Brisbane takes Messy Church to the Riverina!

A small country church comes alive, filled with the voices of children and all ages, joining together for a Messy celebration. How did it all come about?

The Rev Bob Done lives in Jindera, just North of Albury-Wodonga and earlier this year, Bob was perusing some of the National Connect2Church materials, which now come from our Diocese.  Connect2Church is mainly about producing printed invitations which Anglicans can use to invite their friends, family and neighbours to church.  This is a free service for parishes in our Diocese.  One of these sets of invitations is for inviting people to a Messy Church service, and this one attracted Bob's attention.

Bob rang me to find out more, and soon he was suggesting that a team should fly down to his region to Resource, Inspire, Serve and Enable people to run Messy Church. I put him on to my friends and colleagues Glen and Sue Taylor at Sherwood parish who have recently been designated the Regional Coordinators for Messy Church in Queensland and Northern NSW.  Like me, they were a little surprised to be approached, and suggested Bob could see whether there were any MC trainers a little closer to him, in Sydney, Canberra or Melbourne, for example. Some days later, Bob rang back to say he couldn't find anyone and would be happy to provide flights and accommodation for Sue, Glen and myself, to come for a three day mission in early October 2014.

We arrived at Albury a little later than expected on Monday afternoon, and drove straight up to Culcairn, where around 30-40 people from about ten parishes had gathered for a meal prepared by the parish, which provided a useful distraction while we quickly set up our projector/screen/tables/handouts etc, and soon we were underway.

Our plan was that Monday night would be a training session with handouts, Powerpoint presentations, and then actual hands-on practising of some of the craft activities we had brought (or asked Bob to buy locally, so that we did not have to carry down colossal amounts of paper, paint, etc!)  This ran very smoothly, and about 80% of the attendees indicated that they would be returning the next night for the 'real' Messy Church at Culcairn.

Once everyone had left, the kitchen was cleaned and all had been left set up for the next night, we travelled back South to Bob and Nerida's residence in Jindera, where we had very comfortable accommodation generously provided.

The next day, I went for a very early walk around this small town (c. 1000 people) to look around (geocaching) and get some exercise.  The rest of the morning was spent on a little drive in and out of Victoria, with a stop off at the Hume Weir, the massive damming of the Murray River which I admit I hadn't heard of before.  We arrived home to greet the Right Rev Rob Gillion, new Bishop of the Riverina, and his delightful wife, Janine.  We chatted about Rob and Janine's work in London, the remarkable sequence of events by which they have come to Australia, and youth and children's ministry. +Rob and I also discussed bad backs as I had injured mine not long before, and he said he had hurt his through choreographing fight scenes for the stage!  At Jindera, we were apparently sitting just inside the Wangaratta diocese, but Culcairn is certainly all Riverina.

We then made our way back to Culcairn for our final set up and then welcomed probably close to 60 people of all ages to their first Messy Church.  There was a hugely positive and enthusiastic tone throughout, even though not everything went according to plan, especially during the Celebration time, but we made it through and everyone looked happy, not least the Bishop and Fr Bob who were delighted with the attendance and the opportunity to engage with families from many parts of the region.

All too soon, it was time to pack up, and head back to the Dones, prior to flying out the next day.  In our time of debriefing and reflection with Bob and Nerida, we were able to identify a few strengths and weaknesses of the experience.

This was the first time we had used a two-night model, where we trained people on one night and then hosted a real MC 24 hours later, but I think it worked very well indeed.  I guess it took some commitment for people to travel to Culcairn on two consecutive week-nights, but as a method of reinforcing the learning from night one, it would be hard to beat.  It helps that Sue and Glen were incredibly well-organised in terms of using simple craft needing materials that would be easy to transport or source locally, such as the pipe-cleaner butterflies, cardboard creatures and 'Trinity hats' (of which the Bishop made a big, funny purple one; who'd have thought? ;) ).

A couple of weaknesses that came to mind were not rehearsing the Celebration section a little more thoroughly, and also asking attendees to tidy up their craft tables before leaving for the Celebration, in order to minimise the workload for the team members who then need to set up for the meal.  Of course, these are things we can improve for our next training sessions.

The parish of North Albury sent a busload of people to both nights, and we are confident that they and at least a couple of the other parishes represented are capable of hosting their own MC services in the new year, if not before.  We look forward to following their progress.

If anyone would like more info on Messy Church locally, see the previous blog post and don't hesitate to contact me on (07) 3514 7432 or jdkemp@ministryeducation.org.au or contact Sue or Glen Taylor via www.sherwoodanglican.com.

Diary Notes

There's never a dull moment in youth and children's ministry around the Diocese! Here are some quick bites of what's been happening lately...

11 May: SN@P Night at Bardon Parish!

The Larks in full flight

Highlights for me included the techno duo 'Three Point' and the band called 'The Larks': both very impressive! Well done to Youth Minister Nathan Haywood and Rector the Rev Colin Nicholson for making it happen.

