Gift of Messy Churches of the Month
One of our Messy Church USA traditions is to revisit our Messy Churches of the Month during the month of December. During 2023, we traveled from coast to coast in the US and all the way to Western Australia to hear the stories of eight different expressions of Messy Church.
Take time to celebrate the gift of our messy connections. Get inspired by quotes from young and old as to what they like about Messy Church. Discover how local Messy Churches reach out to their communities. Get creatively inspired as we remember some of the favorite Messy activities of our churches. Learn of some of their challenges they have faced.
Today we celebrate Pluckemin Presbyterian in New Jersey, Messy Church Camp in Bunbury, Western Australia, and West Chester Presbyterian in Ohio. Check on their links below to get the full information about these churches.
- May: Pluckemin Presbyterian
- June: Messy Church Camp
- September: West Chester Presbyterian
A few snippets of what people like about Messy Church???
Some Favorite Activities from Messy Church!
A few Challenges encountered at Messy Church
- West Chester Presbyterian: We usually run short on time since we meet on a weeknight evening. We end at 7:30 pm to respect bedtime for younger children. Each month we gauge how much time we should add or subtract from the activity portion to make sure we have time. {We have learned} tp read the crowd to see what people want.
- Bunbury Western Australia: For a number of years we only counted the cash money in the offering at Messy Church which looked kind of low…but then our Treasurer started adding the Direct Deposit Offerings from people who only attend Messy Church to our Messy Church offerings and it makes an enormous difference…we also ask our Messy Members if they wish to note on direct deposit offerings to Messy Church.
- Pluckemin Presbyterian: Our Sunday morning congregation has had a difficult time realizing that Messy Church IS church!… {To meet the challenge}…We take a lot of pictures from Messy Church and show them on a continual slideshow on a large TV in our main hall…it is hard to ignore the joy of Messy Church when you are looking at the faces of so many new people, especially the many new children, who are clearly engaged with our church.
We are grateful for how the Spirit of God is moving in Messy Churches!
We want to thank our 2023 Messy Churches of the Month for sharing their stories. We will hear from remaining two churches next week! Would your church be interested in being featured in 2024?
Share your Messy Church Story in 2024!
Our Messy Church USA network continues to grow and we want to hear from small, large, medium, rural, suburban or urban Messy Churches from all over the USA! We will send you template that will take a little time to complete and then share your story in 2024. Don’t miss out to celebrate our messy connections!
Contact Roberta at [email protected]