Messy Church a success in Kilkeel
The parish of Christ Church, Kilkeel, has crowned a year of Messy Church with its second Christmas themed event. Over 130 children and adults from all sectors of the community recently spent a crafty (and yes, messy) Saturday morning in the church halls before tucking into a soup and bread lunch.
“Messy Church gathers people with a faith or no faith who come with their families for a craft morning centred around a theme, “ explains the Family Outreach Worker, Lynda Quinn. “So far we have used Christmas, Easter and Harvest and the children have had great fun expressing themselves through all sorts of ideas and materials.”
Before lunch together there’s a short time of age–appropriate worship and a Christian thought for the day to take home. “Our prayer is that all who attend will encounter Jesus by the welcome and acceptance they receive, be fed spiritually and physically and go home with crafts which remind them of God’s provision and faithfulness,” says Lynda.
Messy Church involves a lot of work – devising crafts, gathering materials, setting up the hall, helping at each craft station, making and serving lunch and of course the massive tidy–up that must follow – and it couldn’t happen without a dedicated team .
But it’s worth the effort and is a natural follow–on for the parents that attend the parish Toddler Group, most of whom are not parishioners. Here are just a couple of the positive comments that have been made:
“It’s great that the activities are not age limited, I can bring my baby along and let her play with her siblings in a safe and controlled environment.”
“The lunch is great – and it’s great the way children of all communities are introduced to the church with the songs and crafts.”
Click here to see a gallery of photos of Kilkeel’s Christmas Messy Church