A Messy December!

Whoever decided that two Messy Church events in December would be a great idea is crazy! (Well, it was my idea...so I guess I'm the crazy one!) We finished one this past Sunday and started immediately to deal with the next one on December 22! Ahhh, the joys of December...

But first, to focus on our last Messy Church...It was all about Advent. On the one hand, it could have been very difficult to plan specifically for Advent and to not jump straight ahead to Christmas. Maybe that's one good thing of having another Messy Christmas event later in the month. It made us distinguish between the season of Advent and the season of Christmas. And it turned out great! This might have been our best Messy Church yet! The crafts and games were a hit and we had a wonderful turnout. We even had a visitor who had been at our Milk and Cookies with Santa event the Thursday before Messy Church - we had fliers that doubled as coloring sheets.

The biggest hit might have been the ring toss Advent wreath game.The kids loved it. It will be making a return appearance on December 22! We knew having a few more games would be good - this one was simple but lots of fun.

Our crafts were also a hit this time, thanks to some wonderful volunteers who came up with great ideas! We had an Advent calendar that was a paper chain with Scripture verses to read as family for each day in December. It was a simple craft (though took some time to make) but it is a great way to get our families reading the Bible together. One of our members also turned it into a different kind of countdown - countdown to her baby!

We had a really cute craft making a nativity set for kids to take home and play with. All I can say is "Thank goodness for Pinterest!" We also had the kids make chrismon ornaments like the ones on our tree in the sanctuary. It gave us a chance to talk about the symbols and what they mean. This was another simple craft - card stock, gold glitter, and glue (it was the messy one, though, along with decorating sugar cookies!) - but the kids loved it and it was a good teaching moment.

We also did an Advent wreath - yet another simple craft that turned out so well! It really was beautiful. The picture of the craft is one done by one of our 4-year-olds, even the writing. We were all really proud! It was construction paper, glue sticks, and some markers!

Did you catch the theme? I didn't even realize as I was typing how many times I said "simple." But this Messy Church really was all about simple crafts and games that turned out great. I do think that sometimes we forget that sometimes the best things are the simplest - construction paper, glue, crayons and a bit of glitter can make almost any kid happy! And maybe our Advent lesson is in there, too - simple can often times be better, even in this season of craziness and excess.

So now it's on to Messy Christmas coming up on December 22. This one is taking the place of our "family friendly" Christmas eve service. Plans are coming together - but watch and listen for announcements about this one. For now, though, please note that we will be collecting canned goods/food for United Ministries as the offering for this service. It is an Aldersgate tradition to give the Christmas eve offerings to United Ministries. We thought that the food goods will be something good for the kids to see and participate in. So consider purchasing some extra food and bring it on December 22.

I Can't! I just can't do it!

The alternate title for this post could easily be, "Yet another reason why we need Messy Church."

I had the joy of facilitating our Children in Worship time for the K4-K5 group this past Sunday. I had a larger group than usual, but as usual, they cracked me up. We talked about what we looked forward to most about Thanksgiving. The unanimous vote is the turkey. Although I wonder if we don't love the anticipation of the turkey more than the actual turkey... but that's another story. And I've wandered off topic.

After I read them a Bible story, I gave them each a can of play dough with the simple instructions of make something that has to do with the story we just shared. I read the story of the lost sheep and the lost coin. One child asked if I wanted them to make all 100 sheep. I said "Sure!" He said, "maybe we can just make 10?" Some of the kids got right to work. Let's just say we started with a lot of, "Look I made a coin!" Ha! Smart kids! But this is also where I think Messy Church becomes so important...

Like I said, the sheep weren't perfect!

When given a blob of play dough and asked to create, I heard several cries of "I don't know how" and even worse, "I Can't!!" And that makes me sad! I didn't ask for anything specific and I certainly didn't ask for anything to be perfect. I simply wanted them to have the freedom to create in response to the story. And that scares many of our kids. There are no instructions, no steps to follow, and no expectations. Just try it! See what happens! And if you don't like it, how easy is it to start over?! None of our play dough sheep were perfect by any stretch, but perfection wasn't the point. But I really hated hearing "I can't!" from 5 year-olds!

