Has anyone ever been to a messy church event?

We went to one very recently

Cute crafts and then a 'snack' for the kids - but was enough that they didn't need tea. And hot drinks and cake for adults.

Then songs and a bible story at the end but nothing intense - think it was the good Shepard.

Some of the crafts had a vague Christian message. Like a prayer tree and a thankfulness beach ball. Again just gentle and sweet messages.
It was lovely, I'd recommend x

Haven’t rtwt but I used to run one of these groups. My neighbour was the vicar, a lovely lovely man and when the previous person who ran it retired he asked me to help him, which I did.

I guess they are all different but the one I ran was just a craft and story time session with cordial and a biscuit. The children were invited to take anything they’d made into the church to ‘show’ the congregation (of about 10 people) when we’d finished, not compulsory. We used to put film afternoons on (not religious films) for the children in the school hols.

Crafting might have included making a peg doll nativity family or decorating eggs at Easter, colouring in something, largely nature related from memory. We did everything from baking to prep for maypole dancing.

Definitely not overtly religious.

If there isn't a Christian message or some element of discipleship, it is not Messy Church.

one of my best friends is too. She doesn’t do messy church (the neighbor church down the road does) but she did a ‘beach party’ for the kids in the summer - in the church. She set up a volleyball net between the pews, candyfloss, I did the fish finger sandwiches in the kitchen… it did have a Bible theme but loads of kids of different backgrounds came and loved it.

and will never forget the time she tried to teach the ‘Jesus as the Good Shepherd’ story at a toddler group and pretended to demonstrate not letting the sheep out the field by lying on the floor between the pews and making a ‘gate’ - all the kiddies came and sat on her baaa-ing and giggling.

Honestly one of my most cherished friends - she is just brilliant 🤣🤣🤣

Covert evangelising is so distasteful.

We’ve been going since my daughter was about 1.5… she’s now almost 14 and still enjoys it!!

Our nearby church did a fab messy church loved going when the kids were young ours was so inclusive and friendly. Give it a try if you don’t like don’t go back .

My SIL is a CoE vicar and runs messy churches all the time!
They're often linked to a bible story or Christian festival, but not like "rammed down your throat"

There's usually crafts, a bible story read and some form of drink and snack!

I find it an excellent way of getting DH and the kids out of the house and SIL gets to play doting auntie! Win win!

@MasterBeth any activities that use a church hall don't usually have "church" in their name.
They're just using the premises.
"Messy Church" seems obvious it's an activity that is part of the church's services.

Aren't you doing the same by telling them Jesus doesn't exist? Every parent imposes their beliefs on their children even if you aren't aware of it.

Yes, we go frequently. Last weekend there was:
A group sing song about pumpkins
A quick blessing (2 sentences, very general)
1hr of activity time - 6 stations set up, each with a craft activity relating to Halloween, mostly making decorations of one kind of another. There's a baby area for very little ones.
A group story and song - not overtly religious, relating to being kind to refugees with a quick mention of how tho relates to a story from the bible at the end
Food - there was a quick grace at the beginning
Goodbye blessing

Also as regards free - there is usually a donation box. You of course can go for free, and feeding families who may be in need is an important thing for the church. Nobody will press you to put money in or make a suggestion as to how much you could donate. Nobody will look to see if you put anything in. But if most people didn't put anything in, then it is using up funds that have been donated in good faith to try and help those who may be in need. Something to consider.

You don't have to be "offended" to not want to join in with a religious ceremony. You just might find it tiresome or stupid

This but also i absolutely detest churches targetting children. Children are impressionable, they trust & believe adults. They don't yet have the skills or experience to question what they are told. Both my DC are at a CofE school (the only choice locally as is often the case in rural england) and i was horrified at how readily they believed & parroted christian teaching the school imposed. We had to actively undo it to avoid them being confused - as far as they understood what they were being taught was factual in the same way as their maths or science lessons. Its completely incomprehensible to me that it's legal to proselytise to children in that way.

As I've already said above, there are are plenty of secular activities that take place in churches and church halls. "Church" could just refer to the building.

Write "Bible stories" or "children's hymns" on your posters and then everyone would know where they stand. The fact that the OP has started the thread shows it isn't obvious.

You don't have to be "offended" to not want to join in with a religious ceremony. You just might find it tiresome or stupid.

It sounds like they can be quite varied depending on your actual messy church - but one thing I would be pretty sure of if is that all would welcome you to go along and see for yourself, and none would mind if you went and then said, eh it's not really for me, and didn't go again. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Just give it a go if you're interested, it's not a lifelong commitment 😬

Surely the clue is in the name messy"church". So there will be a religious theme.

So what, whether you believe or not, its still education.

I went to Sunday School for years, but am not religious as an adult because I have a brain and opinions and can choose for myself.

Ours is very informal. Crafts/story/games for the kids. Most parents bring something to share as a party tea (though not a problem if you don't) and there's tea/biscuits/squash too.

The story is a Christian one, and there might be a short prayer. Colouring sheets might be ark/stable/loaves and fishes themed but I'm not sure the kids will notice.

Messy church is great for a wet dark Sunday afternoon with primary school kids!

It says "church". The clue is in the bloody title.

Sounds fun though!

But Anglicanism is still a force for good. ‘When people stop believing in God, they don’t believe in nothing, they start to believe in anything’.

This is your opinion. I don't believe Anglicanism is a force for good at all, actually, i believe most if not all religions simply cause discord, discrimination and strife.

I believe in a wide range of things and have strong ethics and morals. I believe in supporting my community. None of these have anything to do with a god, faith or religion.

Perhaps they thought as the name includes the word church the Christian part was self-explanatory.

We go most months, mainly because the crafts occupy my 3 dc, they see nct friends and get a free meal. There is a 15 min part in the church but that’s fine even though we are not religious.

I did once go for drinks after church that did end up a bit like that when I was much younger…

I disagree with this view. Lots of the families that attend are either non religious or are members of other religions. There are Muslim, Jewish and Hindu families that enjoy coming to the events the church puts on. I think it's more about a sense of community with other local people than religion. Though of course there will be some Christianity involved as it's a church. If anyone is going to be very offended by there being Christian prayers and stories promoted at a church then they should avoid it.

I am very happy not to go. I am very happy if like-minded people want to do this to their kids. I am not happy when some Messy Church sessions don't make it clear it's a Christian evangelical event, which some don't.