Not as wild as I’d hoped

I AM conversant in the entire concept of forest, outdoor, or wild church. I even have studied it, talked to exponents of the worship style, met with groups exploring and leading “church without partitions”. I even have even led workshops and written a book on the topic, in addition to led the events themselves.

And yet, on this distant area of the English-Welsh borderlands, deep within the countryside, surrounded by rolling hills and thick woodland, this particular iteration of untamed church is struggling. So, I write this with a way someway of “failure”, with an interest in exploring the explanations behind this, and in search of ways to maneuver forward.

My engagement with wild church begins with the conviction that God’s love extends throughout creation, and might shine in and thru that creation. This message, articulated throughout the Old and New Testaments, encourages us to rejoice in, and learn from, the gifts present in the natural world.

Wild church can involve, in a way that’s healing and interesting, those that, for whatever reason, find being in a church constructing difficult. It can support those that are on the margins of established church; who’re exploring their spirituality, but are uncertain of the direction during which it would take them. It can liberate expressions of worship, freeing communities from traditional liturgy and more formal styles.

Wild church can encourage all generations to find the enjoyment and wonder of the natural world and the way it might illustrate the loving purposes of God. On a secular level, being out within the natural world is sweet for our bodies, minds, and spirits, as participants arrive at a deeper understanding of creation and God the Creator, even though it is critical to do not forget that “truth beauty and goodness is barely intimated in nature but disclosed in Christ” — Alister McGrath (The Open Secret, Blackwell, 2008).

I BELIEVE that we’ve got the proper venue for wild church. By generous permission of the landowner, we’ve got access to a beech wood, one mile from the small town that’s the centre of the benefice. The wood is served by a track with enough parking for those carrying equipment and people with physical challenges.

We got permission to erect a rest room tent and use an area for a hearth pit, surrounded by large logs. Within the space are several large trees, some undergrowth, ferns, a leafy forest floor, and sticks and wood for den-building and other activities. The ground is usually level and sheltered from the worst wildness of the storms that blow in over the Welsh border near by.

Owing to the necessity for a tree survey (again, generously provided by our host), we held the primary 4 events within the vicarage garden. This, although admittedly a little bit of jungle, didn’t provide the extent of engagement with the natural world which we had hoped for — although there was numerous space, we could have a hearth, and there was running water if we wanted it.

My curate and I planned the event fastidiously, calling on the expertise of a forest-school provider to assist us to plan a programme of engaging activities linked to a unique parable every month. We did all the danger assessments, devised a “light-touch” liturgy, and discussed what songs may very well be sung. We launched on the second Sunday of March, from 3.30 to 5pm, having publicised the event as widely as possible. Everything gave the impression to be in place.

PEOPLE do attend, but not many, and never those we expected. They fall into two groups. The first group are members of the regular congregation and as a bunch are really supportive of the church, desperate to reach out to the broader community, pleased to assist in whatever capability they’ll.

We even have some moms with young children — under-eights for essentially the most part — none of whom is an everyday churchgoer, and a few of whom don’t engage with the church in any respect. Interestingly, it’s the latter group who’ve proved most consistent.

After five months, we’ve got a core group of seven children and their adults, with occasional visits from a half-dozen more. (In the interests of full disclosure, I should state that three of those seven are literally my grandchildren.).Together, with helpers and supporters, we number about 15 and call that “an excellent day”.

To be honest, I had hoped for more. Surrounded as we’re by wonderful countryside and energetic farming families who’ve stewarded the land for generations, there’s a profound awareness of the fantastic thing about the environment, a respect for the environment, and a way of living in harmony with — slightly than opposition to — the natural world. I had hoped to tap into this, encouraging people to glimpse the God behind all of it.

PERHAPS this closeness to creation is in itself the issue. A community whose favourite all-purpose hymn is “How great thou art” doesn’t need teaching that the created world is a precious, holy place: they’re witnesses each day to God’s “power throughout the universe displayed”.

The traditional forest-school activities which were absorbed by wild church and supply an excitingly edgy feel for the town-dweller — cooking over an open fire; using axes, saws, and knives to construct, carve, and create; spending time simply being within the open, regardless of the weather — are the work of day by day for youngsters of farmers and agricultural employees, who start driving tractors on private land at 13, public roads at 16, and participate within the chores of the farm or forest.

This will not be to say that the forest school/church can’t be very precious to country-dwellers in addition to townsfolk: those that live within the country are aware of the gaps of their knowledge of their surroundings and are sometimes desperate to fill them.

This is demonstrated by the recognition of talks on local wildlife and landscape history, in addition to regular information sessions on organic and environmentally sensitive farming. The local primary school advantages from forest-school sessions as its playground is a riot of concrete with only an island of green. But these are educational and information-driven slightly than simply “being”. Is “being” already practised or should or not it’s “‘taught”?

And thus my wonderings proceed. In the mean time, our small wild-church community is precious, and, if it can’t be described as multigenerational, the kids who attend are very enthusiastic — “Best day ever!” is an everyday description from my seven-year-old grandson. So, we’ll carry on, always adapting, reflecting on what went well, and discussing how we would encourage spiritual growth, while trying not to fret in regards to the numerical side of it.

“God writes the gospel not within the Bible alone, but additionally on trees, and within the flowers, and clouds, and stars,” because the misattributed saying goes. There is something profound and exquisite in sharing this gospel with a small group of non-readers.

The Revd Dr Sally Welch is Vicar of the Kington Group within the diocese of Hereford.

Useful information

• Insurance liability: your insurance should cover you for all church activities which have the PCC’s formal approval, but you must check along with your insurers.
• Risk assessments are your friend: e.g. at mountsorrelchurch.org, or adapt the Messy Church generic one https://www.messychurch.brf.org.uk/latest/resources/messy-church-risk-assessment/
• Always be certain that you have got a primary aid kit onsite: Muddy Faces do an outdoor-specific one (at muddyfaces.co.uk), or adapt your personal.
• If working with fire in any form, be zealous along with your precautions, safety checks, fire blankets, water, burn treatment, etc. Always have one adult whose sole responsibility is the fireplace, plus others for fire-related activities equivalent to toasting marshmallows.
• Before each wild-church event, walk the world and do a security check. Mark out any zones containing, for instance, poisonous plants, where the kids mustn’t go. Check that area markers are in place and that nothing recent and dangerous has appeared.
• Each wild-church event should begin with a security briefing covering not eating anything that you simply pick unless under adult supervision, not straying beyond the world markers, etc.
• Make sure that you have got adequate hygiene facilities in place, even when this just extends to the most important pack of babywipes you have got ever bought.
• The end gathering should include a check that the environment have been returned to their pre-wild-church condition.
  

Helpful Websites:
Muddy Faces has good resources for all outdoor activities: muddyfaces.co.uk/outdoor-hub, and month-by-month plans in addition to Bible-themed suggestions muddychurch.co.uk
BRF offers a subsection of Messy Church which is beneficial: messychurch.brf.org.uk

It can also be value organisations equivalent to the Woodland Trust, the Forest Stewardship Council, and the National Trust for ideas.