Families across the world are discovering Messy Church and we invite you to join us and join in! Children of all ages are invited to bring their parent, grandparent or carer to Messy Church at St John's. There are stories, Messy craft, songs, Messy worship, fun and friendship followed off with Messy tea for everyone.
We usually meet on the 3rd Friday each month between 3:15 and 5pm - but we do sometimes change the dates of Messy Church to fit in with school terms.
Sign up at Keeping In Touch - Hook form and we'll email you with details of the next date.
Next Messy Church is 13th December
The next Messy Church is after school on 13th December (straight after school with doors opening at 3:15pm for a 3:30pm start and finishing at about 5:00pm).
We will have games, songs and craft followed as always with Messy Tea.
Everyone is welcome and there is no charge for coming to Messy Church but if you are able to make a donation towards the cost we suggest £3 per child.
If you can, please let Jonathan know if you are going to join us (along with any dietary needs for catering purposes), but if you just turn up on the day that is also fine. Email him at jonathanbushman@whitewaterchurches.co.uk.
Messy Church Dates for 2025: Friday Jan 17th, Feb 28th (Messy Pancakes), March 21st, April 25th (Messy Easter), May 16th, June 20th & July 11th. Look forward to seeing you for more Messy fun!
This was what we did in a previous session...
The theme was how we listen to Jesus and how we can all become God's children.
The story at celebration time was about Jesus never being too busy to welcome children and give them time (Mark 10:13-16). We had a song about listening to Jesus. We listened to each other about anything we wanted to share that we wanted to celebrate.
We shared thoughts and ideas together, listened to each other made and created Rose windows and we talked about many Rose Windows being made of stained glass. These windows usually have a focus or centre, and we talked about Jesus being the centre of our lives. Children made music using glasses and water, creating notes and tunes discussing and talking about the challenges of listening and hearing.
We made a gratitude tree. Giving thanks to God for someone who has been special in our lives and who we are grateful for having known them. And to thank God for them.
Our other fun activity was a challenge to build a tower from marshmallows, jelly tots and cocktail sticks. We discussed the challenges of working together and listening to other people and sometimes we may not agree with them. We talked about why did Jesus bring children to the centre.
Messy Church Prayer
Holy Spirit of God, whose energy and gifts equip us to share the good news of Jesus, strengthen local Messy Church teams as they plan their services, granting them ideas for activities, inspiration for celebrations and grace for the welcome and the meal, so that children and adults might be drawn into a community of faith, hope and love, centred on Christ. Amen
Messy Church is part of The Bible Reading Fellowship (BRF). See https://www.messychurch.brf.org.uk/