Humans are deeply spiritual animals. For centuries in Scotland this has been explored and expressed through the Church. In the last century however this has changed.
At one time the Church provided political authority, social services, education, healthcare, and the opportunity to experience the best of the arts. A church was the place to go to to access these things, or to contribute to the provision of them for those in need. When many of these tasks were delegated to secular authorities the Church remained as the spiritual specialist, proving access to deeper things.
Can a church so disconnected from secular life continue to do this though?
For some church life still blends seamlessly with their everyday life, and going to a church on a Sunday is like drinking deeply from a well which flows into every day and everywhere they go.
Others find beauty on mountain tops, mystery in forests, charity when they watch TV ads and Love in the extended family experience of a hobby club. They mark births and deaths through social media, and relationship changes with status updates. When they search for deeper spiritual experiences they have a global culture to explore. Here is an example – for these experiences to be genuine, do they have to be experienced through Church?
You try … you fail … failure is not bad … it is the way to grow.
Jesus talked about a shepherd leaving the bulk of his flock grazing where they were content in order to go searching for the one rogue sheep.
How much effort do our churches put into preserving buildings and the orders of service they inherited, while about 80% of the decendants of the people who built those buildings never enter them?
In psalm 23 the author talks about dwelling in the house of the Lord. If you read the beginning of the psalm though most of the time is spent on the move, finding new waters, seeking out grass.
Churches need caretakers who can look after the building and anoint tired brows with refreshing oils. They also need pioneers who will wander with semi-feral sheep and goats. Ones who carry big sticks to face the darkness, and who are skilled in diving deep in search of adventure.
We have never really made a consistent effort to test out the idea of “Forest Church” though. One of the things this would involve would be to work through, experiment with (and think about) how to be an outdoor Church, rather than just to take our usual church activities outside.
What happens when the nights draw in and the weather turns bad? Do we need hymn books, and how would the recited formal liturgy of the Scottish Episcopal Church help or hinder in an environment where multiple pieces of paper will blow away in the wind? Can we read the creators message in creation in combination with scripture …
Here is a video of one example of forest church. There are many more, and each is adapted to the local environment and community who live within it.
Would you, or people you know, be interested in exploring this further? Follow the link to the Field Guide to find out more. When the season of summer holidays are over we will hopefully be able to gather together and make some plans
As a quick introduction, this description is taken from the Forest Church Facebook group:
FOREST CHURCH
“Forest Church” is the name taken by loosely gathered groups of like-minded people who are not formally connected to any denomination (although the core team of each group will normally have members of one of the recognised Christian denominations). They are people who wish to engage with the way in which God reveals God’s self in the natural world.
The meetings use poetic and open language to provide a safe and welcoming place for those of any faith or none who appreciate the spirituality of ‘The Green’.Each group has its own flavour and range of gatherings. Examples vary from meditative walks, workshops on naturalist subjects to more formalised rituals.
For some groups the latter tend to draw on the shape of Pagan rituals which have evolved to inhabit the outdoor space although the language often expresses the presence of Christ within the context of the Trinity, whilst also allowing for the fullness of gender expressed within God.
Story and the historical myths of the land are celebrated and valued alongside scripture, thus allowing each Forest Church to be centred in its own location.Many of those who attend do so because worshipping within the stone walls of a church provides them with little or no connection with God.
Forest Church recognises this and therefore meets outside to celebrate the possibilities of our understanding of panentheistic (God-in-all-things and All-things-in-God) engagement and relationship.We recognise that many of those who have left the church departed because of poor treatment by Christians or because of a severe lack of space for spiritual exploration, not because of the person of Jesus.
One aspect of Forest Church is therefore to provide a space for re-engagement with the person of Christ amongst other spiritual seekers, trusting God that a relationship mediated through the Holy Spirit, by whatever name the Spirit is known to the individual, may be holy and transformative.
Our part in Missio Dei (‘The Mission of God’) is relationship and respect: friendship with no ulterior motive, and an openness and willingness to journey together as valued friends who learn from each other and honour the different paths we may tread. We count ourselves as spiritual explorers in the Christian tradition making creative use of liturgy that expresses this belief.
From the Facebook group for anyone interested in Forest Church. A place to share news, ideas and exercises. For more information and to list your group visit: http://www.mysticchrist.co.uk/forest_church
It is quite warm at the moment in Dumfries. Warm and humid with a thunderstorm waiting to break. This potential could go anywhere, but until it is released it is difficult to shake the cloying muggy feel of it all.
