It seems that I always get booked to deliver in-person training at seaside locations. This trend continued last weekend, as I headed off to the coastal village of Seaton, Devon. An ecumenical Messy Church has been held here for years, with volunteers from ‘Christians together in Seaton’. Held at the Methodist Church, with its many halls and ample car park, it meets on a Friday as families emerge from the primary school pick-up, just along the road. A change in leadership and new volunteers prompted a day of team training on Saturday 12th October.
My day started with a prayer walk down to the beach, after being hosted the night before by Rev. Shuna and her husband (who incidentally have the most amazing barbecue hut in their garden, which would be incredible for my Messy Church Goes Wild and would solve many issues around firepits in the rainy months!).
I’m always drawn to the ‘edge’ of the beach, the space where the waves meet the shore. It reminds me of God’s call on my life to minister to those on the ‘edge’ of church, hence my involvement with Messy Church, that invites many people who don’t normally engage with traditional church to come and taste and see that God is good. As I watched and listened to every breaking wave crash on the pebble foreshore, I noticed that the ‘edge’ was constantly shifting…one step forward, two steps back, three steps forward, two steps back. It made me ponder that my local Messy Church ministry often has its ebbs and flows…a great turn out at the first two Messy Churches of the new term (3 steps forwards) but then none of the families showed up at the last planning meeting (2 steps back). Is our gathering becoming more Christ-centred and discipleship-forming? Quite possibly, but sometimes it’s hard to tell.
After a few minutes of wave watching, I noticed that the beach was gradually becoming more submerged (my feet were in danger of getting wet) and although imperceptible at first, there was steady progress of the rising tide. Through this imagery, God reminded me that discipleship might be imperceptible at times, but God is always at work on the edge. As the ‘edge’ shifts, I need to be mindful of the new edge, the new people to welcome into Messy Church, and the new people to encourage into leadership, which is what brought me to Seaton that day.
It was such a delight the meet the Messy Church team, some of whom had been involved with ministry amongst children and families in the town for over 30 years, whilst others had bravely stepped-up into leadership to fill the gap of a minister moving on. We spent the day focussing on the Messy Church values of being Christ-centred, for all ages, hospitality, creativity and celebration, thinking how they might apply to this Messy Church for the new season ahead. We practised being more Christ-centred by ‘dwelling in the word’ together, noticing and giving thanks for where God has been at work in the Messy Church over the years. We took time to have ‘God conversations’ with each other, sharing God moments from our own lives, to make this feel more natural when we speak with those who come to Messy Church. We thought about what hospitality looks like at the activity table and then had a go at making stars (see December’s Get Messy! vol. 2 session), practising our new hospitality skills and sharing the Bible story of how God entered the world.
The Seaton team certainly ‘shine like stars’, and my prayer is that the Messy Church will go from strength to strength as it relaunches for the season ahead.
If your team needs a bit of a refresh, you’ve had a change of leadership, or new volunteers have started, do consider some team training through our online masterclasses or book us for bespoke in-person team training…whilst we like to be beside the seaside, we do visit inland locations too!
Aike Kennett-Brown
BRF Ministries Messy Church Ministry Lead
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