Just celebrate

Philip North from London sent a very moving and generous email this week:
I thought I might tell you a story.
I was amongst the group you spoke to when you visited the Liturgical Commission earlier this year, and in particular I was one of those asking predictable Anglo-Catholic questions about being a Eucharistic community, what is the Church etc. However I was very struck both by the strength of the Messy Church model and by Angela Tilby’s contribution to the conversation when she said, stop worrying and just celebrate all you are achieving.
The result was that we decided to launch Messy Church here in the Parish of Old St Pancras in Camden Town. We have just had our first one and it was attended by 48 people plus leaders. In a profoundly inner-urban Parish where ministry to families is extremely complex, that is a very good number and more than we dared hope for. Children and parents were loved it, and one of the most moving aspects was that a couple of older people with mental health problems also felt able to come along and join in.
Messy Church is wonderful gift to the Church. Angela is absolutely right. We should simply celebrate it and get on with it, not get hung up about what it is and isn’t.
Thank you for your presentation to the Liturgical Commission and for the inspiration it has given us.