17 June 2015 | St Albans, United Kingdom [Clair Sanches-Schutte/tedNEWS] Something amazing is happening within the Trans-European Division; we have discovered Messy Church. Messy Church is a concept that was created by a group of people in St Wilfrid’s near Portsmouth, UK number of years ago. As a church, they felt they were hardly reaching any children with God’s story.
They had wonderful buildings and facilities, which, unfortunately, weren’t being used to their full potential. The church had a wonderful group of creative people who wanted to reach out to the local community by creating something that would be for all ages. That is how a team came up with the idea of Messy Church.
The principles of Messy Church are:
- To provide an opportunity for people of all ages to worship
- To help people of all ages to feel that they belong in church and to each other
- To help people have fun together
- To give people a chance to express their God-given creativity
- To invite people into an experience of Christian community
- To introduce people to Jesus through hospitality, friendship, stories and worship
A typical Messy Church starts by welcoming everyone who comes through open doors with drinks and a biscuit half around hour before it starts. An hour of crafts related to the theme of the day follows. This leads up to the celebration time; when everyone joins together to sing, pray and watch a Bible story come to life.
The proceedings close with a meal for everyone, which acts as a time to bond and to get to know new people.
The stories which are coming from these countries are truly amazing. Already there has been a baptism in one of the churches and in another, members confess that they have never seen so many people from the community a programme.
As Ellen White states, in a quote familiar to many of us, we need to reach out as Christ did, mingling with men as one who desired their good,’ ministering to their needs, and winning their confidence. Messy Church exemplify this.
If Messy Church sounds like something your church would be interested in, please contact your local Union. Once you have done this, training and sponsorship can be provided by the Trans-European Division. [tedNEWS]
tedNEWS Staff: Miroslav Pujic, director; Deana Stojkovic, editor
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