“We’ve never really come to church before…we started coming because someone invited us and now we never miss”
~ Quote from Playfully Serious: How Messy Churches Create New space for Faith
Messy Hospitality …reaching out to the missing groups at your Messy Church
One of Messy Church’s foundational values is hospitality. Lucy Moore, founder of Messy Church, writes that “hospitality waves the flag for Christ who welcomes the people on the edges of society, who makes them his priority and his joy. It means shaping what we do around the needs of those who are marginalized, and being ready and open to being changed by them. It’s about welcome, food, grace and giving.”
One practice of Messy Hospitality is to pause and ask the question, ‘who is missing at our Messy Church?’ At the start of a new calendar year, how can your team identify who is missing, brainstorm creative ideas to include them, and intentionally making a specific goal to for 2025 to reach out to that missing group.
Start by identifying who is missing
Is it young families, teens, seniors, or another demographic? Engage your regular attendees, volunteers and team members in conversations to discover who is not attending from your community. Start simple conversations around the meal table asking questions such as, who do you wish would come to Messy Church that is not here?
Next, set a specific goal to reach out to someone who is missing.
If you want to reach more families with tweens, set a goal to encourage your current tweens to invite one friend to the next Messy Church. If you are missing seniors at your Messy Church, set a goal to chat with members from your ‘tidy’ church and discover what keeps them away from attending Messy Church. Keep your goals simple and realistic. Ensure that your team feels energized, not overwhelmed.
Develop ideas of how to meet your goal.
Equip your leadership team to get creative in thinking of ways to connect with the missing group. Consider hosting a themed Messy Church event that resonates with your missing group, such as a grandparents’/ grandchildren special day or a movie night with a movie that is popular with youth. Use personal invitations and social media and community boards to invite people who are currently missing at Messy Church.
Finally, ensure your Messy Church is ready to welcome these new groups.
Simply proclaiming that you are a ‘welcoming Messy Church’ is not enough. Do you equip a welcoming team that includes people of all ages? Do you have signs around your space describing what to expect at Messy Church? Do people know the schedule for your Messy Church? Do you have a person at your Messy Church that other people naturally gravitate to? Consider assigning them the job of ‘rover’ to become a welcoming presence. Create a friendly, inclusive, environment where people receive a sense of ‘I belong here’ from the moment they step into your Messy Church.
Taking time to review your current practices, to ask the tough question of who is missing and then brainstorming new and creative ways to include ‘ALL AGES TOGETHER’ will help you set one or more simple goals to include your missing people this year! What a gift you will give to your Messy Church community.
We are praying for your Messy Church
Our prayer for your Messy Church is that it will grow into a Messy community where you reflect the love of Jesus Christ as you share God’s love with those who may not yet feel that they belong at your Messy Church.
May the Spirit guide you in 2025!
Peace, Roberta J. Egli
