Sidelined?

Wayne knew that a lot of people went to football matches and often wondered what it would be like. His parents - who were not interested in football at all - wondered where his fascination came from, but found it difficult to help him. They tried - birthdays and Christmas always included something - the strip from the favourite football team; a football (of course); books on how to play; an annual on Sunderland AFC (they really didn't know much). They were also glad to know that Wayne's need were met by the school, who taught the theory of football, although cuts had prevented the actual playing of the game.

Wayne's parents didn't take him to football matches, nor did they have time to take him to any of the Junior football opportunities - and anyway, who wanted to stand around on a cold, wet, muddy field shouting themselves hoarse? Wayne sometimes kicked a ball around with a couple of friends, but there were never enough of them even to form two teams. Slowly, Wayne's interest in football died away, the strip wore out and was used for cleaning the car, the books gathered dust and the football deflated at the back of a cupboard.

Sounds ridiculous, doesn't it? Yet that is the state of many of our children with regard to matters of faith, religion and God. We comfort ourselves that our children are taught RE at school - but that's as exciting as learning about the offside rule when you've never even kicked a football. It can be hard for children to come together in a group large enough to be fun as they experience God together. This is why our churches have chosen to support the work of a full time youth worker in our parishes. We provide Prayers & Bears for pre-school children; Messy Church for children up to Year 4; Holiday Clubs for primary school age and hope soon to have a group dedicated to the 9-14s.

Why not let your child off the bench? Let them experience faith in action for themselves. Let them make their own minds up about what they believe and how they express that belief. All they need is your interest - and a lift in the car!

We met again at Pitminster Old School for Messy Church, this time our theme was bible roads and thinking about journeys in life.

Pizza and garlic bread was on the menu, a very popular option it would seem!

Arriving to Scaletrix was a lot of fun, with some interesting contests being had...its lucky there aren't any speed limits on those tracks...I would have been caught for sure!

Our afternoon was a bit different this time, we headed up to the church yard and all took part in a treasure hunt finding pieces of tarmac...pictures of tarmac I must add! With such beautiful weather it would have been a waste to stay inside. The purpose of the treasure hunt was to think about different journeys that have a particular goal. We made our very own windy road through the hall with all the pieces we managed to find. We then had a contest to see who could make the best F1 junk racing car, slightly different to the modes of transport used in bible times! We held our very own F1 race outside, I'm sure it must have been a dead heat!

Our story for the afternoon was the Good Samaritan we were told just how much God likes it when we help others out, like the Samaritan. Our prayers had a different theme this time, we all drove our own toy cars around a track and said different prayers when we reached various sign posts on route.

We had 15 children with us this time and I hope everyone who came enjoyed themselves. Thank you to all who made the afternoon a great success.

April Messy Church was another exciting afternoon, in which we looked at the significance of mountains and hills in the bible.

As ever we began with some brilliantly prepared food and then had a range of particularly messy crafts to keep ourselves occupied. We had the opportunity to make some "Mouthwatering Mountains" from ice cream cones, icing, chocolate sprinkles and jelly babies! We thought about our own trips up mountains and what we see on the way and the amazing creation God has made for us.

We also made some cards with flowers on the front which allowed us to think about the fact that if we look at the flowers in the fields, we can see that God gives them beautiful petals, so of course he'll give us all that we need.

We got very messy standing in paint and then walking along a big sheet of paper, we were able to think about the good news we can take to people when we tell them what Jesus has done for us.

We also made prayer mountains to help us think about different types of prayer and ways of praying. Sue told us the story of the "Transfiguration" when Jesus took Peter, James and John up a mountain to pray. While they were there, they saw Jesus' face shining and his clothes bright as a flash of lightning and they knew that Jesus was God's very special son.

We sang a song about how great and mighty our God is and finished with some prayers thanking and praising God for the good things and asking him to help those who need it right now.

Thank you for coming to Messy Church, we hope you enjoyed it and thank you to all the leaders and helpers, this wouldn't be possible without you.

Brief Encounter

A lovely thing happened to me the other day. Out kayaking on the river Dart above Totnes I heard, just behind me, a sound like a rapidly deflating tyre. Turning around, I found myself face to face with a Grey Seal, head above the water, regarding me with apparent interest. We stared at one another for thirty seconds or so before it gently vanished beneath the water.

I was, of course, entranced - what a lucky encounter! But it was going to get even better. I waited for a couple of minutes and eventually spotted the seal popping up a couple of hundred yards down the river. Naturally, I set off to follow it, trying to make sure I kept a a distance so it wasn't spooked. But Seal was having nothing of that! It was happy to get closer and closer. If it came up behind me and I wasn't looking, it would make the 'snorfling' noise to get may attention: If we were in eye contact, it remained silent. It was having a great day human-spotting!

And so we passed through busy Totnes together, with the traffic roaring on the bridge and families playing and picnicking in the park. A couple of people shouted 'Seal!' and pointed, but most remained unaware of this wonder in their midst - heads down as they trudged home from work; joggers obliviously cocooned in iPod world; drivers stuck in the traffic and looking bored and frustrated.

Eventually I had to say a reluctant goodbye to 'my' seal and turn around, to paddle back feeling utterly blessed and full of delight and joy. I was reminded of a quotation I once read - though I have been unable to source it - that to search for God was like trying to catch a glimpse of some shy wild animal. Much time is spent watching, waiting, hoping, planning to put yourself in the right place. Yet often, when we do see it, it is in the midst of something else, totally unexpected, a moment of grace and gift. So it is with God. We may spend time in prayer, in good deeds, in study - and often it can seem dry and hard. Then, suddenly, will come a moment of grace as God is suddenly with us. Others around may not see Him - but we will - and we will be lost in joy and treasure that moment for ever.