Messy Church USA Intentions for 2025
What are your intentions for 2025? I was impressed by a Facebook post on the first day of this new year from a pastor friend who made an infographic of 12 intentions for 2025 that their family had arrived upon at their final 2024 family conversation. Here are a few of their intentions: We want weekly family dinners, we want to celebrate birthdays, we want to learn something new as a family and (maybe my favorite) we want daily dad jokes!
Intention is a good word for us as we start a new year as a network of Messy Churches in the USA. Intention is defined as “an anticipated outcome that is intended or that guides your planned actions”. What are the principles that form the foundation for what will guide us in and through 2025?
Our mission is to equip Messy Churches to start, sustain and connect. Here are 12 intentions based upon our principles that will guide us to serve you through 2025.
To Equip Messy Churches to start:
We intend to offer a minimum of 6 online Get Started in Messy Church training courses in 2025. Our first three sessions begin next week on January 14th. Sign up today!
We intend to partner with judicatory leaders to offer in-person Get Started trainings through our revised Messy Pathways program
We intend to guide new Messy Churches in electronic and phone through conversations when questions arise
To equip Messy Churches to become more sustainable:
We intend to publish 12 new Messy Church USA sessions
We intend to introduce a new workshop focused on adapting your Messy Church for increased sustainability in 2025.
We intend to empower our Messy Ambassadors through quarterly “Getting Messier” opportunities. These zoom calls will focus on equipping our ambassadors to reach out and connect Messy Churches within either a geographical, denominational or similar church size.
To Connect Messy Church leaders:
We intend to offer quarterly Messy Gatherings for free or a donation focused on practical best practices. Our facilitators will share their Messy Church experience and will provide an opportunity for participants to learn from each other. Storytelling Gathering with Jim White on 23rd. Sign up here.
We intend to connect with our International Messy Church colleagues at the June ‘All Ages Together’ conference in England. Scholarships are still available if you would like to also attend.
We intend to publish a regular newsletter with a monthly theme as well as our regular social media posts.
Have you set any intentions for your Messy Church for 2025?
What will guide you in planning for 2025? Perhaps you want to build stronger connections through more opportunities for conversation. Perhaps you want to build biblical literacy for your messy folks by offering a short ‘Into to the Bible’ session. Perhaps you want to reach out to your neighborhood by partnering with another organization or festival.
As you set your intentions, consider these three questions: 1) How are you growing in faith as a leadership team and as a Messy Church? Who’s missing from your Messy Church? What are you celebrating in your Messy Church?
Would you be willing to share your intentions with us so that we can share them with others? One thing I am convinced of is that we need each other as we move into and through this year. Which leads me to the most important intention for Messy Church USA.
We intend to pray for you!
We intend to pray for the Messy Church USA network. If you have specific prayers for your local Messy Church, please share your requests with us. For today, let us pray this prayer adapted from our “A New Beginning” session:
God of new possibilities, we are at the start of something new. Thank you for making a way for us even through the wild and messy places in our life. We pray for all the local Messy Churches who will start in 2025. Calm their fears and help them to learn and grow this year. We pray for Messy Churches that will become more sustainable in 2025. We pray that our connections as a network will be strengthened in 2025. Guide us into this year with courage, strength and wisdom. We pray in the in the love of God, the name of Jesus and the sustaining power of the Spirit. AMEN.
Peace, Roberta J. Egli, Messy Church USA Administrative Director
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Messy Church USA partners with the global Messy Church Network headquartered with Bible Reading Fellowship in the UK.
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