Messy Church

What is Messy Church?

Messy Church is a particular way of being church focused on five values: Christ-centred, for all ages, based on creativity, hospitality and celebration.

If you would like to view the Messy Church website, you will find a link here. 

Messy in Ely

There are 54 Messy Churches in the Diocese of Ely, part of a network of over 70 Messy Churches of all denominations in the Cambridgeshire area.

At the moment the position of Regional Coordinator for Cambridgeshire area is vacant - please see the Messy Church website for information on how to register and set up a Messy Church

The Church Army Research Unit has done a considerable amount of research into the effectiveness of Messy Churches in the UK. Its report Playfully Serious and portfolio of papers challenges the belief that Messy Church is not successfully making life-long disciples. Messy Church has provided two resources to evaluate how effectively it is growing disciples. The Messy Discipleship Pilot and The Discipleship Self-Review Kit

Messy Church Resources

Messy Church, with the Bible Reading Fellowship (BRF), publishes a large number of helpful resources and books. Publications

• Holy Habits in Messy Church explores ways of developing 10 habits (way of life) that help families develop a whole-life missional discipleship.
• Seriously Messy A Book which enables families to explore death and bereavement as part of life. An excellent book containing theological reflections as well as five session outlines. Useful in any context.
• Messy Science is being used in a variety of settings (not just Messy Church!) and it has been received very enthusiastically within the Diocese-each Messy Church received a copy from our previous Bishop of Huntington.
• Messy Parables by Martyn Payne is gives 25 ways of telling familiar stories with a Messy twist.

Get Messy! is a four-monthly subscription resource for Messy Church leaders.This may help you plan your sessions.

Each issue contains four session outlines (one per month), including planning sheets and take-home handouts, together with information on the latest resources and events. It also seeks to encourage and refresh Messy Church leaders by providing monthly Bible studies, a column on taking time to recharge, and a problem page.

Other features include a youth column, a day in the life of a Regional Coordinator and stories from Messy Churches around the world.