Easter 2010

Messy Easter 2010
Originally uploaded by Lees Street.

This Easter has seen many signs of new life at Lees Street.
It has been a busy, messy, reflective time, as we have tried to explore the Easter story in different ways. Through our Maundy Thursday Agape meal, Good Friday and Easter Sunday services, we recalled the events of Easter, being free to ask questions and see the story in new ways.

We also shared the Easter Story through our new groups at Lees Street.

Our new group Inspiration reflected on the events of the Easter story by thinking about endings and beginnings. We shared our own stories of endings and beginnings and discussed our thoughts and questions about the Easter story.

We were pleased to welcome new children and adults to our Messy Church Easter celebration. We enjoyed painting eggs, making chocolate nests and egg puppets, decorating Easter magnets, and creating a New Life banner. We also explored the different feelings in the Easter story - from happiness to anger, from despair to hope.

You can see photos of what we got up to by clicking on the Flickr photos. We are trying out Messy Church on Saturdays. The next dates are 15th May , 19th June.

Messy Christmas

Messy Christmas
Originally uploaded by Lees Street.

We enjoyed baking biscuits at our Messy Church Christmas - they were really tasty. We made angels and stars, while thinking about what we were doing to get ready for Christmas. We also made trees and reindeer bags as we talked about waiting for something exciting to happen. Some of us also made Christingles ready for the 11 o'clock service, reminding us that the birth of Jesus brings light to the world.

We will be having a break in January but Messy Church will return at 9.15am on 14th February.

Two by two

Play dough animals
Originally uploaded by Lees Street.

At our latest messychurch we used salt dough to make our favourite animals. We also made boats and animals to help us think about the story of Noah.

During our celebration time, we acted out the story and thought about how God gives us a new start. We also used the colours of the rainbow to help us think and pray for people and countries.

You can see more photos of what we got up to on Flickr.

Our next messychurch is on 11th October, when we celebrate the harvest.

Messy Creation

Messy gloop!
Originally uploaded by Lees Street.

Everyone enjoyed exploring the theme of creation at our August Messy Church.

Breakfast included making some yummy fruit smoothies, thinking about all the tasty fruit in our world.

Our activities included :

- making cornflour gloop and exploring its different textures and creating patterns with it.

- thinking about the land and sea while making our own earth balloons.

- designing our own bugs using pipe cleaners and pom-poms.

- cutting and sticking different materials to create our own creation collage.

We celebrated all that we had made by using actions to tell a creation story and thinking about how we could look after our world.

Look at our photos on flickr to see what we got up to...

August Messy Church - Creation

Making mosaic fish
Originally uploaded by Lees Street.

The next messychurch@leesstreet will be on :-

9th August

9.15 - 10.45am

Including breakfast, crafts and celebration
about the theme of creation.

Future dates for messychurch are :-

13th September
11th October
8th November
13th December

At the seaside at Messy Church

Seaside cards
Originally uploaded by Lees Street.

We had lots of fun thinking about the seaside at our first breakfast Messy Church in July.

The seaside was the setting for our story about the Wise man who build his house on the rock and the Foolish man who built his house on the sand.

Look at our pictures on Flickr to see us eating, making, sticking, cutting, colouring and fishing.

messychurch is coming!

It's messy, and it's church - but not as you know it!

• 12th July, 9.15am - 10.45am,
• "messychurch @ leesstreet"
• theme: Breakfast on the Beach!

Breakfast, craft activities, & a time of celebration!

It's open to all ages (children need to be accompanied by an adult).
It's a hands-on kind of church, about being creative, connecting with God and other people, and wanting to make a difference!
Come along and be a part of it ...

Messy Church - a crafty feast

On 3rd August we ventured for the first time into 'Messy Church', playing around with our morning service in the most radical way to date. We all sat round a long 'banquet-style' table, ready prepared with a tablecloth and paper plates - but more needed to be done. Starting with the Parable of the Great Banquet, when Jesus emphasises that the feast of God's kingdom - the party of faith and life - is open to all sorts of people, rather than those who may sometimes think they can take their place for granted. So we then went into different groups - some decorated cakes, some did some weaving of colourful place-mats, some painted self-portraits to celebrate that we are all invited, and some did something a bit more wordy - thinking about how different groups can be made to feel welcome. We then came back together, sharing in a simple meal of fruit, cakes, biscuits, and culminating in Communion, the breaking and sharing of bread, remembering the life and ministry of Jesus. It was an experiment well worth the effort - and more of it may follow, as we continue to explore 'messy church' as a way of expressing our hospitality to young children and people of all ages ... so watch this space, and be welcome!