You can’t run Messy Church on your own – you need a team. You often need a large team by church leadership standards. But don’t panic: this simply means you are giving more people a chance to grow in their own discipleship as they serve in Messy Church. As you pray, do outreach and mission and serve together, you’ll be amazed at the changes God works in your team.
How to organise your team
There is no one best way of organising your team. All Messy Churches are different. Here are some approaches that different churches have tried:
- Do it all yourself. This will almost inevitably result in burnout within a few months. Do not do it all yourself!
- Have a core team of two to four easy, competent, hassle-free people to work with and do all the planning and preparation with them. Let the rest of the team simply join you on the day.
- Have a leader responsible for each section of Messy Church and meet with them to get the overall picture, then leave them to organise their own areas of responsibility. You might have a welcome leader, a craft leader, a kitchen leader, a celebration leader and a discipleship leader, each of whom assembles a team of helpers. Planning meetings then simply involve the bigger picture rather than the details.
- Treat the need for a large team as an opportunity to grow disciples, and build a team from people who are not yet committed Christians, training them as you go along.
- Insist that the whole of your church comes on board with some form of commitment before you start.
- Work with another church. If you have a team but a dank mould-ridden vault of a church, they may have a smashing building but no one who can simultaneously manoeuvre tables, chairs and a Zimmer frame.
