Today

Yes... despite the absence of recent blog posts there will be a Messy Church today. We are heading to the seaside (metaphorically) and there will be some very fishy goings on!
Join us at 4pm!

Messy March

Just a week to go until our March Messy Church (Sunday 24 March) and it will be a particularly exicting one, coinciding with Palm Sunday and giving us another opportunity to decorate our own pizzas for tea! But that's not all. We're also looking forward to making Easter gardens and taking part in other crafts linked to the Easter story.

Don't forget that in the coming weeks there are lots of special events and activities that will help us to enter into this season. Why not come along on Thursday 21 March,7pm to see Saltmine Theatre Company perform A Long Road Home. It is a re-telling of the story of the prodigal son and ideal for family audiences - it is a bargain too at £4 for adults aned £2 for children - cheaper than the cinema or a burger meal!

Then in Holy Week (the week leading up to Easter Day) there are plenty of interesting and family-friendly activities such as a shortened Passover Meal on Thursday 28 March, 6.30pm and an All-age Stations of the Cross on the morning of Good Friday (29 March). Then of course there is THE celebration of Easter Day - join us for a service at 10.30am and take part in an egg hunt afterwards!

Look our for more details on the St Nicolas website or pick up an Easter activities card for more information.

Desert wonderings

Yesterday was another busy Messy Church. It was lovely to see so many familiar faces plus welcome a few new people. The hall was buzzing during the afternoon
We lived up to our messy name with some foot painting and several activities with sand. All of this was to help us focus on a desert theme.
During the story time we heard about Abraham - a desert wanderer - and his journey to become the father of a great family. At the heart of all our wonderings was the thought that God goes with us wherever we may be, even in tough places like the desert.
However it was a little difficult to concentrate on any of this because of the wonderful smell of sausages coming from the kitchen! We staved off the winder cold with sausage, mash and beans for tea and rounded off the feast with delicious cakes.
If you missed February's fun do try to join us in March - Sunday 24th, 4-6pm - when we'll be exploring another Bible landscape and thinking about Palm Sunday with some very topical crafts.

Lights, camera, action!

We're delighted to announce that Saltmine Theatre Company will be visiting St Nicolas on Thursday 21 March to perform A Long Road Home. It tells the story of two scrap-yard owners who discover a young man called Jack living in their yard. Jack tells how he has taken his inheritance and left his home to explore life in the big city. His adventure starts well enough but soon it turns sour.
Why is Jack in the yard?
Why did he leave home?
will he ever be able to go back?
Come along to hear Jack's story and find the answers to these questions and more!

Tickets are available from St Nicolas Church Office.

 

Messy New Year

Hello... and a belated Happy New Year. Messy Church is returning on Sunday 27 January, 4-6pm so we hope to see you then. We're going to be making Christingles and finding out about what they represent. There will also be a new shared craft activity to keep us occupied in the coming months plus several other creative activites for all ages. As always Messy Church will end with a lovely family meal.

If you can't make it this weekend these are our Messy Church dates for the next few months:

Merry Messy Christmas

Yesterday saw a marathon merry messy Christmas special - 3 hours of festive fun with lots of highlights. St Nicolas Church Choir made a wonderful guest appearance and treated us to come carols whilst we did craft acitivites and face-painting. Then there were some games during which we ate quite a lot of chocolate!

 

Nearly everyone was involved in telling the Christmas story - a very messy nativity with a bumper crop of shepherds and angels and a very stylish star! And we danced... and danced some more!

 

Gingerbread nativity!

Boosting our energy levels was a lovely buffet tea accompanied by mulled wine and fruit punch. There was also the most amazing spread of cakes, mince pies and chocolate-coated marshmallows. The sweet centre-piece was a gingerbread nativity - it seemed too good to eat... but we managed it!

 

Thanks to team members who worked behind the scenes to make it such a fun event and to everyone for coming along.

 

Over the next week we have a few special services to which you are most welcome:

 

Sunday 23 December, 6pm - Festival of Lesson & Carols

Christmas Eve, 4pm - Family Carols & Crib Service

Christmas Eve, 11.30pm - First Communion of Christmas

Christmas Day, 10.30am - Family Communion

 

The next Messy Church St Nicolas will be on Sunday 27 January 2013.

 

Until then we wish you a very happy, peaceful and blessed Christmas and send you our love and prayers for the New Year.

Christmas Special

This Sunday... 16th December is our Messy Church Christmas Special. Come along at 4pm for craft activities, games, story-telling, music, barn-dancing, carols and festive buffet.