We need kids to have as many opportunities to create something out of nothing. To build something from scratch and imagine. To try something, smush it up, and start over. To learn from mistakes and not worry about perfection or even following instructions. It's how they learn to problem solve and how they grow into adults who create new things and imagine new solutions.

As we plan for Messy Church events, I hope one thing we do is give kids the freedom to be messy - not perfect - and reward them for their imagination. I hope we give the opportunity to create new things. And I hope we never let kids get by with saying "I can't!"

A Dark and Stormy Night

The signs are all down marking the end to another Messy Church Sunday. Yesterday we focused on the story of Jesus walking on water, as told in Matthew 14:22-33. Hopefully the kids understood that Jesus can calm the stormy seas and that he is trustworthy - so we have nothing to fear!

We learned a few lessons this time - as we always do - not just about the Scripture, but also about putting on Messy Church. For example, last minute changes to activities can actually be good! We had to make a few adjustments to our science experiment...mostly because we didn't quite realize how much corn starch it would take to get kids to be able to "walk on water!" As in about $100 worth of corn starch! So we went with the gloop in a bowl for the kids to play with - and it turned out to be the biggest hit!

Here's how the storm jar was supposed to look!

I also had one of those great Pinterest moments - you know, when you look at this picture of this really great craft, read the directions and then later realize that's totally not going to work. Then you discover that to use the sand, you have to wash the sand first?! What?! Wash the dirt?! Yep.And none of it turns out how you thought it would?  And yet, it ends up being a favorite craft anyway!

Speaking of favorites, our last minute activity addition - the wind thingy - turned out to be a good one, too! It was really inexpensive, easy to make, and yet when we did the story (both at Messy Church and in worship later), these were really fun and effective! Which brings me to another point - this Sunday during our 11:00 worship (the service that follows Messy Church), we used the same Scripture lesson for worship as we did in Messy Church (because our pastors are awesome and love to connect MC and worship!). This time in worship, though, we told the Scripture lesson "Messy Church style." The whole congregation was in on the story - some as waves and some as wind. What a joy to look out over all those smiling faces as they helped tell the story together! It was a wonderful moment!

Another thing we learned - if you put on the Messy Church t-shirt (that our volunteers wear), you will get asked to help! Our wonderful District Superintendent, Mary Teasley - that's her on the left - came to give Messy Church a try on Sunday. She walked in the door with her MC t-shirt on and promptly got asked a question by another volunteer and had to go off to find supplies for one of the crafts. So be careful when you wear that t-shirt!



Here are a couple of other pictures of crafts we did, including the treat bags we made for that afternoon's Fall Festival.

Many of our children will be hitting the streets this week dressed up for Halloween and trick-or-treating. We saw many of them at our Fall Festival - and boy, there are some scary costumes! Zombies, bloodied up characters, witches and more...Halloween brings out the cute - but also the scary! It's important for our kids to remember that while Halloween can be fun, with Jesus as our Savior, we have absolutely NOTHING to fear! C.S. Lewis (he wrote all the Narnia books!) once said, "Since it's so likely that children will meet cruel enemies, let them at least have heard of brave knights and heroic courage." Our kids will always come up against scary things and many storms - we can't stop the storms as much as we might try. So the least we can do is to make sure that they know they do not have to be afraid because we worship a God who can calm any storm, who can conquer any storm, and who can all us out onto the water to do amazing things.

