Messy Church Australia leaders Rev Sandy Brodine, Bethany Broadstock and Rev Greg Ross at the conference.
By Rev Sandy Brodine
A small team consisting of Rev Greg Ross from Western Australia, and myself, Chris Barnett, Bethany Broadstock and Sophia Byrne from Victoria, attended the conference.
Based on the theme of ‘All together, the event highlighted inclusion and diversity in all its forms.
Keynote speaker Lorraine Prince led the way with a presentation on psychological safety and how we could ensure our Messy Churches were safe spaces for all people.
Asking the key question, “how do you know everyone feels like they belong?”, Lorraine challenged us to think carefully about our own Messy Churches and whether they were safe.
Reflecting on the South African concept of ‘Ubuntu’, which means “I am because we are”, Lorraine said that Messy Church theology should reflect God’s relationship with us, with others and with the whole of creation.
She encouraged us to see that “relationship first and product second” ought to be a core value for all church communities.
During the conference we had opportunities to attend workshops led by Messy Church leaders from around the world.
I led a session called ‘Process art: encouraging shared meaning making to grow disciples’, in which participants engaged in their own piece of process art, painting on alfoil with a cotton bud.
This an art style where no one is the artistic expert.
I was delighted with the way the participants responded to the activity, and the artistic responses were all wildly different.
Some participants wanted to draw the story of Jesus calming the waves, and others were drawn in to the feeling of the story, wondering what it would have felt like to be caught in the stormy sea and have Jesus reach down to rescue them.
Other workshops included the ‘Theology of Messy Church’ and ‘Caring for those with autism in Messy Church’.
A definite highlight of the conference was a Ceilidh led by a ‘scratch band’ and Messy Church young leader Jonathan Bland.
Participants of all ages enjoyed dancing to the music, including the hymn ‘To Thine Be the Glory’.
Participants also had the opportunity to engage in two Messy Church sessions during the conference.
Rev Sandy Brodine leads Communion during the international Messy Church conference.
The first showcased the incredibly popular ‘Messy Church goes Wild’ outdoor Messy Church.
Leadership for the session was provided by people from across the Messy Church world, including a biblical reflection from Sweden and Guyana, and worship leadership from the Messy Church young leaders, including Sophia Byrne from Melbourne.
The second Messy Church session was based on Martyn Payne’s book ‘Messy Church: All Together’.
This included a brand-new Uniting Church in Australia-flavoured Communion liturgy by me designed to be inclusive of all ages, including children who are pre-readers.
Following on from the main conference was an opportunity for key leaders from across the world to gather and reflect on how Messy Church is developing in each of their countries.
The Messy Church movement thrives internationally because Messy Church has been designed to be modified to be culturally appropriate in different settings around the world.
It was particularly moving to hear how it has been modified to work in Africa, Scandinavia, the Netherlands and Germany.
The Messy Church Australia team is looking forward to working with churches across Australia, including the Uniting Church, to think about ways in which Messy Church can be adapted in culturally appropriate ways.
Whether you have been involved in Messy Church for years, or have never heard of it at all, there was something to learn about the ways in which the Messy Church movement is growing and changing, and experimenting with new ways of being church for people across the generations in new and creative ways.
If you would like to know more about how Messy Church could work in your community, contact Sandy at YGTeam@victas.uca.org.au
Rev Sandy Brodine is Younger Generations ‑ Education & Strategy Coordinator
