Get to know Pluckemin Presbyterian Messy Church
We are excited to share the story of Pluckemin Presbyterian Messy Church! The first thing you read on their website is that their mission is to Know God’s Love- Show God’s Love- Share God’s Love. They are called by God to be a hub of caring in the community. They want people to know and experience the reconciling love of Jesus Christ through our church as we gather and serve together. I think after hearing about their Messy Church, you will know that they faithfully fulfill their mission. Congratulations to Chris Staffin, Director of Child and Family Ministries, Rev. Ian Rankine and all of the volunteers and Messy Church participants for being our May 2023 Messy Church of the Month!
Tell us a little bit about your local church
Pluckemin Church has a long history, back to Scottish Settlers in the region in the 1850s.The church has always had a desire to meet the needs of the local community and has developed and expanded over the decades to be able to care for people and provide for their needs. The ultimate goal of the church is to point people to Jesus, and Pluckemin has striven to do that by making sure that the community is cared for and people know that we do what we do because of the love of Christ.
How did you hear about Messy Church?
Our pastor had heard of Messy Church through a number of other churches over the years but became most familiar with it through his relationship with the Forked River Church down the Jersey Shore. He saw the way they were connecting with people in the community through fellowship, engagement, and worship and brought it to Pluckemin as part of our desire to meet the needs of the community and point them to Jesus.
Why did you decide to offer a Messy Church in your community?
The heart of our community is families with young children. For a variety of reasons, Sunday mornings are a challenging time for people to meet for worship and fellowship in our community. We wanted to make sure that we had alternate worship opportunities that were real, engaging, and meaningful and allowed people not simply to worship, but to grow together through fellowship and service. Messy Church was the ideal medium for that to happen.
When did you start your Messy Church?
We tried Messy Church once just prior to the pandemic, but it really started in earnest on September 21, 2021. We meet on the second Tuesday of every month, and our average attendance is 40-45 people.
What do you like about Messy Church?
“I like the craft part. I like that the craft is sometimes messy. I like that the craft is fun. I like learning about God. I love singing all of the songs.” – Samantha, age 6
“I like when we eat pizza. I like when Pastor Ian asks questions and I can answer. When Pastor Ian tells a story it’s fun. I like seeing my friends at Messy Church.” – Tommy, age 6
What do you like about Messy Church?
- “I like that Messy Church is a low-stress way for us to get involved in church. For us, it was our pathway back to church after having kids…I think this is a very family-friendly way to worship. I personally love the contemporary music that we use during Messy Church and love singing with my children. I enjoy the social aspect of meeting others from church and catching up with friends more at Messy Church… my children enjoy it too, and they get excited when it is a Messy Church week!”– Chrissie, age 38, Mom
- “I love Messy Church because it is a chance for my kids to get to know God from a different perspective. It gives them an opportunity to learn about the Christian faith in a warm and welcoming church community. I enjoy sitting and having dinner with new people each month. It is nice to step away from our hectic weekday schedules and just be present for a couple of hours. People from all walks of life can share a meal, worship and then work on an activity together, which in this day and age is just refreshing.” –Kelly, 30 something
- “I am a long-time member and leader at Pluckemin Church and have seen the highs and lows of participation in the church…Our Messy Church has a vibe, a palpable feeling that just lifts me up no matter what kind of mood I am in… Messy Church is a wonderfully enlightening time where families can worship, share a meal, and feel a sense of community.” – Dave, age 62
- “I love serving dinner to 50 or so people during a weeknight. The smiles I see on their faces are very rewarding. I can feel God smiling too.” – Peggy, Messy Church volunteer in her 70s
- “When we think of Messy Church, we think of fun, fellowship, kids, and food, all surrounded by God’s love. ‘For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.’ Matthew 18:20.” – Jon and Marcia, long-time church members in their early 50s
Some Favorite Activities at Pluckemin Messy Church
Body of Christ Towers – I Corinthians 12: 12-27
Before breaking into teams, read through the scripture and ask people to think about their own gifts and talents in working with other people.
Instructions for Body of Christ Spaghetti/Marshmallow Towers
- Divide everyone into teams of approx. 5-7 people with variety of gifts and ages represented in each team.
- Give each team a box of uncooked spaghetti, a bag of marshmallows (regular size, not mini), and a roll of masking tape.
- Give them a time limit and ask them to build the tallest tower they can using only those 3 items.
- Sit back and enjoy how both hysterical and wonderful it is to watch people approach this challenge based on their talents and perspectives!
Passover Seder
Messy Church USA recommends that you invite a leader from your local Jewish community to lead and explain the importance of the Jewish Passover Seder. Building interfaith relationships through shared experiences shows respect to the diversity of our faith traditions. (RJE)
At Pluckemin Presbyterian Chris Staffin, Director of Children and Family Ministry, invited her husband, who is Jewish to help plan and lead their Passover Seder.
