St. Andrew's gets Messy

St. Andrew's United Church experimented November 3 with a new activity called Messy Church designed to engage lapsed church-goers.

Church services, particularly for young children, can be an excruciating experience. Even Sunday School-which had its origin as a vehicle to teach basic literacy to and instill Christian values in the child labourers of Britain's 18th and 19th century factories, but had largely evolved into a youth-focussed alternative to traditional services by the 1960s-has lost much participation over the past several decades.

Enter Messy Church, now an international movement that began at St. Wilfred's Church in Cowplain (near Portsmouth), UK in 2004. A group at the Cowplain parish was frustrated by the lack of engagement of local families and set out to enhance the relevance of "God's story" in the community.

The basic idea is to make Christ-centred learning fun and engaging using crafts and activities based on bible themes, explained Rev. Jen Dresser, minister at St. Andrew's.

"It's a good opportunity for families to come out and have some fun together," she said. "And it's a good chance for us as a church community to connect with some of our younger families. In many ways, it's church for people who don't come to church. It's fun and it's creative and you don't have to sit and be quiet."

It's not all about fun, though. "Messy Church is a church, not a craft club, that helps people encounter Jesus as Lord and Saviour," states the parent organization's website.

To that end, the activities of St. Andrew's inaugural Messy Church on Sunday were based on The Bible.

"Today we're using the story of the good Samaritan, which is all about 'love your neighbour'," Dresser explained. "All of the activities have something to do with who is our neighbour and how do we love those people?"

The minister is hoping to make Messy Church a regular event, perhaps every couple of months to begin with. She said she doubts it would ever become weekly, but will evaluate this first and subsequent ones and depending on its popularity is willing to look at holding it more frequently.