Bank Holiday Messy Church

Although it is a holiday weekend we are still having an August Messy Church on Sunday 26th and regardless of the weather we're planning a picnic tea! If you have any picnic treats that you'd like to contribute please bring them along but we'll be providing lots of lovely food too.

Our focus for August is bread! Jesus once said 'I am the bread of life' - quite a strange thing to say. We'll be doing some craft activities with bread to try and help us understand what Jesus meant and our storytime will focus on a giant picnic that Jesus had with his disciples and with crowds of people who came to listen to him speak.

We look forward to seeing you soon.

This little light of mine

On Sunday we decided to go for a picnic in Stratford upon Avon. On the way into the town I noticed a sign about the Olympic torch relay and it transpired that the torch was due to arrive within the next hour so we parked the car and joined the road-side crowds to see it pass through. It was quite a wait and with waning enthusiasm the assembled masses resorted to cheering for anything and anybody who passed by - stray cyclists,  embarrassed motorists looking for somewhere to park, police outriders, etc!

Eventually the torch did arrive but not before we had seen a minor procession of sponsor vehicles and a minibus of runners and spare torches! How many torches are in existence? There were about 10 on the bus and presumably some had already been used that day... and that was just for one day!

I had naively imagined that there was 'a torch' and that it would arrive in the Olympic stadium a few weeks from now, perhaps looking slightly worse for wear but having travelled the country and been held by many sweaty hands and viewed by thousands of people. Apparently not.

Anyway, that is a rather long-winded link to our Messy Church in July which will have an Olympic theme. We'll be making our own version of the torch, fashioning medals, designing team kits and getting messy in a host of other ways.

Hope you'll join us on Sunday 22 July, 4-6pm.

Challenging!

June's Messy Church was one of the most fun events we've had. Amazingly the weather was ok for our barbecue and we really enjoyed some great food - thanks again to butcher Steve Mellor, Coleshill Road, for providing us with such excellent sausages and burgers... and of course to Nick for cooking it!
Food aside the day was particularly special because we had some great Father's Day challenges including making a tower from spaghetti and marshmallows (as shown in these pictures) and creating a parachute and cradle for a raw egg that would protect it on a treacherous decent from the church tower!

There was just a hint of competitiveness when, towards the end of the afternoon, we gathered outside to find out the results of the challenges and specifically to see what would become of the eggs. Pete bravely ascended the tower with a bag full of eggs and ingenious egg-protection devices and then the eggs began to fall. (You can just about make out the black bin-bag parachute in this picture.) Much to our surprise some of the parachutes worked and the eggs, rather than plummeting to earth at great speed, actually floated rather gracefully to the ground. In the end about 4 eggs survived. Trophies were given to the winners of each challenge category and sweets all round for effort! 

Other highlights from the day include...

-  the creation of some splendid family crests

- significant engineering prowess being exhibited as dads made elastic powered cars from CDs, cardboard, piping and elastic bands

- plenty of delicious cakes

- a game of footie in the courtyard

- lots of brainy people showing that they are very good at picture quizzes

If you missed out don't worry because our next Messy Church is only a few weeks away and it has a special Olympic theme - join us on Sunday 22 July, 4-6pm.

It's a challenge...

As I blog my husband is using our dining table as a workbench in order to prep some of the items needed for tomorrow's Messy Church challenges. Specifically he is sawing some plastic piping that will be transformed in the axels of some elastic powered cars! Intrigued? Come along tomorrow at 4pm and make your own and see how you fare racing it against others.

Or have a go at constructing a tower with some rather strange building materials. There are plenty of activities to bemuse and challenge and if all that gets a little too much grab and beer and a burger and warm your hands at the barbecue! Come rain or shine Messy Church will be action-packed so do join us.

Messy June Special

We're only a few days away from June's Messy Church which is going to be a special event, not least of all because we may be barbecuing in the rain!

Aside from that we're hoping to make it into a really family-orientated afternoon and a chance for Messy Church regulars to bring some friends along for a bit of a taster. As it is also Father's Day it might be a good opportunity for dads and grandpas to give Messy Church a try - we have some special activities and challenges lined up for you. Here is what the afternoon has in store:

4pm - Arrivals: There will be some drinks available (including beer for any dads who need a Father's day treat/incentive!) Then there will be some challenges and activities to take part in, ideally in small groups or families. These include creating a family crest/shield, a quiz and making an elastic band car.

4.30pm - BBQ: Time to grab some food from the barbecue and consider your strategy for the next set of activities!

5pm - Activities: Another selection of activities (mildly competitive) to keep you busy including the second part of the quiz, constructing some towers and making an egg cradle!

5.30ish - Ice-cream and results: If you have any space after the BBQ you might like an ice-cream whilst you watch the results of the challenges. Whose elastic band car will go the furthest, whose tower is the tallest, and whose cradle will protect their egg when it falls from the church tower?

6pm - We can't promise to be finished by 6pm  - this Messy Church may run a little late but as you can see we have a fun programme lined up. We hope you'll join us!

Angel of the north (aisle)

 

Here is our very own angel of the north... north aisle that is! It is the latest Messy Church banner and it is on display in the church building hanging against a pillar in the north aisle. It looks great and really makes an impact.
We made parts of the banner during April's Messy Church and then it was carefully pieced together last week. If you look closely you may be able to see your handiwork!
Have a proper look at the next Messy Church on Sunday 27 May.

April showers...

We've just had a rather impressive rainstorm. In fact I think I even heard some thunder and witnessed a flash of lightening. It is certainly not beach weather which is a bit of a shame because tomorrow at Messy Church we'll be creating our own beach for a sandcastle activity.

It is not recorded in the Bible, but I wonder if Jesus ever played in the sand on the edge of the Sea of Galilee? My memory of being there about 20 years ago is that it is more rocks than sand but I like to think that Jesus skimmed a few stones whilst cooking breakfast on the beach for his disciples.

And that is one of the stories we'll be looking at tomorrow; Jesus meeting his disciples on the shore of Galilee, after the resurrection. They were out fishing at night and from the boat they spotted him in the early morning light at the water's edge. When they reached the shore they discoved that he had breakfast sorted... and a lot more besides. Check it out for yourself in John 21.

So tomorrow there will be some fishy activities, things to do on the beach and things to identify by touch. Of course we'll have our usual story-time plus a delicious pasta dinner - plenty to go round so do feel free to bring a friend.