Gentle witness

You will know of our dear friends and colleagues in Who Let The Dads Out? Tony passed on this very significant email from one such group. I think it’s worth putting up on the Messy Church blog as well because it says something about the value of what we’re all doing when we reach out to people with love, gentleness and food. Look at the unthreatening power of the witness of this group, so much appreciated by the person who writes the email. Maybe we should all shut down just to find out how many howls of protest there would be… Nah, just kidding.
During Lent 2010, our church took the decision to cease all regular activities and concentrate on prayer and listening to God. We all lead busy lives but are we doing the right things?
During Lent I had to send an email to our regular dads to let them know I wasn’t sure if Who Let The Dads Out? would restart: ‘Just to let you know that following the prayer time in Lent the church has not yet made a decision about groups that can restart. I will send another note before the first Sat in June to let you know what is happening.’
I got the following reply from one of our regular dads andit was a great encouragement for the leaders and helpers: ‘Thanks for letting me know. Sorry to hear that it is still unknown if it will restart, I am not an active churchgoer and it was my children’s only interaction with the church, which they enjoyed. (Oh, and I love the bacon rolls too, thanks!) I want them to grow up understanding the important part that the church plays in the local community and that nice people do give up their time freely for others (something even I had forgotten until I attended Who Let The Dads Out? and saw for myself), even if you choose not to attend prayer, it is still part of what makes the community a nice place to live. I hope the powers that be will see that things like this may be the only time many children (and their dads) interact with the church and it helps give them an insight into Christianity and what it stands for without it getting forced on them. Thank you for all your efforts it is appreciated.’
Who Let The Dads Out? restarted and continues today!