Sharing our resources at Messy Church

Kalamunda Uniting Church have been running a Messy Church program for the last 10 years. The organising team at Kalamunda are made up of congregation members, as well as people from the wider community. As the program has developed over time, it has become not just a church activity for community to ‘consume’, but more an opportunity for church and community to participate in, and develop together.

Messy Church is naturally intergenerational as it engages people of all ages. Parents, carers, and sometimes grandparents come along with their young ones to take part in the monthly activities. They often have members of the community join them to help out with setting up and running the activities, who simply enjoy being a part of an intergenerational setting. It becomes like being part of a large family. Over time they have seen relationships blossom between the children and members of the church. Children who may have initially started out shy and hesitant slowly start to engage and feel like they are part of the activities. With Messy Church being on a Saturday afternoon, the Sunday morning service often has an opportunity to see what has taken place, which generates further discussion and sharing with those involved.

Over the last year, Messy Church Kalamunda have been focusing on the ‘Holy Habits’ of discipleship as demonstrated in Acts 2. The theme for the August Messy Church was ‘sharing resources’ so they invited Good Sammy Enterprises along to help the group learn about sharing not only things that others need, but giving opportunities for others to shine!

Denise Borger and the Messy Church Kalamunda team shared the following great story with Revive about their ‘Build your own op-shop’ experience.

Good Sammy at Messy Church Kalamunda

Sharing resources – what better way to illustrate this Messy Church Holy Habit than to invite Good Sammy Enterprises to show us how!
Good Sammy, a Uniting Church in WA agency, creates employment opportunities for Western Australians with disability. It’s well known for its op shops and its collection points for clothes and containers. All this reminds us that we have so much to go around.
The weather on Saturday 17 August was dismal. Driving towards Kalamunda Uniting Church in the rain, I imagined an event with a guest speaker with no one else coming. My popcorn prayer was ‘Over to You, Lord. Amen.’

Paul Schreuders, Philanthropy Manager at Good Sammy Enterprises, agreed to come to speak. Not only that, Good Sammy contributed a supply of merchandise to top up donations from the congregation.

First, we listened to Paul tell us about Good Sammy Enterprises – how many people with disability they employ, and how much clothing they are able to divert from landfill.

This was followed by Dereck, a member of the Kalamunda congregation who has a disability and has worked at a supported workshop for 53 years. While he does not work at Good Sammy’s we used this event as an opportunity for Dereck to share his long service award with his Messy Church family and a little of how his work is important to him.

Next, we divided into teams with at least one child per group to set up their shops. We had six “Storekeepers” priced their goods and displayed them ready for customers. Play money was issued by a banker and participants went shopping, purchasing things to take home. During our ‘Celebration’ worship time we reflected on the joy we experienced in sharing. We also prayed for Good Sammy Enterprises, those who worked with them, and thanked God for the abundance that goes a long way. We then enjoyed our meal of lasagna and dessert.

Midway through the op-shop activity a grandmother with two toddlers walked in. She’d been out purchasing milk and noticed our banner, came in and stayed. She had been part of Messy Church in the UK, so felt right at home! (We were delighted to have them return the next month.)

Success level: top rate. As you would expect, when handing over to our Lord!

Editor’s Note: There are a number of Uniting Church WA congregations who run Messy Church programs. You can find them in our ‘Find a Church’ directory on the UCWA website using the feature section – unitingchurchwa.org.au/find-a-church/
If you are interested in starting a Messy Church contact Ps Julie Ridden, Children, Families, Youth and Young Adult Co-ordinator – [email protected]

Story by Wendy Hendry and Denise Borger, first published in the December 2024 Revive magazine. Photos by Sophia Lizares.