Gloucester

I’ll probably be contacted shortly by Childline in response to the cruelty inflicted on the three teenagers who blithely volunteered to help me on Saturday at the wonderful ‘Children for a Change’ event at Gloucester Cathedral. After all, when I have an early start I just get up shower and go, but if you’re 14, you have to get up at least two hours before departure in order to get your make-up on and adjust your accessories. So for Judith, Anna and Hannah, it was a very long day, and when they got there I don’t think they’ve ever worked so hard in their lives. They were great, as anyone of the many families who visited the Messy Church tables in the nave of the Cathedral will testify.
We ran crafts on the theme of families and it was cockle-warming to see how many families came and did stuff together in that remarkable space. With a huge tarp to protect the floor and much cautioning about not leaving buckets of water / paint / glue where they might fall over, we got through many biscuits, peas, cocktail sticks, packaging noodles, glittery stars and Messy Church fliers. It was a joy to meet up with old Messy friends from around the Diocese, to see their banners and to hear how they’re thriving.
We were only a tiny part of the much bigger event, which had over 2000 visitors and many many activities – rather like Messy Church in the life of the Church as a whole: small, messy, complementary and fun.