Messy Church

A HUGE messy thank you to the 52 beautiful souls from toddlers, wisdom people and the Easter Bunny, who gathered for Messy Easter today. What joy in exploring the Holy Week and Easter story together.

"Welcoming God, grow your family here.
Creator God, set our imagination on fire.
God of old and new, help us be a church for all ages.
Joyful God help us celebrate you in all we do.
Loving God, help us walk more closely with Jesus. Amen."

Mini Mess!
“Mini Mess” is Messy Church that your family could do at home. The verse: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7) is relevant to the state of our world right now so I hope you and yours find comfort after allowing His word to surround us in these distressing times. Enjoy the mini mess activity .

Mini Mess Activity

Messy Church is church. Messy church explores a biblical theme through hands on creative experiences for all ages. We gather in a relaxed atmosphere and reconnect with each other. Messy Church is inter-generational; activities are for all ages. It does not prioritize either the needs of children or adults but intentionally welcomes and provides for all ages. Participants explore the theme of a bible story, with activities that allow all-ages to play and work together. A short interactive celebration time of story, prayer and song lead into the Eucharist. Finally, the worship experience culminates in a meal together. Watch the video below and read the testimonials and then please, join us for the next Messy Church. For additional information contact Maureen Carey at messychurch@sdlife.org or 703-729-0570.

Testimonials

My wife and I attended the first "Messy Church" with our two sons ages 3 and 5. Both boys enjoyed their time, having fun at the various areas that were set up for them to play and learn. It gave my wife and I time to talk to some other parents we had never met before during the meal and fellowship. It was a nice time for everyone in the family to explore the bible story, make a creative altar cloth that will be used at each Messy Church and participate in a wonderful Eucharist celebration. Rev. Mary Kay and Maureen created a very relaxed atmosphere and enjoyable time. We are excited to go to the next "Messy Church".

Kevin & Jackeline M. Kennedy

Messy Church – an interesting name and one that intrigued me enough to sign up and attend the first session of this event. I decided to attend the event in spite of many misgiving of what might happen at an event with such a name. What I found was a surprise and a true blessing.
As it turned out, this was a small gathering and to be honest, most of the families were not familiar to me. Although I have been attending St. David’s church almost since the beginning, I am more familiar with those that attend than service at 11:00 then I am with the families that attend the 9:00. Messy Church afforded me the opportunity to interact with some of the families that I would not normally see or interact with.
The whole experience of Messy Church is one that should not be missed. It was truly inspiring to see the faces of the children and the adults as they were invited to participate in creating flowers to be placed in front of the alter for the communion service or putting their own hand print or other artistic touch on a cloth to be placed on the alter table.
The service that was held in the garden was a very moving experience as well. Since there was no music for this first service it provided a time quiet contemplation of the blessed meal we were sharing.
All of this was followed by a simple supper for all those who had attended. I was truly blessed to be able to sit and talk with the younger families of our church community.
LA Hurst (age 62).