Messy Holidays, Feast Days, and Vacation Bible School

Last November the Rev. Blair Pogue invited me to the Innovation Summit where I had a chance to witness the Spirit of God at work throughout our diocese in creative ways. I was particularly interested in “Messy Church” and Sally Hockinson from Trinity in Excelsior invited me to visit their Messy Church service that very night. I pitched the idea at Messiah, and we piloted our first Messy Christmas one month later.

The idea is that the activities (crafts or projects, a Bible story, music, and food) are geared towards kids, but everyone is invited to fully participate. It is “messy” because it is intentionally intergenerational and intentionally holistic and the ways we use every part of ourselves to worship (including but not limited to using our hands for glitter glue, frosting, or dirt.) And it is gloriously messy because God is at work through it all. After Messy Christmas, one little boy who had never been to church before, asked his grandma if she would buy him his own Bible. He was captivated.

Messiah tried Messy Valentine’s Day, and with generously donated goods from the congregation, thirty- six kids, teens, and grown-ups packed almost fifty “Mercy Bags” full of food and hygiene supplies for families to have ready in their cars to offer people in need. We read the story of the Good Samaritan and heard about the extravagant love of God and the love we are asked to extend to our neighbors. We are trying Messy Easter where we’ll make Resurrection Gardens and hear the story of the Gospel in preparation for Holy Week. We are planning for Messy Pentecost and Messy Vacation Bible Nights—Thursdays nights in July where families, friends, and neighbors can gather for a free meal and participation in the Stories of Jesus. We are captivated by the work of Jesus in and through our messiness.