Great friend of Anna Chaplaincy, Katie Norman and the Jersey Messy Vintage team have been busy spreading the word among readers of the Pilgrims' magazine's Winter edition , writes Debbie Thrower. Do read the full article which is free to download. It appears on pages 22 and 23 in the magazine.
Katie describes some of the moments that can bring tears to her eyes as older care home residents and hospital patients take part in the Messy Vintage church services tailored especially for those who are frail.
As well as a monthly Messy Vintage in her local church at Philadelphie in Jersey, the team visits regularly care homes and hospital wards around the island. 'There are always those moments that make you go 'wow'. It's a lot of work putting it all together, but it's so worth it,' she says.
'It is 12 years since Katie extended this ministry to care homes and other community venues out and about. It is ten years since I first visited Jersey to see for myself the work that was being done,' says Debbie.
I have looked back at some of my reflections of that experience in 2014:
Helpers guide those with less nimble fingers to complete their tasks and all the while everyone is talking, swopping stories, evoking memories, laughing; giving and receiving gentle encouragement.
We’re invited to show one another the fruits of our concentration. A man shows his tile- a mosaic with a cross in the middle light radiating from it.
Another man talks of a winding path “the ups and downs, twists and turns of life.” Another’s has a cross too, this time with arms outstretched from it. “It’s about love,” the maker explains.
A woman shows us her tile saying, “the dark pieces are for the times of depression.” Everyone nods. I notice there are more light mosaic pieces than dark ones glued on her board. Earlier she had told me how contented she was in her sheltered home these days. “It’s lovely. It really is. It’s a little bit of heaven on earth.”
'It is so good to see the way Messy Vintage has been expanding nationally in the last decade. Hats off to all the teams around the country staging Messy Vintage tailored for instance for people living with dementia. Sometimes they reach the unlikeliest settings. Messy Vintage teams get through the locked doors of hospital mental health units as well on occasion.' Debbie Thrower
As Katie says in this latest article: 'Why should your faith journey stop just because you are older or you live in a care home?'
The source of so many ideas is Katie Norman and Jill Phipps' £8.99 BRF book Messy Vintage - 52 sessions to share Christ-centred fun and fellowship with the older generations . It is available from BRF Online. https://www.brfonline.org.uk/collections/church-life/products/messy-vintage-52-sessions-to-share-christ-centred-fun-and-fellowship-with-the-older-generation-1
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