As we prepare for launch of Messy Momentum, our new project that seeks to find innovative ways to engage young people that have grown through Messy Church to continue their faith journey, we thought it would be a good idea to describe the journey the BRF ministries Messy Church team have been on to get to this point.
Let’s go back to the beginning…
When I started in role as BRF ministries Messy Church Ministry lead, I fasted and prayed and asked God for guidance. God gave me three words for the season ahead: Intergenerational, Discipleship and Sustainability – key areas for the Messy Church movement to dig into and explore, so that we can experience the fullness of God’s kingdom through our Messy Church communities, whilst holding onto our values of being Christ-centred, for all ages, with creativity, hospitality and celebration.
Over the past 3 years our team have explored these areas through our session material and training. Anecdotally and through the team’s own experience, we were aware that whilst we have our ‘for all ages’ value, on the ground there’s often an age group missing – teenagers!
Our February 2024 survey highlighted that Messy Church is hugely successful at attracting young families, many from unchurched backgrounds. However, 50% of Messy Churches in the UK do not have anyone aged 12–16 years old. Passionate about addressing this challenge, after more praying, discernment, reading research, discussions within the team and with a variety of intergenerational experts and youth specialists, we applied for partnership funding with the Church of England to address this missional challenge. We received the ‘green go-ahead’ light in November 2024 for this exciting new project, Messy Momentum.
In preparation to launch, this funding enabled our team to expand and draw-in new skills. We spent January and February recruiting, and amazingly everyone was in role by 1st March 2025. You can read more about our new team members Sophie, Sarah and Nina here.
Concurrently, we worked with our freelance researchers Claire Dalpra and Richard Tiplady, associates of Brendan Research, to build on the 2024 survey responses and undertake a listening exercise through a series of online and in person focus groups. We are so thankful to the Messy Church leaders, parents and young people who took part. I particularly enjoyed visiting two very different Messy Churches on the same day in February with Claire. At the first, urban and large Messy Church, we had a group of 9–11-year-olds, then 12–16-year-olds, followed by their parents come and speak with us during their regular gathering. Each focus group started by everyone drawing a quick sketch of what their Messy Church experience was like now, what their hopes and dreams were for their Messy Church in the future and finally, what specifically they would like to see for those aged 11+years. It was a privilege to hear them describe their experiences and their ideas of how a Messy Church could develop, through their drawings.
We then drove 30-minutes to the suburban/rural fringe of this city and visited a Messy Church youth group that meets monthly between Messy Churches, with a handful of young people, with a wide range of ages. Whilst Claire did the same listening exercise with the young people, I listened with parents. I particularly liked one parents sketch of a campfire, envisioning young people gathered around, chatting with their peers and trusted adults, who aren’t their parents, about some of the trickier issues of life. Some common themes emerged, that resonated with my own experience of Messy Church over the years. You can read a summary of the findings here.
With our listening exercise complete, in March, we brought this research into our 2-day consultation with an expert group of people from a range of organisations and backgrounds, at High Leigh Conference Centre. Our mission was to design 6 approaches to trial in Messy Churches over a 2-year pilot. You can read Sophie’s news article about our time of innovation, creativity and collaboration here.
Over the subsequent weeks, Sophie has done an amazing job at collating and presenting our work. As a team we’ve debated, refined and discerned which of the ideas to take forward to the launch pad. However, we need your help to get this project off the ground!
Here’s how you can get involved. We are looking to recruit 25-30 Messy Churches with a cohort of older children (aged nine years or older) to try out one of these approaches over a 2-year pilot. If you think this would be good for you and your Messy Church, come and find out more at our Messy Momentum Launch online meetings. We’re repeating the session six times during the Summer term, so there’s plenty of opportunity to come along and ask questions – please see sign up details below.
We’re also in the process of creating a new Messy Momentum webpage where you can read about the approaches and the support and training offered for each one.
If you’d like to chat about this in person, join the BRF Ministries Messy Church Team at the Messy Church Conference at High Leigh Conference Centre 20-22 June 2025. We kick off on Friday evening with an interactive presentation of the six youth-discipleship approaches. As we explore the conference theme, ‘All Together’, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to learn and experience how to engage people of all ages at your Messy Church, including young people, those with additional needs and those from different backgrounds. Book your conference ticket before 9th May here.
We hope to recruit enough Messy Churches for the pilot project by the end of August, so the Autumn term can be spent training up your team and preparing for a January 2026 start.
The countdown to lift-off has already started. We invite you to be a part of the ride.
Aike Kennett-Brown
BRF ministries Messy Church Ministry Lead
Messy Momentum Project Launch
Please sign up by submitting your details and selecting one of the dates in the Google form linked below, and we will email you a Zoom link nearer the time.
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