What a phenomenal weekend at Sherwood parish as Jane Leadbetter from Messy Church HQ in the UK arrived in Brisbane at last for two intensive workshops with more than 100 screaming fans!
OK, maybe we weren't doing a lot of screaming, but there were plenty of laughs and appreciation as we worked our way through "Growing a Messy Church" on Saturday and then "Discipleship from Messy Church" on Sunday.
As well as many delegates from the Uniting, Lutheran and Salvation Army denominations, I saw reps from Anglican parishes including Wynnum, Birkdale, Kenmore-Brookfield, Banyo, Kilcoy, Buderim, St Lucia, Cleveland and of course Sherwood among others.
We watched some of the introductory videos from the www.messychurch.org.uk site before working through Jane's Powerpoints and then of course joining together to get Messy with the kind of hands-on activities for which the ministry is famous.
Huge thanks must go to Jane Leadbetter; her husband Ian who ran up and down the aisle with a microphone and/or camera as needed; and our Sherwood hosts, especially the Rev. Peter Shayler-Webb and Sue and Glen Taylor who organised the event impeccably.
The Roscoe Library from St Francis College supplied a range of Messy Church materials for perusal, and these of course are available to any Anglican parishioners who register with the Library. Another popular new resource is the magazine called Get Messy which arrives about once a quarter and which we recommend strongly.
There is little doubt that the Anglican Church Southern Queensland is now one of Australia's leading exponents of the Messy Church phenomenon. One reason for this is that it ticks so many boxes for parishes who are wanting to grow through reaching families outside the Church. It's a lot of work for the team each time, but almost always lots of fun and very rewarding!
If you're on Facebook and interested in Messy Church, join our Facebook Group here, or otherwise read more from the relevant part of our website here or the UK HQ site as above. Jane's PPT notes should be available on our website very shortly.
