Congratulations to Bristol Federated Messy Church!
Our Messy Church is located in Bristol, Vermont but is an Ecumenical event including 5 different churches in 3 different towns, representing 4 different denominations. We seek to reach those living in our rural 5 town area of Bristol, Lincoln, Monkton, New Haven, and Starksboro, Vermont. We acknowledge that Messy Church requires a good number of volunteers and the potential to burn out our faithful, but older population of volunteers is very real if we attempt to go at it alone. We are stronger (and reach more people) when we work together.
Five Churches from Four denominations
New Haven Congregational church is a small, rural church with about 25 active members and a vibrant social justice ministry centered on food security and supporting migrant workers. We are thrilled to join with other area churches to offer Messy Church to families from our 5-town area.
The First Baptist Church of Bristol is an American Baptist church with about 33 active members. We are very mission oriented. The Messy Church work has been uplifting as we join with other churches to present the Lord to others.
St. Ambrose Catholic Church is a vibrant church with a long history in the Bristol 5 town area. We try to focus on ministering to the whole family and bringing the word of God to anyone interested in hearing it.
United Church of Lincoln is a community church with community outreach. We are a hodge-podge of faith backgrounds with ties to ABC and Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. We value the many ways that, together, we are called to live out, and be the hands of God’s love. With average attendance of around 50, we are in transition, seeking a full time pastor.
Some of our online members live as far away as South Carolina and Florida. We focus on being a positive presence in the community and work to reach the unmet needs with our community.
Jennifer Corrigan, Bristol Federated
Bristol Federated Church is the host church for Messy Church. We are a mix of United Methodist and United Church of Christ denominations. We have an active congregation, in person and online, of around 40, and are currently working with an Interim Pastor while in the process of calling a permanent pastor. Some of our online members live as far away as South Carolina and Florida. We focus on being a positive presence in the community and work to reach the unmet needs with our community.
How did you learn about Messy Church?
In the fall of 2019, I (Jennifer Corrigan from the Bristol Federated Church) heard about Messy Church in a podcast. As the Family Life Coordinator, I was looking for and praying about something different than the current Sunday School model, which was not working for our very small congregation with only 3-6 kids from 2 families. I immediately started reading articles, looking at the websites and reading books about the Messy Church model of doing church.
The more I researched, the more I wanted to bring this to our community, but knew there was no way we could create a sustainable Messy Church with our small, aging population at the Bristol Federated Church. So, I reached out to the other area churches, told them about my excitement to bring this to the 5-town area, and asked if they would be interested in working with me on it. I was shocked that it was so well received from the get go!
Why did you decide to offer Messy Church in your community?
While Messy Church is for everyone, we really started this as an effort to meet families where they’re at. Very few young families were attending our regular Sunday service and those that were attending were feeling discouraged that no one else their age was there. We thought families needed a different way to worship together–more interactive and story-based, less focused on quiet sitting- and not on Sunday morning. Our hope was that if we had something big, like Messy Church, and held it less frequently, then maybe people would make it a priority and families and youth would have other people their own age to worship with. We feel we are building a community of all Christian faiths, not just one denomination and this is helping our youth and young families know that they’re not alone in their beliefs.
When did you start Messy Church in Bristol?
We attempted to start Messy Church early in 2020 just before COVID shut everything down. Unfortunately, we had to cancel for everyone’s safety and were not yet feeling confident enough to pull off an At Home Messy Church. Our first Messy Church was the weekend after Easter 2022. It worked so nicely since liturgically we were still in the Easter Season, but all the commercial craziness of the season was over.
Messy Folk answer: What do I like best about Messy Church?
