Welcome to the ‘Messy Church’
by Robert Mitchell
This Salvation Army church in Beacon, N.Y., may be “messy,” but the people sure seem to love it. On the third Sunday of every month, the Beacon Citadel Corps skips meeting in the sanctuary, and everyone gathers downstairs in the community room for “Messy Church.”
The meetings, modeled after the global Messy Church movement, draw about 30 people and are “more upbeat” than a traditional service, said Captain Jessenya Alicea, the corps officer in Beacon.
Alicea said the Christ-centered services feature some of the same components of regular church, including a sermon, scripture readings, and praise and worship, though nothing from The Song Book of The Salvation Army. There’s also always arts and crafts, which relate back to the sermon and the message of the day.
“It’s just a way to have an intergenerational worship experience and to let people know church doesn’t have to be a certain way,” Alicea said. “I was trying to find something that would engage everybody.”
All ages welcome
One month, the Messy Church theme focused on being rooted in Christ, and everyone built balloon towers that required a solid foundation. The congregants sit at tables to have room for the arts and crafts in an informal and relaxed atmosphere.
“Sometimes we get ‘messy,’ and I’d rather not do it on our cloth chairs from the sanctuary,” Alicea said.
The Beacon Citadel Corps doesn’t always have children’s church tailored to youth apart from the main worship service. Alicea said Messy Church, which began about six months ago, is an outgrowth of trying to find something intergenerational to offer at the corps.
“It was hard to find something entertaining for the kids … something a little different,” she said. “So, I really wanted to find a way to incorporate kids but also incorporate the adults, just in a different way because not everybody likes the traditional style of church. This shows people that church can be a bunch of different things.”
Alison Astin, who has attended the Beacon Citadel for five years, brings her children, Jayden, 13, and Abner, 8, and helps out with the program.
“I feel that the Messy Church has helped my children feel more engaged to learn about Jesus that way,” Astin said. “They feel connected differently than on a normal Sunday. They’re more engaged every month.
“I feel like there’s going to be a good outcome now and in the future due to the uniqueness — because all of our kids enjoy it and the adults as well. The adults feel like they can become a child when they’re doing these activities. It’s bringing more kids in from the community. People like the hands-on experience they get.”
The Messy Church movement originated in the U.K. in the mid-2000s as a welcoming and inclusive effort to attract the unchurched.
The motto of the Messy Church movement is “Church, but not as you know it,” according to Messychurchusa.org. The nonprofit organization says the global movement has registered more than 4,000 churches in 30 countries and more than 500,000 worship at a Messy Church each month from a variety of denominations.
They’ve come around
Some in her congregation were leery at first, Alicea said, because they thought the break from tradition would be too much. But the groups at each table also discuss questions about the week’s sermon and scripture, making it feel like church.
“It really helps the younger generation understand a little bit more and the older generation connects with the younger generation,” Alicea said. “So now people really like it. There are some people who only come on Messy Church Sundays.
“I think it gives people a new outlook. I feel as generations are growing up, they’re leaving the church because they’re not used to the same kind of traditions that I had growing up. They don’t want to sit in church and just be spoken to, so this is a way for them to really have a hands-on experience and interact with the Word of God in a different way.”
