Is Messy Church all-age?

Published 12th March 2009 by lucy moore

Enjoyably bracing to bring the colourful friendly world of Messy Church up against the dark and studded ‘Go on, impress me, then’ world of Youth Work at a day with youth and children’s workers in Bristol. No wonder old ladies tremble at the sight of gangs of hoodies: the tableful of black-clad early twenties, full of Doritos and the latest advances in youth work, was distinctly intimidating to this greying, wrinkled proponent of something so untrendily jolly.
However, we had a good friendly discussion and it’s useful to be reminded that one style of church cannot be all things to all people. Is Messy Church inclusive of the 18-25 age group? (Interestingly, ’18-25 year old singles” went without saying, which needs thinking about, as many of the 18-25s in Messy Church are either married or effectively married, and have children. But does this stop them having the same needs as single people in the same age bracket?)

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