I am fairly sure that this is not an experience unique to me.
On Sunday we have our introduction to The Examen online and in person where prudent. Here is a short example I found helpful tis evening.
During my Sabbatical I have been attending a course on Pioneer Ministry/ Fresh Expressions of Church. One of the other people I have been walking with through the course is David Clayton.
He is leading a retreat online. You can find out more information about it by following the link:
I suspect this might be more like climbing a munro than a walk in the park. It might not be the thing for you just now, but do you know someone seeking for spiritual direction?
Nearly 500 years ago, St Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus, developed the Examen as a prayer to help people better discern the forces of God and the false spirit at work in their daily lives. At this gathering, Philip Palios will provide an introduction to Ignatian spirituality and this useful prayer practice.
This event will have online and in person opportunities to participate. Please register below for more details and to stay in touch:
This post is part of a series forming a review of Quartz activity. For an overview of the report start hereat the“Sabbatical”post.
School Visiting
In 2003 I set up in an art gallery in Southampton as Wordsmithcrafts – The Viking in the Basement. I started making shoes and other leather goods for re-enactors. I also produced my own works of contemporary art and soaked up knowledge about the heritage of Southampton and traditional craft skills. This included adding blacksmithing to the wordsmithing I already carried out whenever I told a story. The workshop itself embodied a story, and as it was in an art gallery those who dropped in were willing, even eager, to discuss the nature of meaning and explore the ethos I was experimenting with.
Set up for a solo visit
After setting up my workshop in the basement of an art gallery one of the first services I began to provide was visiting schools as a “Viking” to help tell the story of the “Invaders and settlers”. These are immersive days where the pupils get to meet a character from the past brought to life. They can handle replica artefacts, ask questions and explore history through specialist activities. The particular story is tailored to the school’s needs and over the years I have collected equipment and knowledge to span from Southampton to Shetland, and from the British Iron Age to the time of the Border Reivers.
The current selection on offer can be viewed on the Cluaran website. This service is paid for by schools from a range of sources, usually the Parent Council/PTA but also windfarm and other community funds. I work with freelancers and voluntary groups to provide this service to schools, but also to provide training and formal volunteering opportunities that benefit the people involved.
Sweetheart breviary interpretation.
Photos by Clarice Milligan
Of particular interest to Quartz is work I carried out for the Museums Service in 2017 to interpret the Sweetheart breviary. As well as the school visits I also sat in the museum to work with members of the public who dropped in. This project was extended beyond the funding available through support from St John’s as Quartz.
The extra content involved using content adapted from the framework from “Time for Reflection”(TFR) in schools to use in the museum setting. To find out more please download the above files from the project.
Arts Development
Having set up the Wordsmithcrafts workshop in Dumfries in 2011, the opportunity arose in 2013 to apply for funding to help young artists explore the possibility of finding employment in the creative industries. As well as giving them opportunities to participate in community arts activities, this project encouraged them to practice #SensingSpirituality throughout their involvement and to record this in journals or Vlogs. The project is described here https://www.wordsmithcrafts.co.uk/McNab14.html
I have maintained a website www.wordsmithcrafts.co.uk since 2003. Recognising the importance of a shift from billboard-like websites to full social media use as represented by Facebook I have also maintained a Facebook page and a presence on other social media platforms. I have used my personal Facebook page to build relationships and engage in conversation online in a similar way to bumping into people in the pub. A notable difference is that whilst pub capacity is limited, I am directly connected to over a thousand people every time I make an online comment, and this will be shared with their friends too. I am also linked worldwide and can continue theological discussions started at university.
I maintain a Quartz facebook page, twitter feed and Instagram account with a more modest audience of 300 or so. In the run up to Easter this year when I was posting consistently I reached almost 200 people a post, although engagement and interaction are a lot lower than this. During the second lockdown early in 2021 I moved online activity from Facebook to the new WordPress-based Quartz website in preparation for supporting an online user group should the opportunity arise.
During lockdown I took my Wordsmithcrafts activity online. Cluaran facilitated “Tales from the Longhouse” where we provided a monthly time and place to gather online to replace the experience of gathering in physical groups to hear stories. We also hosted an informal gathering for storytellers to practice telling stories to each other. Following up Hidden Histories work with LIFT (Lochside Is Families Together), I also took part in a series of online activities for families. These were presented over Facebook Live, and I contributed a viking story, a saints story and a craft every week throughout Lent. this was part funded by Quartz (the saints stories) and part by Lift (Heritage and crafts) but all were presented through the character of Cathbad the Cyberculdee – a time traveling monk from “The Floating Monastery” on Facebook and YouTube.
