St Hugh Eyres Monsell
Parish Newsletter
October 2017
Are you ready for Messy Church? This is an exciting new initiative which will be running once a month as an after school club from Wednesday 8th November here at St. Hugh’s Church in our Church Hall. The picture above says it all really. Each session will be based around a theme which will be explored by using crafts, telling a story, sharing food and having fun.
Messy Church is a way of being church for families involving fun. It is found across the world. Its values are about being Christ-centred, for all ages, based on creativity, hospitality and celebration.
Messy Church* Values are:
Christ Centred
Messy Church is a church, not a craft club, that helps people encounter Jesus as Lord and Saviour. Messy Church is part of The Bible Reading Fellowship which believes, with the historic churches, in one God, who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
All Age
Messy Church is for adults and children to enjoy together. Every element should be relevant and accessible to all ages.
Creativity
Messy Church uses hands-on activities to explore Bible stories, to reflect a God of creativity and to give people a chance to play together.
Hospitality
Messy Church reflects a God of unconditional love and is a church for people outside church, providing an oasis of welcome and a safe space in which to thrive. Messy Church is about hospitality, expressed most evidently by eating together – whether it’s a plate of sandwiches to share, or sausage and mash.
Celebration
Messy Church reflects a God of joy who wants his people to have life in all its fullness.
*The Messy Church® name and logo are registered trade marks of The Bible Reading Fellowship (BRF).
Why start a Messy Church?
Some good reasons
· We want to make disciples.
· The people in our area who don't belong to church would like coming to a Messy Church.
· We want to share the love of God in Jesus in a way that's as accessible as possible to families.
· We believe that the best way for people of all ages to come closer to God is by journeying together.
· We want to share Jesus more than we want to share our particular denominational traditions.
· We want to model who Jesus is to those around us.
· We believe God is in Messy Church and we want to follow where he leads.
· We think Jesus is the person to give people in our community life in all its fullness.
And many more. (In fact, many more good reasons than bad ones, we find, as we hear people getting excited at Messy Church training events, which is reassuring.)
How it began
The first Messy Church began in 2004 when a group at St Wilfrid's in Cowplain near Portsmouth were frustrated because, as a church, they were hardly reaching any children with God's story.
They felt they had lovely buildings and facilities but weren't using them enough. They had creative people in the church, and the area needed as much community-building as possible, being a rather featureless suburb.
There was a lot of sympathy towards church in general but the church wasn't offering anything that really gripped the imagination of local families.
They decided very early on to try to do something for all ages together, partly out of a belief that we grow best as a church when we walk the journey with as many different people as possible, and partly from a desire to help families to grow together in their walk of faith, and not see Christianity as something you grow out of when you're 11.
How it spread
One of the original team members was Lucy Moore. As she was working for BRF at the time, it became the natural home of the ministry when training and resources began to be needed for other churches to start their own Messy Church. Messy Church is now a core ministry of BRF.
Messy Church is spreading across denominations and countries, with Mess happening in the countries represented on this website.
The challenges include supporting and enabling this worldwide network, especially as it grows so fast. Creating and commissioning suitable resources is a challenge. Funding the Messy ministry and specific Messy projects is a challenge. Guiding the network in a Godly direction is also a challenge as the team reflects on new ways of being disciples in this context.
The rest is history... a messy present... and an unknown future that you may well be part of too!
The Messy Church® name and logo are registered trade marks of The Bible Reading Fellowship (BRF).
Prayer. Prayer is vital to the ongoing life of St. Hugh’s.
- Our new prayer tree is in place and for you to use.
- Please take the time to offer God your thanks, hopes, fears and requests. Please remember the needs of the world, our local community, those who suffer in body, mind or spirit, the dying, those who have departed this life and the bereaved.
- If you wish us to remember your prayers in our services please write them on our intercessions sheet on the notice board.