Autism & Church – Kirstyn Oliver, Founder and Director, Alma Autism UK

During this workshop we will explore how we can go from a church who welcomes autistic people to one that supports the spiritual needs of the autistic person and their family, helping them find a place of belonging in our community with lots of practical ideas and suggestions from all you can see on the Alma Autism website and the experience and work of Alma Autism UK.

Simple Singing – Sam & Sara Hargreaves, Engage Worship

Tips and resources for how you can sing worship in settings with minimal or no musicians or technology. This workshop will include music ideas for when you’re doing outdoor worship, as well as simple songs for indoor Messy Church gatherings. Based on Sara & Sam’s experience of leading a service in their local park every fortnight and at their small local church.

Intergenerational Singing – Sam & Sara Hargreaves, Engage Worship

Principles and usable ideas for uniting diverse groups in musical worship. Sara & Sam will explore how we can connect with different kinds of people when we gather to sing, and how music can be combined with other worship styles. Grounded in many years of leading intergenerational gatherings and their recent resource Whole Church Worship.

Welcoming people with SEND – Trish Hahn

In this workshop Trish will share her top tips for being a welcoming and inclusive Messy Church for people with SEND.

Trish is a member of our Specialist Support team and has over 13 years of experience leading two Special Educational Needs & Disabilities Messy Churches, previously in Hertfordshire and currently in northeast Essex.

Messy Church in a bucket – Mary Judkins

Is there a hole in your Messy Church bucket? Are you short of team? Do you want family members to be more involved? Do you want more time to engage meaningfully with those who come to your Messy Church? Come along and see if this is for you.

Mary is a member of our volunteer Support Teams and has been involved in volunteer lay ministry since she was a teenager. She leads a Messy Church Goes Wild in Cornwall and is passionate about children, young people and families meeting Jesus and becoming disciples.

Messy Adventures – Dave Gregory

A mobile, outdoor session, looking for signs of God in the wonder, playfulness and connectivity of the natural world. Discovering insights from the Messy Adventure journey so far, and inspiration for following Jesus in a changing climate.

Dave is a Baptist Missioner for Science and Environment.  A former weather and climate scientist, he has been a Baptist minister for over 20 years and led a Messy Church for a decade.  He edited Messy Church Does Science and contributed to Messy Church Goes Wild and Messy Adventures.  Dave loves enabling people encounter God through nature and the wonder of creation.

Storytelling with everyone – Gemma Gillard

Jesus was masterful at using stories to connect with people of all ages, cultures and abilities. His parables are still transforming us today but so too can His practice. In this session, we’ll look at how we can follow in His footsteps.

Gemma is a writer, storyteller and founder of Truth Be Told, a storytelling charity that tackles isolation with the hope of the gospel for those of any age, culture or ability. She’s also a consultant specialising in concept development, currently working with Out of the Ark Music and the CofE’s FLOURISH pilot. She lives on the Dorset coast with her husband and three children.

Playfulness in the unexpected! – Kathy & David Bland

Awaken a sense of fun and joyful creativity as we think about how to make Messy Church activities truly intergenerational. Playdough and mud pies with grandma’s? Hammering with toddlers?  Messy Church communities grow and thrive best, when we all join in.

Kathy and David are Intergenerational Pioneers in rural Herefordshire where they have been leading Messy Church for 14 years.

Messy Prayer – Rachel Gotobed

Lord, teach us to pray…..

Prayer is vital in ensuring that our Messy Church is Christ-centred, so in this workshop we will explore:

• praying as we prepare
• praying as an activity
• praying in celebration
• praying at home
• praying for our Messy Church

We will use this time to share ideas and resources that help wrap our Messy Churches in prayer, and take time to pray together.

Rachel has been involved in family ministry for over 20 years and is passionate about helping people discover their place in the family of God.

Working within the Salvation Army locally and across the UK & Ireland, she champions all things Messy Church and is a member of the Support Team for Prayer and the Writers Team.

Rachel loves to bake, write songs and scripts, go to the theatre, eat afternoon tea and just be wherever people are.

Messy Church with under 5’s – Helen Laird

This session explores the unique approach of Messy Church in fostering spirituality among children under five. Through hands-on activities, storytelling, and creative expression, Messy Church offers young children a welcoming and engaging space to encounter God. We’ll discuss how to integrate simple, yet meaningful experiences that support early faith development, encourage curiosity, and build a strong foundation for lifelong spiritual exploration. Join us to discover practical ideas for engaging the youngest members of your faith community.

Helen is the Children’s and youth development officer for the West Midlands United Reformed Church Synod.  Previously a Mission Enabler with a children and youth focus for the Diocese of Worcester.  Helen has been involved with Messy Church for over 20 years, has written for our ‘Get Messy’ resource and more often than not is found at the messiest activity!  Helen is passionate about enabling faith journeys to happen across all ages; this includes those under 5.  Join me as we explore how we can share faith, in Messy Church settings with the youngest of God’s children.  When not at work Helen loves to read, and loves many craft activities including, knitting, sewing and bookbinding.

