Keeping a balance of messy activities
Posted by Martyn Payne on 25 May 2015 (0 comments)
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I’ve got stuck into a lot of different craft activities on my many visits to Messy Churches – sometimes literally so! And I’ve seen so many creative ideas to help those who come along and explore the Bible story in a hands-on way. The best Messy Churches have a balanced variety that tap into the different learning styles each of us have. Here’s a creative checklist that might help you to review your range of crafts and activities each month:
Aim to include as many from this list as your space allows:
- Something crafty but simple
- Something cooperative and large
- Something crafty but complicated
- Something culinary
- Something 'cool' - science-style experiment
- Something chaotic - very messy!
- Something construction based
- Something challenging - a game
- Something that involves colouring and collating
- Something conversational - to get people talking
- Something chilling - such as a reflective/prayer space activity
- Something community linked - possibly a social action/fundraising
- Something concrete and word based
- Something cultural - connecting to faith around the world
A few years ago, we commissioned and collected Messy Church outlines for each of the books of the Bible - they can be found here. We also included a template that encouraged a variety of activities under different headings:
- Something for younger participants
- Something for older participants
- Something for girls
- Something for boys
- Something that is word based
- Something that is food based
- Something that explores the global aspect of faith
- Something that opens up great art
- Something that is quiet
- Something that is really messy
Whichever list helps you best, do be encouraged to offer a range of experiences to help people engage with the gospel through Messy Church!