Thank you Bunbury Uniting Church for sharing your Messy Church story!
This month we travel across the world to Bunbury Uniting Church in South Bunbury, Western Australia. Rev. Greg Ross, pastor at Bunbury Uniting is also a leader of the Messy Church movement in Australia. For the past seven years the Bunbury Messy Church congregation has rented out their church camp site for 17 days after Christmas in their state and invited Messy Church families to book some time to experience Messy Camp. As the summer begins in the Northern Hemisphere, we hope that by sharing their story, it may give you some inspiration to discern if Messy Camp may be something you may want to try. Just be aware that our Australian friends are heading into winter…although I imagine their winter may be a bit different than ours.
Tell us a little bit about your local Messy Church?
Our Messy Church started in May 2010 and has operated continuously since then – moving to online and Messy Church in a Bag – during the Covid lockdowns. We have a team of about 18 people aged from 14 – 80plus, a mix of women and men and have over 60 households on our attenders list. We meet monthly on the 2nd Saturday of each month between 5 and 7.15 pm.
How did you decide to start a Messy Camp?
Seven years ago, after a State Messy Church gathering, our Messy Congregation hire our Church Camp Site for 17 days after Christmas – with the idea of keeping the 5 Core Values of Messy Church front and center each day. We invite households to book for any or all of those days and they did.
We provide Sporting Equipment, Creative Materials, an outdoor Movie on the big screen several nights. We hold one or two Messy Church services in the full-on Messy Church way and also other opportunities for people to get together. We invite people to meet for training, for conversation, for walks and bike rides, for shared meals and music making. We now have several of the Messy Churches from different denominations across our state who are part of the planning and running the camp and have grown from around 50 people the first year to over 150 in the last 2 years. People come from many backgrounds and share their culture, food and ways of living their Christian faith.
The Camp Site is on the beach front in Busselton and this provides heaps of opportunities for people to make friends and to talk about deep issues of life and faith while they are on the beach or in the ocean.
How did you hear about Messy Church? When did you start?
We heard about Messy Church in 2008 and then tested and trialed several options including Messy Church with our community before them affirming, this is where they sensed God leading. We began our Messy Church in May 2010.
Why did you decide to offer a Messy Church in your community?
We prayed, talked, walked, listened and then tried several different options and discerned together that Messy Church was right for our community.
Messy folk answer the question, “what do you like about Messy Church?”
- The food and the craft ~ YOUNG PERSON
- Our family gets to spend time together without technology learning about faith~ DAD
- Three generations of our family all meet at Messy Church! We are celebrating our faith together and learning together~ GRANDMA AND GRANDAD
- At Messy Church I have friends of all ages and each one listens and talks to the others which is really different to other places where we only talk to our own age~ TEENAGER
When a question was asked “when are Messy Church [folk] coming to real church?” we would all respond “well Messy Church is real church, just different…. When are you coming to Messy Church?’
What are some favorite Activities at Messy Camp?
Sand scuplting competition
Instructions:
Invite groups of people of all ages to work together on sculpting something to fit the theme for the day.
Bike Trail Ride
Instructions:
Have some people scope out a trail, provide written clues and things for people to collect (physical or photographic) deliver (like books to a street library) or other stops along the way. Arrange a rendezvous point for a photo. Make sure all safety measures are in place and that an adult is with each group and has a cell phone if needed.
Messy Church Feast
Instructions:
Invite one of the cultural groups within your Messy Church (or Messy Church Camp) to cook their favorite home country meal for everyone. Tell the story of how the Christian faith is lived out in their home country. Share the recipes and have fun. This is the table fellowship that Jesus is renowned for – where all human kind were welcomed at one table.
What worked well in getting the support of your ‘Sunday’ church when you started Messy Church?
The Congregation had adopted a Mission Plan that placed high priority on providing something that met the needs of families of all shapes and sizes. When a question was asked “when are Messy Church coming to real church?” we would all respond “well Messy Church is real church, just different…. When are you coming to Messy Church?”
Share a challenge you have had with Messy Church. What strategies did you use to meet that challenge?
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 will also ask our Messy Members if they wish to note on direct deposit offerings ‘for Messy Church’.
What word would you give to Messy Church teams just starting out?
- Pray lots
- Listen to people in your community who do not attend church – people of all ages and backgrounds too
- Look at the community needs and where you may be able to meet those
- Try and few different things and evaluate them
- If Messy Church is the ministry that your team affirms, plan, pray, budget, train and start well. If Messy Church is not the ministry for you – don’t do it
More Pictures from Messy Camp in Western Australia
Contact Information
Church Name and Address: Bunbury Uniting Church, 119 Mangles St, South Bunbury, Western Australia
Church Website: www.staugustineuc.com.au
Messy church contact Name and email: Rev Greg Ross, [email protected]
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/staugbunbury
YouTube: Bunbury Uniting Church
Thank you for sharing your story!
What a great story! Anybody want to take a field trip to Western Australia! Thank you Rev. Greg and all of your team!