Out of the box: intergenerational story-telling – Jean Pienaar

Visual, tactile and interactive stories draw you in, unlock insight and lead you on in the journey of faith. The simple, versatile OutoftheBox helps individuals and groups find wholeness and wellbeing through story and play. It enables good dialogue and strengthens our understanding of ourselves and each other. Storytelling, listening and making meaning while building relationships are essential components of Messy Church. Come and join this workshop to experience how we can engage with our congregations to encourage curiosity and critical thinking, foster open and creative dialogue, and help us think afresh and imagine a better future.

Jean Pienaar is a licensed lay minister in the Anglican Diocese of Johannesburg, South Africa where she is actively involved with families and young people on their faith journey. She has been a Messy Church leader since 2009. Jean is also a Mentor for OutoftheBox storytelling.

Being More Intentionally Intergenerational in Messy Church – Chris Barnett

What does being “intergenerational” really mean in the Messy Church context? What might it look like for your Messy Church to be more intentionally intergenerational? What might you and your Messy Church team need to do in order to be more intergenerational? Come along to explore these (and your) intergenerational questions in this engaging, encouraging and energising workshop.

Chris’ passion for the church has predominantly been expressed through children and families – and, in more recent years, intergenerational – roles at the local, regional, state and national levels, mainly through the Uniting Church in Australia. Chris has been part of the development of Messy Church in Australia (and beyond) since 2012. More known as a curator, rather than creator, of resources, nevertheless more recently Chris has contributed a chapter to the Messy Discipleship book, presented at the 2024 Messy Church USA Conference and been involved in the editing of the updated Messy Together book.

Intergenerational Small Groups – Johannah Myers

Have you wanted to go deeper in your disciple formation through Messy Church? In this workshop, we’ll look at ways to create and resource intergenerational small groups that can complement  and enhance your Messy Church community. We’ll look at ideas from the Messy Basics resources plus the pilot program, Companion groups, from Messy Church USA.

Johannah is the Program Director for Messy Church USA. In her spare time, she also serves as the Director of Disciple Formation at Aldersgate UMC in Greenville, SC, where she’s led a Messy Church since 2013. Her doctoral project focused on intergenerational faith formation through small groups (using Messy Church as the inspiration).

Faith Formative Practices in Messy Church – Roberta Egli

As followers of Jesus Christ, we are instructed to “love the Lord with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind and to love your neighbor as yourself.” How are we to do that?   Jesus spent time with his first disciples modeling a way of life that included time set aside for the public ministry of healing and teaching as well as time spent in solitude, study and prayer. In this workshop, we will explore teaching and modeling practices that can grow faith in our Messy Church folk.

Rev. Roberta J. Egli currently serves as the administrative director of Messy Church USA.  As she was discerning a vocational call to ordained pastoral ministry, she received a two- year certificate in Spiritual Direction at Shalom Prayer Center where the spiritual practices she learned became a habit. Her time in the program led to her decision to leave her professional nursing career and enter seminary.

For over 12 years, Messy Church has been a big part of her life. First at the local church level and then at the national level. After a life-changing International Messy Church conference in 2016, she left her pastoral role and led a team to start Messy Church USA, a nonprofit organization in partnership with Messy Church/ BRF. The faith formative practices that she has learned along the way has sustained her journey of faith and she is excited to share them at the workshop.

Embracing Creativity to Help Sustain Your Messy Church – Leyla Wagner, Marty Drake & Crystal Goetz

Our world is constantly changing. When our world changes and our faith practices don’t, we risk that they won’t endure. One of the unique qualities of Messy Church is its flexibility.This workshop will focus on helping Messy Churches imagine, reimagine, and adapt, providing practical solutions that will enhance and help sustain Messy Churches well into the future.

Leyla is the Director of the Preschool at Community UMC in Huntington Beach, CA. At Community, Leyla also serves as the Saturday Worship Coordinator where she coordinates Messy Church and CommUNITY Yoga. She is a founding board member of Messy Church USA and a lead trainer. Leyla is on staff with Messy Church USA as the Membership Registrar.

Southern California native, Marty serves as the Director of Children, Youth, and Family Ministries at Community UMC in Huntington Beach, CA. Marty, with Leyla Wagner, lead Community’s Messy Church which has been going strong since 2013. Marty is a founding board member of Messy Church USA, an Ambassador and trainer.

Crystal loves Messy Church! Her involvement as a practitioner, ambassador, trainer, writer and communications team member for Messy Church USA and director of her local Messy Church in Puyallup, Washington are only a few ways that she hopes to inspire others with her love of Jesus and her passion for Messy Church! You can usually find Crystal watching a football match (also known as soccer) and sipping a warm cup of tea with her family.

Team time box – Sara Bardoll

The team is the spiritual centrepiece that makes Messy Church possible and shapes it. Based on the core values of Messy Church, we want to encourage teams to take time as a team to inspire each other and grow together. With 10 impulses per value, the teams are motivated to reflect and think ahead together.

Sara is part of the Kirche Kunterbunt national team in Germany, married and Mum of three wild girls. She’s the ‘creative bomb’ in the German national team and has led an outdoor Kirche Kunterbunt for five years in south Germany.