Messy Church Has Got Talent

James Pegg, our Messy Intern, writes about a great event in his own Messy Church community:
I love Messy Church; it is a great time for people from all walks of life to come together and meet with God. I am sure I am not the only one who feels like this either! But Messy Church also takes a lot of hard work and perseverance and I think every now and then we need something that gets us excited about Messy Church again, something that tells everybody that Messy Church is the place to be!
Some Messy Churches do this through big, messy events, like a Messy Carol Service at Christmas or some Churches do Messy outdoors, taking Messy Church to the community. All great ways of making people aware of what Messy Church is! My Messy Church at Wellingborough Salvation Army had a great idea to get people excited and also proud of being part of a Messy Church: ‘Messy Church has Got Talent!’
It was nothing more than a simple talent show. We had around 15 acts and all of these acts were members of families who attend our Messy Church. We had dancing, singing, a pianist, a violin solo and a musical band made out of hose pipes and funnels, all followed by hot dogs (can’t go wrong with hot dogs!) We also got the audience involved with the singing of the great Doug Horley song ‘The Way it’s gonna be’. I was so blessed to see around 100 people- from young kids to teenagers to the Nan who came to watch her grandson dance – sing the words ‘I just want to praise you!’ and get fully involved in the actions. This was Church. There was such a family atmosphere around the room, all of us just enjoying being together in one place, in God’s house. It was obvious people enjoyed themselves and my hope is that they felt proud of the fact they belong to a Messy Church. I know I certainly did! I went home that night with a smile on my face knowing I met with God through a talent show.