“The Anglican Churches Along the Ottawa” tried something new. It was a movement that came out of nowhere and re-lit their torch of faith. It is called “Messy Church”.
The first Messy Church we put on at Holy Trinity, Hawkesbury, on July 23rd was a tremendous success…over twenty children together with their parents & grandparents – plus two babies. The evening started with a “messy church” grace, then supper, and kept the tradition of “messy” alive as church parishioners served spaghetti.
It was chaotic & wild….but the sound of children laughing, crying & playing was music to our ears!
It was all about Noah. After the meal we had craft & learning stations littered at the other end of the hall. At the end, all the children boarded a three dimensional ark made from lumber and cardboard…It was picture perfect!
We borrowed a lot from a Messy Church workshop we attended in Kingston earlier this year, and we borrowed a bit from the original model, but we incorporated more of our own ideas. It was a good sign when the children were crying because they had to leave! The comments and the phone calls are still coming in from parents who are asking when the next Messy Church is going to be. Many are sad because they have to wait until September.
The amazing thing through all of this, Holy Trinity Hawkesbury has now gained a Sunday School! 9 children from across the river in Grenville, Quebec, are without a Sunday School since the United Church had stopped Sunday School this past year. They are excited that we will be accommodating them, and they are at the ages where we might be looking at a Youth Group in a couple years…
Amazing News isn’t it- The Spirit is ALIVE here!
