A Messy Church pack for the Isle of Man Messy Church ideas inspired by Manx Keeills. building a keeill stone cross rubbing decorated Celtic Cross Activities include Celtic knot prayer stones sprinkling of blessings scramble cross of hands Maughold boats to help you think about God s love weaving in and out. What happens when the going gets rough? What are you thankful for? Sprinkling a blessing for someone. Everyone has a place in the community of the church The Celebration will rejoice in the faith that has been brought to us, the people who brought it, and the people we will tell in turn.
Build a Keeill Keeills are the Christian chapels built on the Isle of Man between the 8th and 12th centuries. The earliest keeills were built of sods of earth and rarely larger than 3 metres by 5 metres internally. Some of the keeills were more substantial bigger, and built of stone. Keeills served a variety of purposes - family chapels, wayside shrines, places of retreat and hermitage. Our Celtic forebears would have described the keeills as thin places where we can draw close to God. We can think of them as a cornerstone always there for you, a place to go for wisdom and comfort. Cardboard boxes of various sizes Sticking tape/gaffer tape Instructions Let creativity run riot! All working together, build a structure big enough to crawl into even better if more than one can fit inside! To talk about What is your favourite place of shelter? Where to you go when you want some quiet with God? Stone rubbing Celtic Cross God delights in us. Carved crosses from ancient times show that people followed Jesus in the times of the Keeills and brought news of God s love in Jesus. People follow Jesus today and we go on making symbols to remind us of God s love. Instructions Some carved stonework medium thick paper dark coloured wax crayons. If you don t have direct access to carved stonework, find or prepare a general outline in advance and let people draw round the image. Rub the paper pressed flat against the stonework until the image shows on the paper. Or draw round or colour in some Celtic cross outlines. To talk about What symbol do you use to remind you of something meaningful from the Bible or in your life?
Pipe cleaner Celtic Cross Some say St Patrick was the first person to use the wheel headed design, some say St Columba. Whoever did, it is a sign of the Christian Church which has been here on our island for well over a thousand years. Some people say it shows the cross of Jesus overcoming the circle of the pagan sun god. Others say, more pragmatically, that the circle was to strengthen the arms so that they were less likely to be damaged by storms, or time. Pipe-cleaners, in various colours and with some metallic ones if possible. Assorted beads. Instructions Form a basic cross shape out of two pipe-cleaners. Now thread beads onto another one. You can either put just a few, or fill it, depending on how patient you are and how many beads you have. It is surprising how small a hole a pipe-cleaner will actually pass through, though it is as well for the person leading the craft to check the beads available do have large enough holes. Take the pipe-cleaner with the beads and twist it around the cross shape at either just the top and at bottom where your circle crosses the upright, or at each of the four points it takes to make a wheel head for the cross To talk about Have you seen any crosses this shape? You can find them on our island when you visit some of the keeills, at some of our churches, and even in other places. (The craft leader might well know of a local example for example, Onchan War Memorial.) Depending on the children, you might want to also consider how that circle strengthens the shape just as people of the church standing together are stronger.
Celtic Knot Instructions Bookmark symbolising how God s love weaves in and out. God s love is all around us. Sometimes we see signs of it in the beauty of the world or of people s generosity or kindness; sometimes we ourselves sense God s love without being able to explain it or describe it. This woven bookmark is a visible reminder of this love and that all of life is interconnected. String or wool To talk about Where do you get a sense of God s love? What do you think of when you see beautiful things in nature like sunsets, rainbows, plants or wildlife?
Sprinkling of blessings Instructions Celtic saints needed water nearby to be able to live. We all depend on water, and we depend on God for blessings paper you can write on and is also absorbent kitchen tissue or white coffee filters work well felt pens water a spray or a brush that will flick droplets of water onto the writing Write the name of someone you want a blessing for. Sprinkle water on their name and see patterns form. (See Maughold, Freddie and Megan below) To talk about Name some of the blessings you have in your life. What do you do to bless others?
Scramble St Maughold and others of his time made journeys which involved huge challenges. Even so, they made the journeys because they believed wanted them to go and find more people to tell them about Jesus and God s love. They set out, trusting God to get them safely to where he wanted them to be. chairs, tables, boxes a paddling pool or plastic bowl with half an inch of water a play tunnel if you have one Instructions Arrange everything to make mounds to scramble over, tunnels to wriggle through, and water to splosh through To talk about What is the scariest adventure you have had? Who helped you through it safely? Do you ever say thank you to God after a safe journey? Prayer Stones Something to be thankful for something to ask for The Keeills were usually built of stone, and people visited the hermits in time of need. We, too, need something tangible like the prayer stone to help us connect to God. Stones flat ones work well White emulsion paint and it is best to paint the stones in advance Felt tips or crayons Instructions Decorate your stone with something you are thankful for or asking for To talk about We often forget to say thank you to God. Place your stone in an obvious place maybe under your pillow, or perhaps in the fridge thanking God for his goodness. Where will you place yours? Maybe the stone can be a reminder to talk about hopes and fears, as well as gratitude.
St Maughold create a motion ocean St Maughold was set adrift on rough seas in a very small boat with no oars or sail. This is an activity where you can recreate a stormy Irish Sea. Clear jar or plastic bottle with lid Water Blue food coloring Glitter Baby oil Plastic floating toys Instructions Fill the jar halfway with water. Add drops of food coloring until you like the color you see. Shake in a little glitter. Pour in baby oil until the jar is three-quarters full. Place a floating toy on top of the oil, then screw on the lid tightly. Shake the jar gently to set your ocean in motion. To talk about St Maughold putting his trust in God and being cast up onto the island.
