by Crystal Goetz, Director of Family Ministries at Puyallup United Methodist Church in Puyallup, Washington
I love the story of The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien; Bilbo Baggins, Thorin Oakenshield, and company on their adventures in Middle Earth. As is true with any adventure, there are always challenges. It is, in many ways, like our faith journeys; adventure rarely comes without risk. When we desire something new in how we try to bring ourselves and our churches closer to God, it is inevitable that we encounter trials.
In trying something new, we might succeed or face tough challenges. Bilbo encounters many trials in his quest to help Thorin and his people return to their homeland of Erebor. They are up against many barriers to success. Bilbo must constantly think and rethink ways to achieve their goals. He does something very interesting during this time. Instead of saying, ‘I can’t do this’, Bilbo instead asks himself, ‘How can I do this? Bilbo is small and seemingly meek and mild, but he gains strength from the group and decides to work smarter, not harder. He eventually finds a way through and emerges as the hero of the tale.
Messy Church is an adventure in faith. We all experience ups and downs and tests of our resolve. For instance, presenting our outlandish plan to do Messy Church to our established church decision-making bodies, or giving our rehearsed elevator pitch when asked repeatedly, “What is Messy Church anyway?”. It is difficult to gather our strength and forge ahead into the battle for a faith adventure without any backup. What challenges are currently facing in your Messy Church journey? Perhaps you haven’t even begun the adventure yet, and are seeking ways to garner support. Or maybe you are struggling to grow and provide funding for your Messy Church?
Messy Church is a team effort. Just like Bilbo, Thorin and their company of explorers had each other to lean on throughout their journey, the Messy Church family have each other too. We train together, we support each other and we share ideas. We face our trials together and sustain each other during our times of hardship or need. We provide tools and resources for meeting those challenges. We are there for each other. Even though we may be physically distant, we are one family of adventurers gaining strength from the group to face whatever challenges our journeys bring. Messy Church is about connectedness. That is why it works. We are on this adventure together and together we can triumph!
We are getting ready to go on an adventure together. Traveling to the “Celebrate the Mess” conference in Chicago April 18-20? As we have prepared for this amazing event, we have encountered challenges, but with our incredible team of planners and our amazing MessyChurch USA leadership, we have overcome them. Now we are forging ahead toward the adventure of meeting our Messy Church colleagues from 3 countries, 11 denominations and 18 states. It will be an incredible gathering. Join us and get connected to this amazing support system!