Martin Skipworth has written a dissertation all about Messy Church! Martin draws on the Messy Church values, both Biblical and historical definitions of church, as well as modern conceptions of church such as those outlined by Fresh Expressions. In doing so, he explores whether Messy Church can be regarded as church or if it is better conceived as another form of Christian community. Martin highlights and praises the distinctive space that Messy Church occupies and his work makes an interesting read.
To read his dissertation download the PDF.
Wondering how you can start or restart your Messy Church after all the restrictions of lockdown? Worried about missing something? Take a look at our handy checklist, which helps you to think about how, when and where you might start holding Messy Church again.
Download the PDF
MESS-AI is an interactive family workshop exploring the questions, ‘Who are robots?’ and ‘What are we?’
In this pack you will receive:
An introduction to AI
Running a MESS-AI Church workshop
Helpful hints for running a successful workshop
Participant's guide
Maze templates
Download the PDF
If you're still distancing from your Messy Church families, this idea from Sharon Sampson for a Messy Zoom Nativity might come in handy. You start with a scavenger hunt so that your families then have the props as you tell the Nativity story in an interactive way.
Download
May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ (Hold out your hands as if expecting a present)
And the love of God (Put your hands on your heart)
And the fellowship of the Holy Spirit (Hold hands)
If you’ve ever been on a conference, you’ll know there’s that tricky Saturday night conundrum: do you put on another worthy Thing to fill up the time and keep people busy, or do you just open up the bar and let people relax together after a heavy day, running the risk of some feeling unable to join in? At the Messy Church International Conference, we opened up the realms of the imagination and invited all who could cope with the absurdity to join us for a Messy Murder Mystery!
Bristol Diocese have created a really thought-provoking document for teams to analyse and evaluate their own Messy Church. Why not give it a try if you’re exploring the aspect of the Discipleship Pilot which is ‘improving your Messy Church’?
Download the PDF
Here’s a helpful tool to get your team discussing what you might do to help your Messy Church grow disciples. You’ll find lots of background details in the May-August 2018 issue of Get Messy! It’s very simple to use:
A really helpful guide to doing Messy Church Communion in an Anglican setting. This is a collaboration between Messy Church BRF and the Liturgical Commission of the Church of England, with help from Hymns Ancient and Modern.
Read the introductory blog