I view this online presence as a very real extension to my physical presence in Dumfries, or wherever I travel. I do not use it as a virtual existence to escape to, but more as a way to enhance my offline activity. I love meeting people in physical life, and it is very difficult to teach crafts without that! However, especially in Lockdown, being comfortable meeting up for a drink at an online pub has meant that I can overcome barriers of distance to keep in touch and be part of niche interest networks and friendship groups spread accross Europe. There is a lot of unrealised potential in working with digital residents.
This post is part of a series forming a review of Quartz activity. For an introduction and overview of the report start hereat the“Sabbatical”post.
Activities like Interweave, All Age Worship, Second Sunday and Housegroups best fall into this category. They are all activities which draw from recognised models of Church and adapt or apply them in new contexts and ways. Unlike an outward facing “Fresh Expression” the direction of movement was to draw on the context of everyday life, and then plant this in the church environment to see what would grow. This ‘internal ecumenism’ approach used creative spirituality to give established attenders of St John’s the opportunity to try out new things themselves and learn to value the possibilities presented by practices beyond their traditional church experiences.
Interweaves started by applying the multimedia approach to services first established by Alternative/Creative worship communities in the 1980’s and 90’s. (I’ve written a post about this here which includes video footage of what they looked like back then). The building of St John’s was used as a canvas within which to create an immersive experience that drew from traditional church liturgies and activities, combining them with contemporary popular culture. At each event a theme was chosen and then the team worked collaboratively to explore and express the insights gained during preparation – as well as plan activities for those who just came to participate in the event.
The big Interweaves involved a team of around five volunteers supported by a week’s worth of professional time. They were often themed around specific festivals celebrated both within St John’s and the wider Dumfries community. Some connected chaplaincy work in schools at assemblies and in classrooms with the Interweave event through the use of similar activities adapted to each context. Interweaves were publicised on the Quartz Facebook page which also provided an avenue for further engagement. Artwork used at Interweaves was left in place when appropriate and contributed to the seasonal changes in the St John’s building marked by flowers, colours and the permanent artwork bonded to the fabric of the building.
Advent 2014 Poster
Images from Advent Interweave 2014 and supporting activities
Difficulties encountered included timetabling clashes where established activities were given priority. The building is magnificent, but not designed to support multimedia installations, and simple things like finding plug sockets could be a challenge. As everything was temporary, setting up and taking down required considerable effort from the core team. As it wasn’t a defined service it was difficult to explain what Interweave was. The name “Interweave” was actually a late development, and early events were named individually and described collectively as “Creative Worship” when a term was required.
Difficulties can build a team however, and the challenge of hanging things without using scaffolding and of working together to create something beautiful, interesting and engaging was great. Interweaves could adapt flexibly to constraints imposed, and to involve temporary residents in Dumfries such as students, benefiting from their skills.
As there was an overlap between those involved in quarterly Interweaves and the more frequent informal service (currently known as All Age), aspects of the two events were shared. Examples of this included the collaborative approach, the use of creative spirituality from serving food to visual arts installations and a range of ritual, musical worship and words.
A ‘Second Sunday’ poster (used online)
The “Second Sunday” events developed last of all the Quartz activities. They focussed on a single creative worship approach for each event and filled a gap in the cycle of forms of evening prayer. When Lockdown happened “Second Sunday” moved online. We provided a range of ideas for people to carry out creative worship in their households, and a live chat window to meet up online. This was blended with physical meet ups when safe and activities such as walks and making a cairn of stones.
Quartz also facilitated a series of housegroups. These are included in this collection of activities because whilst Lent study groups are a traditional part of St John’s life, the topics of study for the Quartz group included books on alternative worship, forest church and spiritual responses to the climate crisis that explored rethinking the traditional relationship between human institutions like the church and the rest of creation.
The groups also featured creative approaches like using video conferencing to make meeting accessible even when people couldn’t leave their houses (long before lockdown).
Footage filmed before and during Covid, used to bring the outside indoors when locked down.
This class of activity fits less easily into the idea of “Fresh Expressions” because there was no intent as Quartz to develop another instance of church. It is perhaps better described as preparation for a “Fresh Expression” or for welcoming internal growth and training in creative spirituality.
Some statistics for the number crunchers. Attendance at interweaves varied too much between events and over the years to work out a reasonable averageso I have focussed on typical volunteer team hours supported.
This post is part of a series forming a review of Quartz activity. For an introduction and overview of the report start hereat the“Sabbatical”post.
