Congratulations to Saint Stephens UCC!
We are excited to tell the story of Saint Stephens United Church of Christ Messy Church from Merrill, Wisconsin! According to the their website, Saint Stephens combines a rich history of tradition with the relaxed atmosphere of the 21st century … to create a church culture that embraces Christ, community, and fun … and believes that we can combine all of these things in so much of what we do … and the stories that we tell, about ourselves and the world around us.
In addition to Messy Church, Saint Stephens has lots of things going on… from our annual Oktoberfest celebration in September, Treasure Sales, coffee hours after worship on Sundays, Christmas caroling, Lenten soup suppers, Easter breakfast, and lots more throughout the year. Some of our events are organized, and other opportunities for fellowship (a fancy word for hanging out and talking and eating!) are more spontaneous in nature.
The Pastor at Saint Stephens is Reverend Michael Southcombe. After starting Messy Churches at previous churches, he brought it to Saint Stephens when he moved there.
I like to laugh and be loud in church.
(5-year-old boy, regular at MC)
How did you hear about Messy Church?
Pastor Mike attended an “emerging models of ministry” workshop on Messy Church in McFarland, Wisconsin in 2016. He initiated Messy Churches at 2 other churches before coming to serve here at St. Stephens UCC in Merrill.
Why did you decide to offer a Messy Church in your community?
It provides connections between the generations, offers “unchurched” people a way to worship, learn and grow in discipleship; energizes families to worship and play together.
When did you start your Messy Church?
We did some trial runs last Summer, 2021, to orient members, volunteers and participants. The most interested volunteers are now the Messy Church Team and work on planning, preparing and hosting the monthly Messy Church.
Messy Folk answer the question: What I like about Messy Church?
- I like we can have fun in church and use glue for things. (5-year-old girl, has been coming to Messy Church for about 4 months)
- I like when the pastor messes up the hand motions for the songs. (10-year-old girl, daughter of one of the adult volunteers, has been coming to Messy Church since the beginning here)
- I like to make things with fruit, Jell-O and whip cream. (63-year-old pastor, primary MC organizer)
- I like that it reminds me of Wednesday night church when I was a little girl—we worshiped, prayed, sang, had some activities, and ate a pot-luck meal—and it was all ages. Messy Church reminds me of my grandmother and my grandchildren. (fiftyish MC volunteer)
- I like glitter. (4-year-old girl, a regular at Messy Church)
- I like to laugh and be loud in church. (5-year-old boy, regular at MC)
Pictures from Saint Stephens Messy Church
Some Favorite Messy Activities at Saint Stephens
Creating 3-D Pictures
We’ve used this with a number of different themes.
Instructions for Activity # 1
Option # 1: Draw outlines of flowers. Used school glue and different colored seeds/popcorn to decorate the petals, stems and leaves. Drawing a bouquet is especially fun using small seeds and larger kernels to give the picture greater depth.
Option # 2: Draw an outline of the manger scene. Glue narrow pieces of bark to the frame of the manger, colored sand to the hills in the distance, bits of cotton balls to create the sheep, pieces of cloth for Mary’s, Joseph’s, and the shepherds’ clothing. Use gold or silver glitter glue for the star. Use pine needles for the reeds, palms and other plants that might be nearby.
Flower Pounding
Instructions for Activity # 2
Use watercolor paper, squares of muslin or some other paper that will absorb the colors from flower petals.
Place the flower petals or stems in a picture or pattern you want to create on the watercolor paper.
Place a sheet of wax paper over the top and then use a hammer to pound the flower pieces into the watercolor paper. You may place wood blocks on top and pound the blocks to create a different effect as well.
Some of the flowers will create a different color on the paper, some will transfer the color as you see it. You can continue to add color as you like. If you use muslin, your creation can be sewn into a quilt or wall hanging. You can use this technique to make greeting cards as well.
This activity is best done on the floor or on a firm work bench, not a regular folding church table.
Making Anything with Dough
Instructions for Activity # 3
We have made homemade noodles and flatbread dough; recipes are easily found on Google. We’ve used the flatbread for Communion at the closing celebration.
Here is the favorite for noodle dough:
Basic Noodle Recipe
1 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling out the noodles
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
2 large eggs
Instructions
1. Combine the flour and salt on a clean work surface. Make a well in the center, almost like a “bowl” of flour, to hold the eggs. Crack the eggs into it.
2. Use a fork to beat the eggs and then gradually start incorporating the flour into the eggs. As you beat them, they will slowly but surely take up some flour from the edges.
3. Keep stirring and pulling in more flour until a solid dough forms. The dough will be sticky. Don’t worry; you’ll be working in more flour in a moment.
4. Turn the dough out onto a well-floured work surface. With well-floured hands, knead the dough, incorporating more flour as necessary to keep it from sticking to either the work surface or your hands, until the dough is smooth and firm and no longer sticky. This takes roughly 5 to 10 minutes.
5. Place on a paper plate with your name written on it. Cover with a paper towel and let rest for 30 minutes. Go do some other Messy Church activities and come back to finish.
6. On a well-floured work surface, divide dough into 2 halves. Roll out each half to your desired thickness.
7. One of the adults will use the pizza cutter to cut the noodles into as uniform width as possible for an even cooking time.
8. Place noodles in a zip lock bag and put in the refrigerator when you get home. Within 2 days, cook noodles in well salted water until tender to the bite (5-10 minutes depending on thickness). Use in your favorite soup recipe or with butter and parmesan cheese as a side dish.
Other Favorite Activites
- Scavenger Hunts in the Church
- Dressing up in Costumes
- Making Holiday cards for at home members of church
More Pictures for Flower Pounding, Making Dough and Knitting
What worked well in getting the support of your ‘Sunday’ church when you started Messy Church?
We had a few members who saw the potential, loved that the program covered all age groups and diverse learning styles. During the Covid-19 shut downs, however, it was a way to safely have an activity that some saw as an alternative to Vacation Bible School.
It has been a struggle to get others on board but we now have more adults attending, liking it and telling others what good it can do for the church.
Share a challenge you have had with Messy Church. What strategies did you use to meet that challenge?
The Covid pandemic has been the greatest challenge. We have had to shut down, skip a session, due to an increase in cases and necessary caution in the community.
We have tried to make the decisions to skip a session at least a week in advance to get the word out. We’ve provided suggestions for activities at home. And we have advertised the program in the local paper to let non-church attenders know we have started again.
A New Joy to report!
At our last Messy Church, Feb. 13, friends from Our Savior’s Lutheran Church came and will now be having MC with us—a joint ministry. We will still host but they will participate in planning, providing volunteers and, of course, participants. We are very excited to launch this new cooperative ministry!
Contact Information:
Name and Address: St. Stephens UCC, 903 East 2nd St., Merrill, WI. 54452
Church Phone and Email: 715-536-7322, [email protected]
Messy Church Contact: Rev. Mike Southcombe, [email protected]
Church Social Media Links:
- Website: www.ststephensucc.net
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ststephensunitedchurchofchrist
Thank You!
Thank you Rev. Mike for sharing the story of Messy Church at Saint Stephens in Wisconsin! I hope others join in and begin to enjoy making dough and pounding pictures as they learn about the good news of Jesus! Rev. Mike had previously shared a news release that he sent out when they started Messy Church that was picked up by the local paper. I wanted to share it as an example for others. Nominate your own Messy Church for our Messy Church of the month by writing me at [email protected].