MESSY CHURCH 1

MESSY CHURCH AT OUR CHURCH

Because there are increasing numbers of people who find attending Sunday morning service difficult............ children's sports fixtures, having to work etc. we have tried to provide a mid-week service designed for parents and children, though anyone is most welcome to come along.

There is an additional need, that of getting a child into the local Church school. If parents need to 'get in on church attendance' our local school has just set that qualification as 'at least twice a month, for 2 years', impossible if you have to work on a Sunday morning.

We have tried various formats and times but it is difficult to find a time which suits parents at the same time as enabling folk who are working to be part of the team. At one point there was just my husband (the vicar) and myself and that fell apart when I had to spend increasing amounts of time out of town looking after my ancient parents, so the family service lapsed.

In response to requests from parents we had a meeting a couple of weeks ago in the local pub and sorted out a basic team, a format for the service and a time.... straight after school on Tuesdays, every week except for the Tuesday after Christmas and August, using a Messy Church format and starting in 2 weeks. The first of the new services was last Tuesday.

2pm Tuesday

D and I go across to church to set up tables and chairs. Although we had asked at PCC for helpers none has come forward, so it's just the two of us and since I refuse to move the desperately heavy, unstackable chairs it's down the the vicar, as usual. I go up to the office to photocopy colouring/puzzle sheets. I'll have to err on the side of caution since we have no idea how many will/ will not come.

2.20pm

I put out craft materials, puzzle sheets etc, hymn sheets on chairs, music ready for our keyboard player, service outline and talk outline on the altar ready for the service part of the session.

2.30pm A lovely lady, M, arrives (she was at the meeting) to organise the kitchen, drinks and biscuits for early arrivals. The local schools from whom we expect to get most of our children all finish at different times so we have decided to serve drinks and a biscuit as they arrive to help cope with this.

D goes across the road to ASDA to buy drinks, including sugar free for the diabetic lad we know will be there.

2.45pm

R our keyboard player arrives and gets set up in her corner.

I get all the crayons and pens in church and throw out the duds, sharpen the pencil crayons and get them onto the tables ready for use.

We label the drink bottles and biscuit tin 'Messy Church' so we don't use up the supplies for Sundays.

2.50pm

I go through the box of pictures to colour, which is used during Sunday services, throw out those which have been drawn on, save some which will be great for future Messy services and put the rest back into the box for Sunday.

3pm

I plug in the slow cooker, with water and a bowl of chocolate pieces to melt ready to make chocolate crispies. Our theme is 'taste and see that the Lord is good' so we're making something good to taste.

3.10pm

Our first arrivals. Drinks and biscuits.

Things start to hot up. One little Asian lad decides he will leap up onto the baby soft play mat which has been safely stored on top of the chairs at the back of the church (it's part of the play group's equipment) and I make sure he comes down! No other child tries to do this.
Children enjoy drinks, biscuits and go off to choose an activity.

3.30pm

The chocolate has melted so the first children rush up to make their crispies.

3.40pm

We are in full swing, J is collecting names so we can keep a check on who's there (essential if they need to prove church attendance), D is chatting, parents are chatting, though we would really prefer them to be 'dong' crafty things with their children. I see we have 3 childminders with their charges, great! Children are getting the idea that they can do one activity and then go to another. We make extra crispies for those who don't want to make one.

3.45pm

K and P have prepared a more substantial snack..... sausages and cheesy tortillas, and children are diverted from crafts to the snack table, and back again.

It looks like it's all going rather well.

4.10pm

The crispies being finished I tidy away the equipment and put the trays of goodies on the altar, away from little fingers.

Looking around I can see some children have done as much as they want.

4.20pm

I get out the bells and start to ring up at the altar. People stop so I ring and beckon and they all get the message and come up to the altar. We have enough chairs set in a semi-circle in the sanctuary for the Mums and so the children sit on the carpet. They are very squashed (we had a really big turn out and are delighted to have this problem) so for next week we'll need to move the altar back.

4.30pm

Our service is underway and we enjoy a talk about biscuits (trust the Name! Taste and see) and play our (noisy) percussion, have an action song and then we quiet down for prayers...and they do all quiet down, in spite of their bouncing around with excitement when the Vicar promises them more biscuits from his special packet as they go home!

We finish with 2 quiet songs, 'May God's Blessing Surround You Each Day' and what I know as 'the Tweenies going home song'.

4.50pm

Almost everyone has gone, J is giving away the last of the crispies, D is chatting to a Mum and I am finally getting to know the lass who lives at the bottom of the Vicarage garden in the old rectory.

5pm

I stagger home leaving 'someone else' to finish the tidying up, incredibly tired and heartily glad that I have left baked potatoes in the oven.

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