Storm's a Comin'

For the past two nights I've been dreaming about sand, waves, and shells. Sounds idyllic? Maybe dreaming of a beautiful beach somewhere - peaceful, tranquil? Nope. Because add to the sand, waves, shells the following: corn starch, glitter, duct tape, rice, toilet paper rolls, bottle caps, oil, and jello. In other words, I haven't been dreaming about beaches - I've been dreaming about Messy Church!! That can only mean one thing - it's Messy Church Week!
I've been shopping for supplies and I can honestly say, I've gotten some very strange reactions from the cashier at Wal-Mart and Sam's Club. At Sam's I bought several huge tubs of corn starch.
Apparently she had seen a TV program about a lady addicted to eating raw corn starch. So she wondered about me. I said, no, I won't be eating this...we've got a science experiment to do. And then the lady at Wal-Mart questioned the large container of glitter. She asked if they didn't have a smaller container. I said, no, I wanted to the largest container they had - because I know my kids! We will need the glitter!
It definitely is the oddest assortment of supplies. Individually, they don't make much sense - that's why I've been getting all those strange looks. Even on the floor of my office they don't make sense.But I know that on Sunday morning at 9:45, these random supplies will come together in amazing ways.
Isn't that like the Church? We're a pretty random assortment of people - and yet, when we're about Kingdom work, we come together in amazing ways. As Paul tell the church in Corinth (1 Corinthians 12) all the parts and pieces are needed - even the ones that seem the least important. Everything works together and the Church is at her best when all the supplies are there, when all the pieces are working together. We may be Messy, but we can do amazing things in Jesus' name.

Don't forget to invite friends and neighbors to Messy Church! It's going to be a Dark and Stormy Night on the Sea of Galilee. Wait, is that a ghost? Nope. It's Jesus!!

Taking one for the TEAM - the Next Step for Messy Church

We are 25 days away from our 2nd Messy Church event! On October 27, we welcome kids and families for another exciting Messy Church. And this time things are going to get really messy!

But even as I send out information for our volunteers as we prep for October 27...it's time to take the next big step for Messy Church @ Aldersgate.

Up until now, Messy Church has been one person coordinating, organizing, dreaming, etc - with volunteers working on one Messy Church event at a time. But it's time for us to create a Messy Church Team. This team should have between 5 and 12 volunteers who are committed to dreaming, planning, and executing Messy Church @ Aldersgate. From planning the themes, finding the activities, coordinating volunteers, marketing, promoting and dreaming big, messy dreams - this team can help Messy Church run and help it grow.

Who should be on this team? Adults who are passionate about creating exciting spaces for children (and their families) grow in faith. And youth who are passionate about the same thing!

This is not a light commitment - it's a commitment to a ministry that will take time, energy, and prayer to execute. And fair warning, this team will need to meet on a regular basis (probably once a month). If you are interested in being a part of the Messy Church Team at Aldersgate, please call or email me (244-1820 or jmyers@aumcsc.org) and let's chat.

The more hands we have on deck to help, the bigger mess we can make - and the bigger impact we can have as we spread the good news about Jesus, the Christ, to children and their families in our community.

Donkeys are Messy

It's been a crazy - but fun - few weeks at Aldersgate. This past Saturday we had our first ever church-wide retreat at Asbury Hills. Talk about a messy church event! Ha! We had 5 generations together for the day - talking, sharing, and enjoying our time together.

We spent the day Saturday - and our worship service on Sunday - focusing on Jesus' parable of the Good Samaritan found in Luke 10. Our theme was "Get off your donkey!" Funny, yes. True, though. In order to help the victim, the Samaritan had to get off his donkey. It says in Luke 10:34 that he put the man on his own donkey and took him to get help. He had to get off his donkey in order to be about God's work, something the priest and the Levite in the story weren't exactly willing to do.

When it comes to messy church, there's really nothing messier than the parable of the Good Samaritan. A victim injured and left to die on a dangerous and dusty road - that's a bit of a mess! And the relationship between Jews and Samaritans - also a mess. Throw in a donkey, well, the whole parable would be perfect for Messy Church!

Isn't that the point, though? The priest and the Levite didn't want to get caught up in the mess of serving. God calls us to love our neighbors as ourselves and that implies getting off our donkeys. It implies that things will get a little messy. Fact is, Love can't happen without a mess!

