a chariot out of a paper cup, decorating a paper tie for Father's Day, colouring she

ets and a few other activities.

It so happened that there was a baptism on Sunday of an 8 year old boy named Jack. Martin Sheldon, the vicar, told us they'd never done a baptism at Messy Church, so didn't quite know what to expect. I think he was preparing us for the possibility that it might be, well, messy.

By the time we started at 4 p.m. there were about 40 people present, including some family members who were there for the baptism. Kids and parents/grandparents dove into the activities enthusiastically. At 5 we went into the church for the wildest baptism service I'd ever been part of. Martin did a great job adapting the liturgy so that it was family friendly, and Ruth told the story of Philip and the Ethiopian with impromptu help from kids acting out not only their roles, but the horse pulling the chariot. It was super high energy worship.

Then back to the hall for a wonderful meal of curried chicken.

Lucy Moore, the originator of Messy Church stresses that it's about mission. Messy Church has had great success in drawing in families who would not normally be at the regular Sunday service. It's for people "at the messy edges of the church," she says, "and the messy edges of life -- people the church has often overlooked."