Telford

Telford is Jane’s stamping ground, rather than mine, but I’d been asked up by the group running the local Mission-Shaped Ministry course to lead an evening session on ‘Children and All Age’, so to make use of the time, we added a Messy Church session the following morning: to our surprise, especially given that 60 people were already signed up for a Fiesta with Jane on the Saturday, over 80 people booked for this session, with another 40 having to be turned away. Who says midweek isn’t a good time to have events? The morning-only session also made it possible for many ministers to attend, as it didn’t take up a whole day of their time, so it was good to see so many supportive dog collars.
We had a bit of a gallop through the story and issues arising from Messy Church, as it was only 10.00-1.00, but managed to fit in some messiness on the way as well as the talking and thinking.
Lots of stories from churches running Mess already, and one pioneer church which specialises in alternative ways of praying, which could be adapted to Messy Church. A Barnabas author, Murray McBride, was present with his wife, full of creative thoughts drawing on past ministry ideas, and Mark Hatcher of Lichfield Diocese too, with a resounding emphasis on crafts for boys and men, ideas which I must get him to write up!