You will need at least one Haggadah for each table of guests. The Haggadah is the book that contains the prayers and stories told at a seder. There are several versions you can purchase through Amazon. Another option is to use an online Hagaddah and project its pages on a large screen for all to see.
Instructions:
Gather the items needed for the Passover Seder and place them on a plate, (egg, parsley, horseradish, harroset, lamb bone and lettuce). Alternate is to purchase a Seder plate buy inexpensive seder plates through Amazon. Each table also needs a number of matzoh, sprigs of fresh parsley, salt water, a glass of grape juice for each person and a bowl of harroset (a delicious traditional mixture of apples, walnuts, honey, wine, and cinnamon).All of these will be used during the seder.
Our leader began by giving a brief history lesson behind the story of Passover. Then he read some of the stories and prayers in the Haggadah and encouraged others to take turns reading as well. He explained the meaning of the items on the seder plate, and made sure to do the activities embedded in the stories (such as the washing of hands, the dipping of parsley in salt water, and the spilling drops of wine to represent the plagues) so that everyone stayed engaged and had a hands-on learning experience.
We ended the evening by sending the children to look throughout the church building for the hidden matzoh, another Jewish Passover tradition. The first one to find it received a prize! For more detailed instructions contact Chris at [email protected].
Egg Drop
We did this activity in March this year, at the beginning of spring and right before Easter. We talked about how both an egg and Jesus symbolize new life.
Instructions for Activity # 3
Put about 12-15 different items on a table (pipe cleaners, cotton, felt, yarn, tape, small boxes, tissue paper, ribbon, coffee filters, paper bags, wooden skewers, etc.). Everyone was divided into multigenerational teams, and each team was told they could choose 4 items from the table. (Everyone had free access to scissors, markers, and crayons). Each team also received a hardboiled egg. The teams then had the same amount of time to build a contraption from only their 4 items that would keep their egg from breaking when dropped from a great height. At the end of this time, we went into the sanctuary and one person from each team went up to the balcony and dropped their egg over the edge to the sanctuary floor below. Everyone was so excited – especially the children! We had a loud countdown for each drop, and the kids raced to open their packages to see if the egg survived. I am happy to report every egg remained intact!
Share a challenge you had with Messy Church. What strategies did you use to meet the challenge?
Our Sunday morning congregation has had a difficult time realizing the Messy Church is church! Many refused to attend saying it wasn’t their kind of thing without ever actually experiencing it. We repeatedly invited these congregants to Messy Church to experience the growth and excitement happening there, but most refused to come because they had misconceptions about what Messy Church was.
- We invited people from our “Sunday worship” to baptism and other traditional worship experiences
- We baptized a mother and two children of a new Messy Church family during Messy Church worship
- We invited our sanctuary handbell choir to come play during Messy Church worship
- Since our tradition is to give out bibles to our 3rd graders, we presented the annual 3rd-grade bibles in Messy Church rather than during Sunday worship
- We take a lot of pictures of all of the fun being had by the many people attending Messy Church each month, and we show these on a continual slide show on a large TV monitor 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 continue to invite the older members of our congregation to come volunteer at Messy Church. Most of the time, once they come to help, they are hooked!
What word would you give to Messy Church teams just starting out?
- Don’t expect everyone in your current congregation to embrace and attend Messy Church. Rather, use Messy Church to invite members of your community for whom traditional Sunday morning worship does not work.
- Make sure that the leaders and participants understand the concepts of Messy Church as an alternate worship experience that is just as valuable as traditional ‘Sunday church’.
- Advertise! Write an article about your Messy Church for your local paper. Use social media platforms. We frequently send invitations to Messy Church to about a dozen family Facebook groups in our area, and we post about Messy Church on our Instagram and FB pages. We also put up a large banner the week of Messy Church: “Messy Church this Tuesday at 6 pm! Come for dinner, worship, music, and a fun family activity!”
- We hosted a Family Night Out one evening during our regular scheduled Vacation Bible School. We invited the 50+ VBS campers and their families to attend for the evening. We had 90 people at that Messy Church!! We used the stories and themes of the VBS to reinforce the week’s lessons. Everyone had a great time!
Thanks for sharing your Messy Church story plus a few more pictures!
Contact Information for Pluckemin
Church Name and Address: Pluckemin Presbyterian Church, 279 Rt. 202-206 Pluckemin, NJ 07978
Church phone number and email: 908-658-3346; [email protected]
Church social media links:
https://www.facebook.com/PluckeminChurch/
https://www.instagram.com/pluckeminchurch/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnA6K4FBIHW9tAw9UMFGpPA
Messy church contact Name and email:
Chris Staffin, Director of Child & Family Ministries, [email protected]
Ian Rankine, Pastor, [email protected]