‘So what’s been happening with Messy Church?’ you might well be asking! Many of you will know since lockdown we have been in contact with our Messy Church families each month and some have joined us on Zoom for crafts and a story at our usual Messy Church time.

For our Harvest Messy Church in October we decided to change things a little. Craft bags were prepared and delivered to our families – 20 bags in all. This was hugely appreciated by our families and the opportunity to connect with and see adults and children briefly on their doorsteps and hear how they were doing was a real joy. We then did Messy Church on Zoom as before with two of our older children who would often be ‘young helpers’ in church joining us to share their harvest baskets they had made, filled with their favourite food – chocolate! They also shared their own harvest thought and prayed alongside the younger children and their families on Zoom.

Next Saturday (7th November) will be the next Messy Church. We will again be delivering bags but also sharing on local family Facebook pages as well as our website inviting families from the wider community to join us in what we are doing. Another step forward this month is that, with Patricks help, we are hoping to livestream the Celebration at 3.30pm (as we do on Sunday mornings) for families to watch at home before we join together on Zoom to do our crafts together. Our theme this month is ‘Shine as a Star’ and we pray that the light of Jesus would shine through all we do at ‘Messy Church at home’ on Saturday.

Contact Sharon (our Children’s and Families Team Leader on sharon@sunnysidechurch.org.uk for more information or if you know anyone who would like to get involved.