Messy Tea

Discipleship? Training? I’m not sure what Messy Tea would best fit into – it’s such early days that it might be better not to pigeonhole it yet. It’s our attempt to grow Messy Church here in Cowplain.
We’ve had only two Teas and the format has been coming in to a great stack of cake (heh heh) and under the influence of lard, sugar and flour, settling down, late on a Sunday afternoon once a month, to examining one aspect of Messy Church and how we could do it better. It’s based on hearing so many people asking how they can help (i.e. ‘serve’ in Christian-speak) – a good foundation stone for discipleship.
So far we’ve looked at how to help with the Welcome and with the Craft.
Good points so far: cake well received, chance to affirm all that leaders are doing and to thank them for it, lots of chat, space to think through issues away from the rush of Messy Church itself, getting to know other members of the team better, some non-leaders attending, all ages attending, Bible stories used, some excellent recommendations for change made through it, a chance to affirm what goes on (‘If it ain’t broke’ reassurances).
Negative points so far: only Sunday church and other church members have come along (no ‘just Messy’ members), all-age makes it difficult to hear what’s being said, difficult to use the Bible in a non-threatening way, ditto for anything creative, mass cake-making is very time-consuming, Sunday is supposed to be a day off and it’s turning into another busy work day…
As I say, early days to disembowel Messy Teas: we’ll assess them more fully later in the process. Let’s just say for now, it’s not a bed of roses. Or meringues.