Even though it wasn't an "official" Messy Church event at Aldersgate, our church retreat goes hand-in-hand with what Messy Church is all about. Generations exploring faith together, getting into the messy God calls us to create as we love God and love our neighbors!

Now that the retreat is over, we're starting to gear up for our next Messy Church on October 27 at 9:45. And I can promise you, this one is going to get pretty messy (in other words, dress accordingly - you've been warned!). Invite your friends and neighbors to join us on what will be a "Dark and Stormy Night." We may even have a special guest with us that morning. And our annual Fall Festival is that night from 5-7. Busy, messy day at Aldersgate for sure!

Keep on the lookout for more info about Messy Church in October - especially for the list of supplies we'll need. It should be posted here and on Facebook soon. And look ahead and mark your calendar for Messy Church on December 8 and a special Messy Christmas on December 22 at 4 pm!

How to Fight Giants

1 Samuel 17, Psalm 18:2 "The Lord is my rock!"

"You come against me with sword and spear, but I come against you in the name of the Lord!" (1 Samuel 17:45) Jesse sent his 3 oldest boys off to war but it was his youngest, David, who conquered the giant. How did he do it? Yes, yes...with a slingshot and a well-placed rock. But more than that, David conquered the giant because he knew without a shadow of doubt that God was with him. While the rest of Israel's army quaked, David boldly said - "I'll go. Send me. Because God goes with me."

David gives us all something to think about. As adults, how willing are we to step up and say, "I'll go. Send me." I wonder if we've forgotten the child-like trust, faith, and confidence the child David had? Maybe this is what Jesus means when he challenges us to have faith like a child?!

But we started our Messy Church off with the story of David and Goliath not just to remind the adults - but also to show our kids that they can fight any giant that comes their way. At the start of the new school year, this seemed like a good starting place for Messy Church. Because our kids face giants. Every day. And we cannot fight their giants for them...they have to learn to do it themselves. But we can teach them that God goes with them! That God can take their faith and move mountains.

So this is it. Our first Messy Church is in the books. The Fellowship Hall is (almost) back to normal. Here are some highlights of Messy Church:

Making slingshots

 Our fearless Goliath!

 Some Goliath feet

 What would it be like to be as tall as Goliath? How big is God?

Story time!

 And for a little fun, nail Goliath with a wet cotton ball!

Thank you to all our volunteers who made Messy Church happen! We did not send home any kind of "Take Home" sheet - we figured between the stones, the shield, the slingshot, the feet - well, a take home sheet would get lost! But check back here for some more reflections and activities you can do at home with your kids.

And remember - the next Messy Church @ Aldersgate is October 27. Come see what happens on "A Dark and Stormy Night!"

It's Almost Here!

This is it! Aldersgate's first Messy Church is only a few short days away! Supplies are organized. T-shirts distributed. Props gathered. We are ready to take over the Fellowship Hall on Saturday morning. Sunday morning is going to be great!

I've had some calls this week from people asking about what Sunday will look like exactly. In a nutshell, it's going to be messy. Ha! But that's not what they meant I don't think...

So here's the schedule for Sunday - and this will be our schedule for any Sunday morning Messy Church event:
9:30 - registration begins (We'll have registration tables at both entrances to the Fellowship Hall. Please make sure you register your kids - even if we already have all that info, it's good to double check! And we also ask about allergies - that helps us plan future activities)
9:45 - the FUN BEGINS! When you go in the Fellowship Hall, you'll see activities all around the room ready for you to explore. Kids pick! There is no order to the activities and there is no plan. You don't need one. Kids can do one or they can do all. They can do one activity twice. It's up to them. All of the activities - even the snack - relate to the story of the day. This is the time for parents and kids to really enjoy playing together.
10:25 - Around 10:20, you'll notice a countdown start on the screen letting us know that we have 5 more minutes before story time. Start helping your kids wrap up what they are working on. When the countdown stops, it's time for the story! Activities stop and kids and adults can take a seat on the floor (yes, we'll have some chairs available!) The story will help pull all the activities together.
10:45 - Prayer and dismissal. Now it's time to head to worship! And yes, the scripture lesson in worship is going to sound pretty familiar!!

