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What is this?

ClimacusClimacus Shipmate
in Ecclesiantics
So not to spiral off into tangents...

This was a while ago but I was catching up on a thread and forgot to ask. For some reason while on the tram I've remembered!

@North East Quine mentioned "Messy Church" on the Family Mass thread. What is it and why is it messy?

Comments

  • Bishops FingerBishops Finger Shipmate
    Perhaps it's best described in its own words:

    https://www.messychurch.brf.org.uk/

    FWIW, my local parish church holds Messy Church on one Sunday afternoon per month, and it involves families/parents/guardians etc. etc. for whom Sunday mornings - or perhaps the Sunday morning Eucharist or Service of the Word (they alternate) - are not viable.

    I'm sure other posters will have their own experiences, knowledge, and thoughts on the subject.

    AIUI, it's not restricted to the C of E, but is found in most mainstream denominations.
  • Nick TamenNick Tamen Shipmate
    edited July 3
    Messy Church.

    I have no firsthand experience, so someone else will need to provide that. I’m aware of at least a few places in the US where it can be found.

    ETA: Sorry, cross-posted with @Bishops Finger.


  • ClimacusClimacus Shipmate
    Thank you both. Very interesting.
  • SpikeSpike Ecclesiantics & MW Host, Admin Emeritus
    Our Curate (now Associate Vicar) started a Messy Church a few years ago. It starts with various activities including art & craft and science experiments that follow a theme which is often (but not always) based on the lectionary readings. This is followed by an act of worship including songs and afterwards we all sit down for a meal. We are fortunate that we have a couple in our congregation who are professional chefs and they give up their time to do this.

    It grew very fast and we now have up to 600 people attending. As many of these people aren’t regular (or even irregular) worshippers at the church, this a a great form of outreach and evangelism.
  • CathscatsCathscats Shipmate
    I ran one for years and loved it. The hardest battle was convincing the Kirk Session that it was “real” church, not a gateway to Sunday morning - though that happened for some. Messy communion was one of the most profound experiences - especially when, as sometimes happened, a child reached out to help him or herself to more bread or juice. And we also did Messy baptisms. (Which we’re not in themselves messy - no water all over the floor etc!)
  • PuzzlerPuzzler Shipmate
    I helped to run one very similar though we did not call it Messy Church. It was called KFC, where K = the name of the village, so K Family Church.
    It grew organically as parents/ grandparents/ carers arrived to collect their children from an after-school club held in church, and seemed reluctant to go home. So we started KFC, once a month, with games, crafts, a short service, and a meal, not necessarily in that order. It had input from Methodists and Anglicans, a musician and a primary teacher, and other volunteers.
    There was no set charge, but we calculated the cost of the meal, displayed it, and without fail enough money was donated.

    Eventually it folded as children moved school, leaders moved on, but for a few years it was Church for a number of families.
  • Bishops FingerBishops Finger Shipmate
    @Puzzler makes a good point - there are a number of initiatives which are very like Messy Church, but don't use that name.

    @Spike - 600 people attending? Or is that a typo for 60?
  • Gramps49Gramps49 Shipmate
    A video explaining Messy Church. https://youtu.be/36J3bOtdQLw
  • PomonaPomona Shipmate
    Personally I think Messy Church is the antithesis of everything that's good about church, but I also would have felt like this when I was a child. I do think that some churches assume all children want the same things.
  • CaissaCaissa Shipmate
    And here is the Canadian website: https://messychurch.ca/
  • Bishops FingerBishops Finger Shipmate
    edited 3:54PM
    Horses for courses.

    Messy Church works for some places, it seems. At my local church, the numbers at monthly MC equal those at the weekly Sunday morning service. AIUI, they feel that two smallish congregations are better than just one !

    There is some crossover - the Messy Church people are responsible for the Crib Service on Christmas Eve, and there are sometimes Baptisms (usually in the Sunday morning Eucharist) of children from Messy Church. There may be other occasions at which the two congregations meet - certainly, some of those who help at MC are morning *regulars* anyway.
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