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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 July 4
    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.
  • Gramps49Gramps49 Shipmate
    We have not had a regular Messy Church program, though we have incorporated parts of it on a seasonal basis.
  • SpikeSpike Ecclesiantics & MW Host, Admin Emeritus
    Bishops Finger wrote: »

    @Spike - 600 people attending? Or is that a typo for 60?

    No, not a typo. We have a large church building (sometimes mistaken for a small cathedral) so with all the chairs removed it gives us loads of space. Even so, it still takes a lot of organising and lots of helpers, and we are extremely grateful to our two professional chefs who are used to cooking for that number of people
  • Bishops FingerBishops Finger Shipmate
    Spike wrote: »
    Bishops Finger wrote: »

    @Spike - 600 people attending? Or is that a typo for 60?

    No, not a typo. We have a large church building (sometimes mistaken for a small cathedral) so with all the chairs removed it gives us loads of space. Even so, it still takes a lot of organising and lots of helpers, and we are extremely grateful to our two professional chefs who are used to cooking for that number of people

    Very impressive!
    :grin:
  • ClimacusClimacus Shipmate
    Indeed. Wow.

    Thank you all for sharing. It is interesting to hear of different ways people gather and worship.
  • The RogueThe Rogue Shipmate
    We run Messy Church once a month on a Sunday. It is a joint venture between the Methodist and Anglican churches in our town and was held in the morning at the Methodist Church whose usual congregation joined the Anglicans. It is now in the afternoon so we find other reasons to hold joint morning services. Many people attend who don't come to other services which is a good thing, especially as some (adults and young people) do then get more involved in the churches.

    The whole thing is craft-based which is fine if you like that kind of thing and the assumption seems to be that all children do.

    We once had the baptism of an older child at Messy Church and once the vicar had done the formal bits everyone was given a water pistol to round it off.
  • PuzzlerPuzzler Shipmate
    Our vicar’s final Parish Communion service included the baptism of two children from a Messy Church family. As one was aged 11 or 12, her sponsor was the Church Family Worker. Very encouraging sign.
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