Tower and Town, February 2020 (view the full edition)Messy ChurchWhat makes 40 or more children and their parents and grandparents and friends queue up outside St Mary's Church, Marlborough, twice a term at 4pm on a Sunday afternoon? Near high days and holidays St Mary's Church becomes a special place full of eager children and adults too. The church is filled with tables laden with a variety of craft materials, card, glue, paint, clay, biscuits, icing. Children cluster round making Advent candles, iced biscuits, night light holders, clay tree decorations, or - depending on the time of year and our theme - we may be measuring how many potatoes we can carry or how many press-ups we can do in 30 seconds. When the weather's right we may be outside finding treasure in the grounds. Recently we had people dressing up in Middle Eastern costumes for a photo shoot. A particular highlight of every Messy Church is the junk modelling. This is led by a crack team of designers. They are grandparents who amaze us every time with their ingenuity. Among other things they have created are a huge cardboard angel, Goliath the giant, a manger complete with farm animals (and a camel), a golden Temple, and even a huge glider. After all the activities comes a chance to be in more thoughtful mode: singing, listening to stories, entering the prayer space where we think and pray for people who matter to us, often using a craft activity to help us. We end up sitting on the floor having a huge picnic tea. We are doing Messy Church, which is part of an international movement to enable families worldwide to experience the fun and community that being part of a lively church family can bring. Part of that experience is being able to receive support too in times of difficulty. Everyone is welcome: this is for all ages so anyone can come and join in. Our next Messy Church is on Sunday 23 February. Why don't you come? Caroline Philps |