We're hoping for a pretty relaxed atmosphere but there are a few rules. As we were working on these rules, funny enough - there are more rules for the adults than for the kids!

For the kids:

• Be respectful: Don't use all the supplies, take turns, honor the adults that are helping. 
• Be creative! 
• Have fun!

For the adults:

• TURN YOUR CELLPHONES OFF!!!!
• Kids get to set the pace.
• Help when you are asked - but don't do for your kids what they can do by themselves.
• Play with your kids! Engage! Be present! Don't take this time for granted...
• Unless you are an official Messy Church volunteer, adults must have a child with them to participate. 

We look forward to seeing everyone on Sunday!

The Mess Before the Storm

Apparently it takes quite a bit of organization and planning to create a space for messes to happen! Who knew? (Well...actually, anyone who's ever worked a Vacation Bible School knows about the mess before the storm!)
My office is resembling a VBS-type disaster area. Too many people are walking by, stopping, staring, and then looking at me like I've lost my mind. Of course, it's been a great way to tell people about Messy Church since I feel obligated to explain the mess!

We're about ready to start our one-week countdown to our first Messy Church at Aldersgate. Our volunteers are working hard preparing activities and games. We've got our t-shirts in the works. And I've even started working on the NEXT Messy Church (Oct 27) before we've survived the first one!
Creating a space for kids and adults to make a mess, create, and explore definitely takes a bit of discipline, planning, and quite a bit of hard work. Seems like a contradiction, and yet, pretty much anything that demands creativity also demands a balance of discipline. Writers have to sit down and write. Painters need to set aside time to paint. Musicians have to practice. And Messy Church needs some preparation!
Discipleship is like that, too. God inspires us to create, build, live, love - but it takes discipline to follow Christ. Like everything in life, we have to find that balance.
I hope everyone is getting excited about Messy Church next Sunday. And I hope everyone is inviting friends, neighbors, family - whoever! Word of mouth is the best communication method we have. And if the mess before the storm is any indication, it's going to be a great Sunday!

All Together Now

We are at a very odd time in our church history. In any given congregation on any given Sunday, we have 6 generations worshiping together. Think about it. Six generations saying the Lord's Prayer or Apostles' Creed together in one voice. What an amazing witness!

We have the GI Generation (those 85 and older) who grew up facing the Great Depression and World War 2. The Pioneer Generation (67-85) faced the Korean Conflict, the start of the Civil Rights movement, and the beginnings of Rock'n'Roll. Then comes our Baby Boomers (49-66) who were influenced by the time between Kennedy's assassination and Nixon's resignation - a time of counter-culture and the Vietnam War. Postmoderns or Gen Xers are next (31-48). We remember watching the Challenger disaster on TVs in school, the fall of the Berlin Wall, grunge music, and the Internet revolution. Millennials (13-30) were shaped by the Disney movies of the 90s, 9/11 and the Great Recession and the rise of social networking. And then our Digital generation - those under 12 now. Their generation will be defined and shaped in the next few years but we do know that they now spend on average 56 hours a week with media and are the most diverse generation in our country's history (almost 50% non-white). These ages aren't hard and fast rules, but are pretty good markers for looking at the make up of our country and our church. 

At Aldersgate, we are blessed in that those generations are encouraged to worship together. Though we have Children in Worship for some of our kids for certain parts of the school year, on the whole, our children, teenagers, middle adults, and older adults worship together.

But outside of worship, it's a little different. We have a tendency to split up into age groups for almost everything else. To be fair, that's not always a bad thing. We know that while some generations compliment each other well, other generations mix like oil and water. But while it's not always a bad thing, it IS a bad thing when it's always the case. Yes, it's messy to mix all 6 generations up in the same room! But well, we've already established that messy isn't necessarily a bad thing!

