forest church
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Last August, we had our first Forest Church. With it, we wanted to connect to nature in a different way, and celebrate creation and remember our own responsibility of stewardship and looking after our beautiful world. We had hoped to have a Forest Church for a while, and it was great to be invited to have our first one as part of the celebrations for the fifth anniversary of the Gifford community woodland, alongside other activities like Forest School, volunteering opportunities, and charcoal drawing sessions. We had a great turnout, from ages 2 to 80+. We started with a walk to our reflection site, using our senses on the way, to see what we could see, feel, smell and hear. We shared prayers and reflected on the beauty and fragility of the world, and what we can do to protect it. We also were creative in appreciating the beauty of creation, in drawing or writing down reflections, in building mobiles from twigs, leaves, pinecones and ferns, and by creating cyano-print pictures. |
At the end of April, we had our first Forest Church this year, this time in Humbie Kirk Wood. Despite the somewhat changeable weather, we had a lovely walk, helped each other and climbed down to and crossed the river (twice).
Rather than gathering in one spot for prayer, reflection and activity, as we did last August in the Gifford Community Woodland, this time we had a reflective walk, stopping at various points for reflections and prayer. We thought, among other themes, about the necessity to gain perspective and see the bigger picture (looking down to the waterfall) and also about the need to challenge injustice, in pondering the witch hunt of Nether Keith.
Here are some pictures from the events.
Our next Forest Church events are
All ages are very welcome, as are dogs on a lead. Please make sure to wear weather appropriate clothing and sturdy footwear.
Rather than gathering in one spot for prayer, reflection and activity, as we did last August in the Gifford Community Woodland, this time we had a reflective walk, stopping at various points for reflections and prayer. We thought, among other themes, about the necessity to gain perspective and see the bigger picture (looking down to the waterfall) and also about the need to challenge injustice, in pondering the witch hunt of Nether Keith.
Here are some pictures from the events.
Our next Forest Church events are
- on Sunday, 25th June 2023 in Strawberry Wood, East Saltoun. We meet at 2pm at the wood entrance up East Mains Road.
- on Sunday, 27th August 2023 in Bolton. We meet at 2pm by Bolton Church.
All ages are very welcome, as are dogs on a lead. Please make sure to wear weather appropriate clothing and sturdy footwear.
