For their very first ‘Messy Church’, St Oswald’s Guiseley were amazed to see 70 children and parents turn up to enjoy to an afternoon of crafts, singing, a meal and some very popular hands-on, sticky “goo”.
The theme was creation and Rector, David Pickett, dressed up as God to read the story of creation. He said, “Messy Church is Church without the feel of Church; it’s a way to engage young families and bring the good news of Jesus Christ into their lives through creative activities and hospitality.”
The Messy Church movement began in 2004 and has spread across many countries and different types of churches. The Guiseley version is designed for children aged between 4 -11 to come for a couple of hours after school with their parents, grandparents or carers and join in a whole range of craft and messy activities. The activities are followed by a hot meal, served to everyone sitting down together.
One of the organisers, Sarah McGregor, said “It was slightly stressful as we had absolutely no idea whether anyone would turn up as it’s something that we’ve never done before, so we were surprised that it was so popular!”
Eva Conybeare, aged 9, said “It was good because my friends were there, and the best bit was definitely the goo.”
St Oswald’s will hold a Messy Church every third Thursday in the month, the next one is on Thursday 25 February, 3.30-5.30pm.