Dear Grace Community,
One of the paradoxes of church is wanting a church to grow and wanting it to stay the same. In some ways Grace is the same church it was 20, or even 10, years ago, and in some ways, it is entirely different. For starters we’re a much smaller church than we were in 1999, but we continue to add to our membership. Every time someone joins the congregation, I say the same thing, which is that the church will never be the same; we are a new church.
Since 2012 over 130 people have joined our church. Granted some of these new members joined as teenagers so were not really new to Grace, and some within this 130 are no longer with us; still, this is significant number. We are not the same church we were.
In 2017 we started Messy Church. Messy Church is our once a month worship service for all people, designed with children and their families in mind. This year we meet on the second Sunday of the month at 4:30 pm. We worship through song, dance, play, art, Bible story, and more. We always conclude the evening with free dinner.
Percentage wise, Messy Church draws more non-members to worship than either of our Sunday morning services. On average we have 10-11 family units participate in a Messy Church night, and about half of these are non-members. In addition, for these non-member participants, Messy Church is often the one time a month they attend worship anywhere.
This is an incredible opportunity. People who may not go to worship anywhere are coming here to worship!
This is also uncharted and challenging territory for us as a congregation. Part of being a church in 2019 is being flexible and creative. Messy Church is creative. Is our congregation flexible?
Messy Church is currently a place of energy and growth in our congregation, and while this is wonderful, there is a risk of it being too isolated and seen as something for the kids. In actuality, this is one of the best opportunities our congregation has to engage with new people.
If you’re reading this ,and you don’t have children or grandchildren to bring to Messy Church, you may wonder how to get involved. You can volunteer. Each month happens because of a rotation of volunteers who lead activities, tell Bible stories, and prepare and serve dinner.
In addition, you can come and attend and not volunteer. I think this is harder because you may wonder what you’re supposed to be doing. That’s okay. You’ll sing, and create, and hear stories. Then you’ll eat dinner with children and adults you might otherwise never meet, and as Jesus shows us again and again, it is at the table where community most often forms.
If you don’t think you can actually come on a Sunday at 4:30 pm, talk to me or Jennifer Snook and ask what kind of supplies you can get for us. Ask us specifically what you can pray about regarding Messy Church.
I look forward to 2019 with you, and I look forward to continuing to explore how we can faithfully and creatively share the good news of Christ with the world.
In Christ,
Catherine
JAN