Messy Church is one place outside of worship were all generations are encouraged to be together, to explore faith together. Grandparents, parents with young kids, parents with teenagers, youth, and children all playing in the same room, at the same time, for the same purpose.

It's going to be messy - but boy is it going to be fun!

So what's so messy about Messy Church?

As the signs start going out about Messy Church at Aldersgate, the inevitable question is "What is Messy Church?!" Follow that question with "Where did it come from?" and maybe even "Why do we need it?" 

The original Messy Church came out of St Wilfrid's Anglican Church near Portsmouth, England. They were looking for a way to bridge generation gaps, create community, and draw children and their families into church. It is a concept that came from a group of church leaders willing to step outside the confines of what they had always been doing to explore what they could or should be doing to reach out beyond the walls of their church. And over the last few years, across the United Kingdom and beyond, the Messy Church idea has spread. The aims of Messy Church are clear: be a worshiping community, Christ- centered, all-age, hospitable, and creative. You can check out the Messy Church website for more about this amazing movement: http://www.messychurch.org.uk/

At Aldersgate, the aims of our Messy Church are exactly the same - worshiping community, Christ-centered, all-age, hospitable, and creative. We want to create a space where kids, young and old, can come together and explore their faith in Christ, where new-comers are welcome and the activities push us all to create together. Whew! That's a lot to pack in to one hour on a handful of Sunday mornings. But messes have a tendency to spread...and hopefully our Messy Church will, too.

But why does it have to be messy? Well...funny thing about those aims. Any of them on their own is enough to create a mess! Welcome in new people? You never know what you'll get! And new friends always push us out of our comfort zone and add to our world view. And that can be a little messy! Put a bunch of generations together in the same room? Well, that can get messy, too! Creativity pretty much implies a level of messiness. And well, all you have to do is read just a bit of the Gospel story to know that wherever Jesus went, he created a bit of a mess! Think about it. He used spit and mud to heal a blind man. He held an outdoor picnic for 5000+ people. He hung out with fishermen and tax collectors. He compared himself to a shepherd. And well, he was born in a manger. Let's face it. Jesus was completely okay with creating messes.

Put all that together on a Sunday morning, throw in a snack, some markers, cotton balls, and a slingshot? Well, let's just say that our first Messy Church on August 25 is gonna be exactly as advertised...messy!

Where God's World Comes Together

The dust has finally begun to settle after a great week of Vacation Bible School. This year's VBS theme - Everywhere Fun Fair: Where God's World Comes Together - proved to be both a challenge (it was way too complicated for a VBS!) but also a whole lot of fun. Throughout the week, we learned together - 106 kids + 75 volunteers, gotta love that ratio - about what it means to be a good neighbor in God's kingdom. Each day had a specific focus and by the end of the week, we had 5 main points. Neighbors are: friendly, giving, forgiving, welcoming, and bold.

As we switch gears now from VBS to getting ready for our first ever Messy Church at Aldersgate, I am again amazed by God's timing. From its inception, Messy Church has been about hospitality and reaching out. Hospitality is actually one of the 4 objectives of the whole Messy Church movement. Basically, it's all about being a good neighbor! So while I feel sure our kids learned some great lessons at VBS, perhaps the lesson is for us adults at Aldersgate as we prepare for Messy Church!

Messy Church kicks off on August 25, 2013 and we still have a lot to do to get ready. But things are moving right along. We have banners and signs ready to go out, volunteers signing up, activities to plan and games to organize. If you haven't volunteered yet, give me a call soon!

This blog is intended to be a place with several purposes. First this will hopefully be a place for volunteers, parents, grandparents and all those working with Messy Church to get inspired! We'll have devotions posted before and after each Messy Church along with some ideas for encouraging faith exploration in our kids. Secondly, this will be a place for information about the goals of Messy Church and upcoming Messy Church events.

For now, that's all! I'm off to find something to help me get the VBS songs from running constantly through my head!