Overton Messy Church

It was great to visit the Messy Church at Overton in Hampshire the other week and join in their session on a Sunday afternoon. I was struck by so many things: the way the silent church filled up with laughter and song and conversation; the way the stillness of the building changed to movement as everyone dashed round on treasure hunts and in pursuit of activities and back to stillness again as the whole community gathered and focused on song and prayer. The peacefulness of the prayer room behind its beaded curtain, which simply felt like a sacred place and invited quiet and prayer and where conversations moved straight into the spiritual without any awkwardness. The presence of men and women… and the fact that with about 100 people there, the very numbers must mean that the church is having a huge impact on the village as a whole. Many congratulations to Sue Smale and the team there.