12 May: SN@P Night at Hendra-Clayfield Parish!

24 Hours later and there's Chris Richards again setting up sound and lighting for another SN@P night. This was a more intimate setting with a different feel from the night before. I enjoyed a father-son vocal/guitar duo and also Hannah and Brenton singing together. Well done to the Rev Iain Moore for supporting this initiative, and to Chris for all of the technical work behind the scenes.

The Rev Iain Moore at the first Hendra-Clayfield SN@P night.

What is SN@P?  The SN@P Collective Facebook page is probably the best place to start. SN@P is designed as a first-level activity of engaging with the community and having people come to their local Anglican church when they wouldn't ordinarily do so.

19 May: Pentecost

Loved our Pentecost service at St Lucia which is always colourful and usually has lots of participation from young people. Helium balloons and a big cake were the go, as four children were admitted to Communion.

Christ Church St Lucia Pentecost 2012

In the afternoon, I visited Kenmore parish for their Pentecost Messy Church.  Unfortunately they were up against some very attractive events for kids (like the nearby Brookfield Show!) so numbers were modest, but I enjoyed meeting the participants and volunteer helpers who were there: it is very true that Messy Church is for all ages, not just for kids.

I was very happy to jump on to a table alongside Youth and Children's Minister Brittany Leam, where we were constructing windchimes.
 

After that, it was on to the yummiest table: "Edible Apostles" - yay! See Recipe instructions in the picture below.

The Ven. Bev Bell was all smiles: a) because Messy Church is fun and b) because she was leaving for a well-deserved and lengthy period of Long Service Leave the next day!  Have a great break, Bev!

On 21 May, I met with Bishop Alison Taylor for the first time, and it was great to have the opportunity to outline some of the strategies we are carrying out at AYCF.  I felt +Alison was rather impressed by how much is happening, so thank YOU for your part in that, whatever it may be.

22 May: Went to a great seminar run by Terry Williams and the Queensland Children's Ministry Network (QCMN), of which we are proud members.
The seminar at New Farm highlighted a cross-denominational project called Here2Stay (www.here2stay.org.au) which seeks to address the problem of people leaving the Church in their early teens.  This 'drop-out' is seen across denominations and across national borders, so the broader the response, the better. Check out the website for the first steps in our response.

Speaking of cross-denominational activity, it was good to then have a coffee with my friend and colleague Aaron Glover, the Director of Lutheran Youth of Queensland (www.lyq.org.au), a group I've admired for a long time. They run very professional, efficient youth ministry and I've learnt a lot from observing them.  Aaron and I discussed a range of topics of mutual interest including campsites and appeal projects.  More to come on those...

23 May: Time for another little road-trip which I usually enjoy.  This time it was a Sunshine Coast Area Deanery meeting at Pomona (Cooroora parish, named after the striking peak which dominates the area, and where they hold an annual 'King of the Mountain' run up and down each year. I know from past experience it's a tough, steep walk with a chain as a handrail at certain points. We had a nice lunch and meeting where I could outline what we're doing in AYCF ministry and how we may be able to assist the parishes represented. Many thanks to the Rev. Gillian Moses for her hospitality, and to Area Dean the Rev Ken Goodger for his kind invitation to appear.
(I might add that Pomona also has some renowned geocaches in the area, so I'll be back for sure, one way or another.)

25 May: Fiona Hammond and I presented a seminar on "Cybertweens: understanding child culture and offering authenticity" to the GFS Leaders Weekend.  The venue (Toc-H House at Bongaree) seemed like a great choice and we were very happy to be spending more time with this great group of people, gathered from as far away as Bundaberg.  Well done Chris Rooney for organising this weekend, and it was great to catch up with our friends from GFS / Kidsplus+ who do excellent work with their program of kids' clubs and sponsorship of many different projects.

So after all that, at the time of writing, we are just a few days away from the RISE day at St Francis College, Milton, which we hope and pray will be as successful as it was last year. Praying for presenters and attendees at RISE - that all may be blessed by what is said and heard.

Until next time - the Lord be with you!

Big Weeks: A Catch up!

Hi ho, well, there's never a dull moment in my travels around the Diocese! Here's a quick run through of some things I've seen recently...

Christ Church St Lucia: Bible 360

Saturday 20 April: Jonathan S and I headed to Christ Church St Lucia for our first experience of the Bible 360 course, facilitated by the Rev. Adam Lowe, usually of Noosa parish, but also now the lead project officer for Bible 360.

I enjoyed time at a table of folks from St Lucia and Indooroopilly parishes, but there were people from elsewhere too. Jonathan S and I were particularly keen to see how adaptable the course might be for a Youth audience, and I think the answer is that it's very adaptable - in fact, I don't know that there is a great deal I would change, except perhaps adding more A/V elements.  The booklets were useful, though I'm not certain I learnt a great deal of new content.  I think most of the value for me was mainly in sharing time with fellow local Anglicans, thinking about the Bible!  Admittedly, I had to miss the final afternoon input to visit St Stephen's Coorparoo for a Children's Worship recording session... but thanks to the Rev Adam and the Rev Ceri Wynne for your efforts with an appreciative group.

