Sometimes church is a tranquil place, where voices lift in tuneful praise. Sometimes church is a loud and chaotic place, where children feel free to express themselves in noise and movement.
Recently I went to church where exactly that happened. We had music, the grown-ups were singing, and the children… well, they were being exactly who God made them to be. There were crashes and hoots and general chaos, but we kept on singing and worshipping, with the odd smile directed at their young antics.
It reminded me of a different church a few years ago. It was café church. Less structured. Discussions around tables, tea, coffee and bacon butties. There was a family there whose youngest really didn’t want to sit still. Instead, they decided they wanted to make a domino run.
With Jenga bricks.
Under the communion table.
The vicar got down on the floor and joined in. Together they made a fantastic domino run. The bricks tumbled again and again as they tried to get it just right.
Later, the vicar said that while he was under the communion table, he was also praying. Praying that God would bless this act of worship. Because that young person was worshipping in their own way. It might have looked chaotic to the rest of us as the Jenga bricks fell for the umpteenth time, but that child was being exactly who God had made them to be.
What struck me at the time was how the vicar took what was happening and turned it towards God. I found myself doing the same thing. While the children around me created a little Holy Chaos, I smiled and turned it towards God.
Because worship doesn’t require perfect stillness or polished singing. Those things are lovely, but they aren’t essential.
Of course, there are times when noise makes things harder. The person at the back who struggles to hear, or the one who longs for a moment of quiet prayer. That matters too, and kindness means caring about one another in those moments.
But children are very good at reminding us of something important: God loves us to be ourselves. Messy, loud, joyful, chaotic.
God doesn’t wait for us to present ourselves perfectly before listening to us.
Perhaps worship isn’t about creating the perfect setting. Perhaps it’s about turning whatever is happening in front of us towards God.
And sometimes that worship sounds less like a cathedral choir, and more like holy chaos.
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