FAMILY CHURCH MESSY CHURCH FUTURE CHURCH? Jean Pienaar

Message from Primary School Headmaster: “Again I ask parents to assist us by spending quality time with their children when possible in the hectic schedules that we follow each day. This can only benefit our children in learning to build proper relationships and communication skills. Our children thrive on attention and love to feel safe and secure. The biggest gift we can give somebody is our time”

Statistics 36.4% of children under 5 lives with both biological parents, almost 19% of children under 5 live with neither of their biological parents despite the majority of the biological parents being alive, the living arrangements reflects a different pattern of child-rearing, whereby a much lower proportion of parents play a role in bringing up their own children. Source: Stats SA

Moving forward... Is there room for church? Can church really help families?

Mission of the Church “to restore all people to unity with God and each other in Christ” (Anglican Prayer Book) Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury: “When church is working, it is the most mind-bogglingly, amazingly, extraordinarily beautiful community on earth. The New Testament describes the church as the bride of Christ, something that he’s passionate about. It heals, it transforms, it loves. It changes society and it brings people face to face-to-face with God. It’s wonderful. God chose to create the church in order to carry on the work of Jesus, so the mission of the church is to build community as God intended it.”

Messy Church Building families

Building communities

“Bringing people together is what I call “Ubuntu” which means “I am because we are.” Far to o often people think of themselves as just individuals separated from one another, whereas you are connected and what you do affects the whole world. When you do well, it spreads out; it is for the whole of humanity.” (Archbishop Desmond Tutu)

Messy Church Restore people to God

Discussion Questions What are the greatest needs, desires and dreams of families in your context? What does the church need to do for families? To what extent is all-age important and relevant? How could Messy Church work in your context? Which of the Messy Church values (all-age, Christ-centred, celebration, creativity, hospitality) should be incorporated into future church? Are there other values that need to be considered?