A wheel-headed Cross of hands See notes on the Pipe cleaner Celtic Cross This cross is a combined effort of all the people in your Messy Church community and it only works if the hands of all of the community are added together, so it is a demonstration of the church as a community. (If you wish to show your Messy Church as part of the community of the church, or school, where you meet you may want others to give you their hands before the session, or ask them to add them after but before would be best so that the project is completed at Messy Church and can then be shared with the rest of the church later.) A large sheet of paper with a basic cross shape on it - lining paper from the DIY store is great for this sort of thing. Smaller sheets of coloured paper or plain white with crayons/felt-tips to decorate. Suitable scissors Glue glue sticks should be fine, or some PVA. Preparation: it may be easier before the Messy Church session starts to draw your basic cross shape, and colour it with paint, or make it by sticking contrasting paper onto your large sheet. Then the paper hands can be added as they are made. Instructions Everyone at the Messy Church session, including the helpers, draws and then cuts out, an outline of their own hand, or hands. Depending on time and what you want the end result to look like these hands can have names on them, or be decorated. Now form the wheel of the Celtic cross by gluing the hands around in circles start at the outside and work inwards. To talk about Many hands make light work! Everyone has a place in the community of the church and it takes all of us for things to really work.
Food St Maughold boat Instructions Early Christians like St Maughold made very difficult and risky journeys to get to new places and tell the story of Jesus to new people. The boat they used was very small and simple, with no power or cover, and sometimes not even anything to paddle with Pepper stuffed with humus, or with tuna mayo. You can add sails of cucumber, or a couple of tortilla chips, or make oars from twiglets or batons of carrot - but St Maughold, of course, didn t have either! Peppers Humus or Tuna mayo Cucumber or tortilla chips Cocktail sticks Carrot batons or Twiglets To talk about What kind of boat have you been in on the sea? What was the sea like when you were travelling? What does the sea look like when the weather is very windy? What do you think it s like in an open boat like a small fishing boat with no roof?
Food Edible coracle Early Christians like St Maughold made very difficult and risky journeys to get to new places and tell the story of Jesus to new people. The boat they used was very small and simple, with no power or cover, and sometimes not even anything to paddle with. Fairy cakes Ready-to-roll icing for figures / or jelly babies Spoon with slim edge to scoop out cake Instructions Scoop out most of the centre of a cake to leave a shape like a coracle. Make an occupant by rolling a small ball of ready-to-roll icing and shape it into a figure. Or select a jelly baby. To talk about What kind of boat have you been in on the sea? What was the sea like when you were travelling? What does the sea look like when the weather is very windy? What do you think it s like in an open boat like a small fishing boat with no roof?
Celebration The story of Manx saints includes stone buildings called keeills where people gathered to pray, to learn about Jesus, to worship God, and seek God s blessing. Starting activity options Ask families or groups to form 1. a keeill with stone walls and a doorway. 2. a steep rock slope 3. a pool of water by a rock Set the scene Experience a rough journey. Invite everyone to make the sound of strong wind then splashing waves. Invite everyone to imagine being alone in a small boat on a stormy sea. Maybe close their eyes as they do, and move from side to side, up and down, as on the rough sea. Cover their faces or heads with their arms as the waves splash over them. Scoop water out of the boat with their hands. Repeat a few times. Then... the wind drops, the waves die down. Imagine you can see land ahead of you is it rocky or sandy? and gradually your little boat reaches the shore line and you can clamber out safely. You walk to the nearest bit of safe ground and then, exhausted, you lie down for a rest, feeling amazed and very thankful that you are safe. After a couple of minutes you get up and climb up the shore to find a sheltered spot where you can build yourself a shelter with a spring of fresh water coming out of the ground nearby. You are looking forward to finding the people who live here, and to telling them about Jesus and the loving God who brought you safely all this way. Ask about the different activities everyone has done and talk about how this shows them to the commitment and trust in God shown by the early Christians. Talk Tell the story of St Maughold, his faithfulness to God, and how he set up places of prayer after he landed in the Isle of Man and taught people about Christianity. Maughold, like the Celtic saints, told the story of God s son, Jesus, and how Jesus showed God s love for everyone. Has anyone told you that story? How far would you go to try to show someone great love? Jesus showed by travelling far and wide and, in the end, allowing himself to be killed. Then God brought him back to life. The Celtic saints showed by making hazardous journeys, and then sticking around with people when they met them and settled down with them. They welcomed them to the keeills they built, prayed with them, and carried on teaching about Jesus and God s love. (If you tell the story of St Maughold s journey, you can get everyone to make the stormy sounds in the first bit of the story while St Maughold is at sea. Various versions of the story of St Maughold are available online, including this one. http://bit.ly/maugholdmanxnotebook ) Song An action song for children about creation or sharing God s love. Jesus love is very wonderful. Or another good one is God made me on the Ministry-to-Children website. http://ministry-to-children.com/creation-songs/ Close Who do we tell about Jesus and God s love? Each think about who we would like to know God s love. Then the leader prays a prayer for God s blessing on the people in our minds, and that each of us will find a way to talk about it.
Chris and Kenny Stokes installing one of the Manx Celtic crosses in the Cross Garden on the north side of St German s Cathedral