Messy Church

Messy Church is Greyfriars church's attempt to be church for families who might want to meet Jesus, belong to our church and bring up their children as Christians. Some who come along also come to our 11am worship but others can't cope with traditional Sunday morning church services. Messy Church is a place for all ages.

Crafts, quizzes, story telling, story writing, food, laughter and worship all form a part of our Messy Church.

So what is it? Here is one person's view of their church's Messy Church.

"The hall is buzzing with conversation. Around a table adults and children burst into laughter as they wrestle with metallic tubing and googly eyes and their teenage helpers despair of ever creating the promised artefact.

A toddler slaps green paint on a huge sheet of card under the watchful eye of a Granny (not sure if they're related or not - it doesn't really matter). A five-year-old watches wide-eyed as an enthusiastic leader shows her how to bang in a nail.

There's a delicious smell wafting out of the kitchen. The ten-year-olds, intent on their glass-painting, agree it must be jacket potatoes. The vicar takes a photo of the surreal result of the junk modelling and two mums catch up on the gossip as they drink welcome cups of tea and slowly decorate gift bags while their children make something unidentifiable but very chocolatey upstairs.

The cooks should be getting the plates stacked, but one of the mums needs to talk about her problems with her foster children.

I would be panicking about the story for the celebration later, but there's a huge collage of The Great Banquet to assemble before five o'clock, the powder paint has proved a formidable weapon of mess creation in the hands of Jack, and we've barely got started on the lettering and whoops, someone's kicked over the gluepot...

Just another Messy Church."

Messy Church has not been dreamed up by Greyfriars, but it works for us. So come along and join us at our next Messy Church.

Messy Church Logo Copyright Bible Reading Fellowship© 1998 - 2011. See www.messychurch.org.uk