At Droitwich Spa Methodist Church we run Messy Church sessions throughout the year. Once a month we run a Messy Church session called Rise & Shine which is at 9am on Sunday morning, we usually have 10-20 children attending this. We also run 4 bigger Messy Church sessions each year and these have up to 60 children attending. We are fortunate to have a dedicated team of volunteers who are always enthusiastic!
In addition to this, this year we wanted to try something different. A 2 day Messy Church event during the summer holidays. We met on Thursday and Friday 9.30-12 and also had a big celebration on the following Sunday with the whole church congregation joining in!
Each morning started with the opportunity to add to the Messy Church chalk wall as you came into church. This was looking very colourful by the time everyone had added their name and picture!
While everyone was arriving we worked together to make a big picture that we added to each day.
Once everyone had arrived we went into the church space to hear the bible story, watch the puppets and sing some songs! The theme for this special Messy Church was ‘Whole Wide World’ and we learnt all about the story of creation.
Children then split up into groups depending on their age for activities and crafts. We always had a small play area option available for those with younger children. Craft activities included binoculars (can you see what God has made?), planet pictures, clay modelling, making bird feeders and planting. As part of the creation theme, we were thinking about what we could do to care for God’s world.
We also went into the church gardens to look around, complete a trail and ask the church eco team lots of questions! The Bug Hotel was very popular!
We then all met together again in church to show and talk about what we had made in our groups. This time always included more singing. The church band played and we used the same songs each day so that the children would recognise them. Children joined in with actions and percussion!
Parachute games were enjoyed by all.
Both sessions were fully booked. We don’t always require pre booking, but as we were preparing age appropriate activities for different groups, we thought that it was important this time.
It was wonderful to all join together on Sunday morning where we enjoyed more games, crafts and breakfast together. A fun time was had by all and we are already planning next year’s Holiday Messy Church!
Sarah Jessop
Family Worker
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