One memorable feature of the day was the opportunity to present a dramatic reading of the entire book of Philemon... which is not as long as it sounds. Unsurprisingly, Jonathan S and I both received roles.  JS played Paul, whose main job here was to push me through the door... while I was given the challenging role of the slave, returned to his former captor and reading out Paul's firm but fair message requesting forgiveness for a runaway slave now become Christian brother.  A very interesting experience, which would be well worth trying out as a quick activity in a youth group or other parish or school setting. 

St Stephen's Coorparoo: Children's Worship

St Stephen's is a really impressive church community in Brisbane's South / East.  Their Rector, the Rev. Josh Dinale, is definitely the only minister I know with spacers in his ears!  They employ a Children's Minister, Ms Juliet Briner, who kindly invited me to join them for an hour-long worship session where children were the focus, and which was recorded in order to become a CD - a copy of which will be generously distributed to each other parish at Synod at the end of June.

The five piece band were great, and the song leaders / choreographers were awesome. Nice to see Sarah Fowler out the front again - doing a great job with those of us who need lots of instruction on when to move hands / arms / legs / etc!

In between songs, Juliet led the children through related activities and afterwards, there was a great sausage sizzle outside, where I had a chance to catch up with Youth Ministry Intern Stephen Khu and other Coorparoo folks.

This was an excellent time of praise and worship where children were the key participants and I look forward to hearing the CD so I can relive the afternoon all over again.

 

Chinchilla and Roma: Listening to Country Voices

Not long after my fun day at St Lucia and Coorparoo, I joined eight other Anglicans from a range of different parishes and agencies on a three-day mini-bus journey, heading West to Chinchilla and then on to Roma.
The purpose of the trip was to bring to fruition a successful motion from last year's Diocesan Synod, which essentially called for city Anglicans to visit and listen to the concerns of those in the bush.  The chosen format for "listening" in a purposeful way was very interesting: "Open Space Technology" sounds like it should be concerned with satellites, but actually it means a system of running productive meetings where a range of relevant topics can be covered in ways which allow people to take turns in the discussion.  There are no white boards, no butchers' paper, no "policy outcomes", etc. Space won't allow me to go into it all here, but suffice to say, I turned from a mild sceptic into an enthusiastic convert when I saw it in practice in Chinchilla.
It was great to visit St Cecilia's Chinchilla for the first time, and catch up with the Rev. Kay Hart and husband Alan.  We broke into four groups of about twelve, and proceeded to engage in discussion for perhaps 90 minutes or so. Topics raised included the Coal Seam Gas debate, youth ministry, and the social effects of the mining boom on affordable housing in the region.  Hearing about these things at first hand was an invaluable experience.

Although Chinchilla was charming, Roma was remarkable. The Rev. Scott and Gisela Gunthorpe lead a wonderful parish at St Paul's Roma with a thriving youth and children's ministry at present, which was great to hear.
The "Open Space" session also went well; though there were fewer in attendance than in Chinchilla, we heard new stories of the ups and downs of life on the land, and similar stories of the goods and bads of the mining boom upon the township.
One of my tasks on the trip was to act as a photographer for our Diocesan Anglican Focus magazine, so hopefully you will hear more of the Roma-Chinchilla trip in the next edition.
All too soon, it seemed, we were on our way back to Brisbane, and for those who haven't travelled very far to the West recently, let me assure you that the road works are driving everyone a bit crazy, adding hours to travel time.  One of the worst spots is the Toowoomba Range crossing, which is down to one lane in each direction.  One hopes that the end results are worth the current inconvenience!

Messy Church at Sherwood

Lastly, a quick plug for the extraordinary work of the parish of St Matthew's, Sherwood and particularly their Rector, the Rev. Peter Shayler-Webb, and his awesome Messy Church team, coordinated by passionate Messy Church promoter, Sue Taylor.
I can't recommend a visit to a Sherwood Messy Church service enough!  On Good Shepherd Sunday, with the input largely based around the 23rd Psalm, I believe I experienced Messy Church worship at a world-class level.  Of course, worship is about giving the glory to God, but I must say my worship was really enhanced by the range of inter-active activities, the input from the Rev Pete, the A/V clips, the music, the care which has been taken with the physical elements within the church building, and many other aspects. It really blew me away and it reinforced my growing belief that although a Messy Church service requires a considerable amount (maybe that should be a 'huge' amount) of preparation, the results are stunning and the enthusiasm with which the congregation, particularly its younger members, become involved suggests that a parish wishing to reach out to young families should certainly be considering Messy Church as at least an option.
Sue Taylor would be extremely pleased to coach another parish in how to go about holding a Messy Church, and details on how to contact her are found on our AYCF Messy Church page.

Sue will also be offering a Messy Church elective workshop on "Everything you wanted to know about Messy Church but were afraid to ask" at our RISE training day at Milton on Saturday 1 June.  RISE is just $10 for food, a great bag with all materials, and your choice of four electives from the huge sixteen on offer.  Register now and secure your place!

Until next time, the Lord be with you!