Has anyone ever been to a messy church event?

[Mamabear04]

Just wondering if anyone has taken their kids to a messy church event and what it was like? We've been invited by a friend but was wondering if it's very religious or.....? I like the idea of crafts a free food though!

Whether people like it or not, children are curious about God

no they’re not because God doesn’t exist. If they are it’s because an adult has told them to be. My 9 yr old thinks people that believe in any god are delusional. She’s not wrong

I never thought I'd see Nessy Church compared to Ann Summers parties 🤣

Yes, it’s good fun in a crafty way. My then primary aged kids liked as it was just meeting up with their friends and doing some crafty thing that I’m crap at organising. It was about 10 years ago but I seem to remember there was a little religious bit, I think a bible story reading or a song before the end for a few mins. The kids even enjoyed that.

I'm an atheist and happily took my kids who really enjoyed it. Lots of the local churches and community centres have some form of mother/toddler/play group. When I was on mat leave we'd go to two or three a week - all within walking distance and all free or just a few pounds.

The one I ran was attached to a CofE primary school. School next to the church. @MayaPinion is right, churches are used for all kinds of things in villages these days which is a good thing. They’re often at the centre of small communities and not from a religious perspective either, as a free to use indoor space.

The church in our village did a walking group, coffee drop in, mental health session, someone did cooking lessons from it, book club and yoga to name a few. None of them were religious activities but used the building free of charge.

I suppose an adult didn't make her think like that... You do the same as any Christian family.

@MayaPinion that's not what Messy Church is though.
That's playgroup - which is different.

I suppose an adult didn't make her think like that... You do the same as any Christian family.

but that’s equivalent of you saying I’ve made my child think the earth is round, when in fact others believe it’s flat.

It is round. That’s fact. There’s never been a shred of actual scientific evidence that a god exists so in the absence of that, it doesn’t. That’s fact. It’s no different.

“My 9 yr old thinks people that believe in any god are delusional.”

where did she get that idea? 🤔

Yoga in a building intended as a meeting place for the worship of God 😬 it just makes me feel so sad 😞

what @Pureasthedrivensnowww doesn’t realise is that numerous scientific studies show that children are natural, innate theists - regardless of parental instruction.

“We see, then, multiple studies converging on a single conclusion: the innate predisposition of the human mind to believe that there is some kind of an intelligent creator God.”

evolutionnews.org/2014/08/more_studies_sh/

Mentioning JESUS … in church???

How very dare they! 🙄

Would you rather it was an empty shell of a building used for a couple of hours on a Sunday @SuperfluousHen ?

That church building became the heart of the community, I don’t live there anymore so it might have changed but it was a wonderful place to bring up small children, so much going on and all from the church building.

No issues with it being used for any of the other activities you mentioned, the more it’s used, the better, imho.

But I don’t like the idea of a space intended for the worship of God to be used for the spiritual practices of another religion. I think that’s profoundly sad.

Yeah, but children believe in all sorts of nonsense. The tooth fairy, Santa, monsters under the bed, faces in the curtains... It's our job to educate them, not encourage them.

@SuperfluousHen a lot of churches hold their services in shared spaces (community centres, school halls). A lot of churches can't afford the costs of keeping a building to themselves.
Why? Because church going numbers are way down. Often because they've refused to move with times.
There is nothing wrong with a Yoga class taking place in a church hall. The more churches open up to the wider community the better.

This just goes to show that, actually, many Christians aren't interested in people's mental or physical health, but only in their crackpot nonsense. Imagine being triggered by a few mindful stretches!

@MasterBeth exactly. Most people go to Yoga for exercise. Not some spiritual experience.

It's so, so sad, though, that people get comfort, exercise, company and pleasure from a harmless activity in a church!!

“There is nothing wrong with a Yoga class taking place in a church hall.”

We will have to agree to disagree on that point.

Thought this was going to be about brides jilted at the altar and funeral punch ups. My bad.

And just out of curiosity what's wrong with yoga in church halls? If God created everything, that includes yoga, surely? It's supposed to be good for the soul isn't it? 😈🧙😈

I imagine she means the hall rather than the actual church. But anyway, what's wrong with yoga? I'm a Christian and I do yoga. God made bodies, after all, and yoga and eg. Qi Gong celebrate the Eternal and our place here between the earth and the sky, ancestors and descendants. It makes me more connected to my beliefs, not less. I've never understood why yoga is thought of as a threat.

I find that incredibly narrow minded @SuperfluousHen .

Many asanas predate all forms of religion as we know them today by 1000 years. Most people who I know who do yoga do it for reasons other than spiritual.

If one wanted to look commonalities, Bhakti = loving devotion, normally understood to mean devotion to God, not exclusively a Hindu god.

Matthew 22:37 - Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.

I’m incredibly glad that clergy have seen the need to adapt and allow churches to embrace communities and today’s activities.

Not the hall, it doesn’t have one, in the church space.