Messy Church in a school

And a quick scoot over the Pennines towards Salford in the afternoon to act as a sounding board for a church in Worsley who are pondering starting a MC in the primary school where the church meets. Buildings, buildings: there are lots of issues around buildings. It irks me when a building created specifically to help people worship God actually stops them doing so, or when the building becomes more important than the people (but I accept that the people of previous and future generations are as important as those in the present).
A school holds great potential for MC – large spaces, an atmosphere that the families are used to and feel comfortable in, a lack of ‘churchiness’ in its negative sense and ease of attending, simply because everyone can stay where they are at the end of the day. But it also holds also challenges: the cooking facilities are limited as the kitchens aren’t always available; do children need a change of scene after all day in the same building? how to prevent people roaming all over the building inappropriately; where to store the equipment… It’s a credit to the team gathered on that Thursday night that they saw these challenges as opportunities rather than insurmountable obstacles.