Messy Church
Messy Church provides an afternoon of activities for the whole family with arts and crafts, games, lively songs and bible stories, finishing with a shared sit-down meal. It began in April 2004 in an Anglican church near Portsmouth. Their vision was to create a fresh way to reach out to the people in their community of all ages and from all walks of life who find it hard to go to church on a Sunday. Messy Church – as the name suggests – really does mean getting messy with lots of different arts and crafts, as well as new and inspring ways to connect with all ages from babies right up to grandparents, all under the same roof.
Splash has been working with local churches to help them establish their own “Messy Churches”. Following a successful training day in April 2009 with Lucy Moore (who works full-time on Messy Church within the Barnabas Team), we have been planning and preparing with churches in Storrington, Fittleworth and Billingshurst as they are working to start their own Messy Churches.
Karlene acts as Splash Messy Church Co-ordinator providing project management, creative ideas for crafts and games as well as puppet sketches, music and bible stories which really capture the attention of the children and families. Each church/group of churches have really caught hold of the vision. Fittleworth Evangelical Church began with a BBQ in August, and are now running Messy Church on the 3rd Thursday of each month. In October, over 50 people came to hear about the shepherd going to look for the lost sheep. Check out the pictures on the “Messy Church News” page. The launch of Storrington Community Messy Church on the 1st Wednesday of October at Sullington Hall was extremely successful with many new families and children and lots of volunteer helpers! In Billingshurst, 3 churches are working together with us to launch Messy Church in the New Year.
For more information on Messy Church, check out the Barnabas Messy Church website on our links page. For help, advice or ideas, contact Karlene at karlene@splashschools.org.uk