Sometimes the church is invited to contribute to the life of the community. As a guest there are responsibilities, but also there is a welcome and a recognition of worth. School chaplaincy was one of the first ways I was involved with St John’s in activities which led to the setting up of Quartz. I started by working on an art project with St Ninian’s Primary, a school originally set up by the St John’s community along with a mission church. This developed into a programme of regular assemblies. It then broadened to include more schools, both primary and secondary and occasional nursery visits.
Hidden Histories
In 2017/18 I worked with a Sleeping Giants project called Hidden Histories. I was employed in my capacity as an artist, Wordsmithcrafts, but this led to opportunities to participate and involve volunteers as Quartz. The project aimed to give people access to their heritage and develop better futures. This involved exploring general spirituality, and alternative models of group descison making (such as The Ways of the Council).
My main role was as a living history advisor, and to do this I adopted the character of a time travelling culdee from “The Floating Monastery“. As a guest, and associate worker with, Sleeping Giants in a community context it was important that my actions were conducted professionally and inclusively. When you are walking through a landscape shaped by Christians for over a thousand years, the story tells itself if you know where to look, or have someone inviting you to ask questions.
A review of some of the activities carried out as Hidden Histories
As Quartz I was able to follow up interest generated by Hidden Histories after my employment with them came to an end. This meant I supported weekly craft sessions, and this also provided an opportunity for a visitor to Dumfries from the American Episcopal Church as she describes here:
I also attended events continuing the now familiar character of Cathbad. This included two “Abbey Antics” events. The first was actually held at the Abbey (Lincluden Collegiate Church). We provided some “Time for Reflection” activities, demonstrated manuscript-making skills and gave tours of the ruins communicating its significance to those who lived there, as well as the continuing living tradition. The second year there was a yellow weather warning, so we adapted and I have described the experience here.
School Chaplaincy
My involvement in schools chaplaincy started with St Ninian’s Primary School. Following a review of Religious Observance in schools by the Scottish Government, St John’s responded to a request by Dumfries High School. I became part of a chaplaincy team, primarily delivering four assemblies a year. This developed into classroom work in the lead up to the assembly, which improved pupil engagement. I also contributed to RMPS classes and ongoing continual professional development after attending council run curriculum for excellence training sessions in Religious Observance/Time for reflection. At one point I was working with four primary schools and one secondary school. I delivered four assemblies a year in most of them, and contributed to classes and worked with teachers in others.
Two of the schools closed and merged into a new superschool. The new rector at St John’s was keen to take a hands on approach herself rather than the previous model where I delivered on the ground, following up leads and supported by the previous Rector who had a strategic role on the council education committee. With the changes to the schools and having been active in this field for over five years I was ready for a change. I continue to work with Dumfries High school.
Instead of an assembly in person, a lockdown video to be played during registration.
When schools shifted to working from home, and visits to assemblies were no longer possible I moved online. I recorded video presentations, and developed a Pandemic resources page with a mixture of Wordsmithcrafts and Quartz activities. I also transmitted three sessions a week from “The Floating Monastery” on Facebook as part of the LIFT activities progamme in the run up to Easter 2020. Not strictly school chaplaincy, or purely Quartz activity, but working in the same community as the Hidden Histories project.
A sample primary school assembly:
A pdf version of the powerpoint presentation used in the assembly (with speakers notes)
I also visit schools as Wordsmithcrafts (currently described as the Cluaran Living History Project). In this activity I am hired by a school to contribute to the curriculum by turning the classroom into a day-long interactive story. I use a combination of props, stories and activities, either solo or with a team. When I first met the current year group at the High School over half of them remembered me as having visited their primary school as a Viking, usually when they were in P5 , so about six years previously. I meet pupils in pubs and the street who remember me from doing assemblies too!
This area was not a conscious “Fresh Expressions” activity as the main objective held by St John’s was to try and attract people to its regular activities, or perhaps those newly developed as described in “Planting and Adoption”. Involvement in the community did however increase the confidence of the volunteers involved, and provide opportunities for them to discuss their faith in shared spaces. It also maintained the public profile of St John’s, and contributed to the development of “Spiritual Literacy”. I also used these opportunities to develop the material for schools into a community learning and development context.
Some statistics for the number crunchers. One primary school requires four assemblies and two lesson visits per class a year so 16 hrs for a primary school and 86 for a secondary school annually. Multiple same stage schools or team working can share preparation time, butI haven’t included team meetings or teacher CPD in these estimates.
