Messy Vintage at the Family Project in Kirkby Lonsdale

As part of the Cumbrian Way, we are looking to develop multi-generational worshipping communities across Cumbria.

The Family Project in Kirkby Lonsdale, led by Lol Wood has shared how they have been inspired by Messy Church, to develop Messy Vintage.

Messy Vintage

Messy Vintage is an offshoot of Messy Church. It is Christ-centred in its approach and value of connectingwith people in later life, regardless of their background or faith, through inclusivity, hospitality and creativity. In Kirkby Lonsdale, Messy Vintage began after a conversation with a staff member at one of our local

nursing homes, Brant Howe . She expressed an interest in working with the Family Project to create a new worshipping community that would be intergenerational. The further benefit would be that residents could share their wisdom with the next generation and vice versa. We were keen to try something and so together we landed on the idea of Messy Vintage on the fourth Sunday of the month from 2-3pm.

We had our first Messy Vintage on the last Sunday in September. We gathered to explore the theme of Harvest. As part of the wider Family Project ethos, we are trying to enable leadership from a young age. Two young people kindly agreed to plan and create some beautiful crafts for the residents of Brant Howe that would also appeal to local families. At the start of Messy Vintage they stood up and explained the two activities clearly. Everyone seemed excited to give them a go!

Our first activity was making origami paper birds. These were a bit tricky but the young person leading this

activity had perfected the art of making origami birds at some speed much to the amazement of all of us! It meant that no one left without a bird for them to decorate. Many residents

took their creations back to their room. Our second activity was Harvest wall hangings. A lot of prep work had been carried out by one of our teens who had spent her weekend weaving embroidery hoops so that people at Messy Vintage could thread plants, petals and leaves to make a new piece of art. These were much admired and loved by all. Beginning with an activity worked well as it meant people chatted naturally as they asked for help or commented on what someone else was working on.

After our activity time we gathered to hear a Bible story led by Rev. Anne Pettifor who used The Lion Storyteller Bible. This is a familiar Bible as it is one that Anne has used before when taking communion at Brant Howe. Next, Maureen, who is another familiar Christian visitor in Brante Howe led us in singing well-loved hymns. The residents are clearly used to singing as a community and it was wonderful having families with children who are toddlers right through to early teens singing with the residents who have probably sung some of these hymns at similar ages to some of the young people present. We all enjoyed seeing one young person practising their steps throughout singing time. We finished Messy Vintage with some tea and cake; something everybody enjoyed which led to more chatter.

As a team we are still exploring what will be the best pattern or formula for Messy Vintage. We have tried to keep the format simple and easy to run; the whole gathering is around an hour long. We will continue to learn and evolve as we go.

Our next Messy Vintage will be on the 26th October! Do keep us in your prayers.