- “My church is small and doesn’t have many other teenagers. I like Messy Church because when I volunteer there, I get to help younger kids and meet other kids my age. I can’t wait for the next one to see friends!” Flora, 14, Messy Church volunteer
- “I liked the catapult-paint gun cotton ball thingy,” Reuben, Age 8, participant
- “We have a teen that has been on our fringe for some time. In meeting another teen, she can’t wait to work on the next one as long as she works with her new friend. The large age range of workers lifts everyone up in Christ’s work, teens thru 80’s.” Nancy, volunteer
- “What I like about Messy Church is the enthusiasm and effort the parents make and the excitement they share with their kids when they do the activities. Parents seem as curious and happy as their kids.” Donna, age 77, volunteer
- “My grandchildren had never been to church. They wondered what it was all about. We went to The Messy Church; they had a great time with all the activities and friendly people. After attending they talked about going again. Now when we walk by the church, they talk about how much fun they have at the Messy Church instead of wondering what church is.” Patty, participant and grandmother of 4 Messy Church goers.
- “I like all the noise and commotion created by all ages learning and having fun together.” Eva, volunteer
A Few Favorite Messy Activities
Story of Ruth in a Jar
Instructions: We collected small jars (spice bottle/baby food sized) and gave one jar to each person along with: 3 wooden peg dolls,1 foam heart (yellow for friendship or blue for loyalty, they picked), a wheat head, a small booklet of the story of Ruth (found online). We also had small pieces of fabric scraps if people wished to decorate their peg dolls to look at Ruth, Naomi, and Boaz.
Participants then used the contents of their jar to retell the story of Ruth.
Baby Jesus Ornament
We followed the general directions from this blog post. We did use a little plastic baby Jesus used in making King Cakes instead of the wooden bead. We also decided to put the star inside the cup instead of outside. We found it helped to secure the hanger. |
Nail Crosses
We cut old fence pickets into pieces 9” long and the width of the picket (ours were ~3.25”). We had a couple different style crosses photocopied onto paper. Participants chose which cross style they wanted and used masking tape to tape it to their picket. Using small nails and a hammer, they hammered the nails into the picket at the points indicated on their template. When all the nails were in, they removed their paper and chose some yarn/string to connect from one nail to the next.
Pictures from Bristol Federated Messy Church
What worked well in getting the support of your ‘Sunday’ church when you started Messy Church?
The regular “Sunday” crowd is always talking about how much they miss having young families at church, so sharing the joy of seeing lots of children in a church again has really helped build support. Our volunteers are wonderful in sharing their experiences, so word of mouth from them has helped us build our volunteer base giving us more volunteers with each Messy Church event.
Also sharing how it is designed to engage all interest levels, including the “unchurched”. We see a good number of participants that aren’t associated (or are very loosely associated) with a church because we are so open and welcoming to everyone.
Share a challenge you have had with Messy Church. What strategies did you use to meet that challenge?
The biggest challenge is getting volunteers to commit prior to a Messy Church event. We always seem to end up with enough volunteers and often have more than we need, but they don’t want to commit to helping out until the day before or the day of the event.
To try to compensate for this we have turned some activities (although not more than one per session) into self-guided activities so if we don’t have enough volunteers, the activity can still go on. We also reach out to people personally. We have found that oftentimes people might not sign up, but if they are asked, they are willing to help out. Lastly, we typically have people say, “I want to help, put me where you need me” and we wait to assign them until we have let other, more hesitant volunteers, choose the area they might be most comfortable leading.
What word would you give to Messy Church teams just starting out?
God is doing new things with the church! Messy Church is a great way to start exploring what the Spirit wants to do through you. We are offering Messy Church 4 times a year. At that level, it is possible to have time to work together and create something wonderful that people look forward to throughout the year.
As each church is small, working together makes for a wonderful experience.
Trust in the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Thanks Jennifer and Bristol Federated Messy Church for sharing your story!
A big thanks for this inspiring story of churches from different denominations coming together to offer an intergenerational worship for their community!
Bristol Federated Messy Church Contact Information
Church Name and Address: Bristol Federated Church, 37 North St. Bristol, VT 05443
Church phone number and email: (802)453-2321, [email protected]
Church social media links: https://www.facebook.com/bristolfederated, https://www.facebook.com/groups/nhccvt/, https://www.facebook.com/UCOLVT, https://www.facebook.com/StAmbroseVT
Messy church contact Name and email: Jennifer, [email protected], https://www.bristolfederated.com/messychurch