Quartz at St Johns Dumfries
When the topic of Poverty is raised people in the UK often find it important to mention the distinction between “Relative Poverty” and “Absolute Poverty”.
After all, how many people in living in Scotland are unable to access drinking water, decent housing, heating, and healthy food? This article has some statistics.
https://capuk.org/news-and-blog/millions-skipping-meals-as-we-head-into-winter
There is a time for everything, is the time right to explore the idea of Forest Church in Scotland?
This article form the church of England discusses the question further.
https://www.churchofengland.org/about/fresh-expressions/could-now-be-moment-forest-churches-grow
Quartz Forest Church meets every month on the 3rd Sunday at 2pm outside the Crichton chapel. We also do something special about four times a year.
The harvest is gathered in and the leaves are beginning to fall from the trees. Here is a quick overview of how we have been responding to this time of year.
Here is a collection of photos and reading from the special forest Church day we held in October. We visited Cairnholy to “Feel small, but in a good way” as we reflected on the passage of time.
We also drew on the Jewish tradition of setting up tabernacles/booths after harvest for the festival of “Sukkot”
On the third Sunday we met at the Crichton as usual. We took time to notice the change in the season as we move into autumn. We used the fallen leaves to create a wheel. This was divided into four, to represent the seasons, and then we walked round the wheel to reflect on our passage through time. At each point we stopped and thought about that particular seasonal change and our relationship to it.
Some Taize also featured!
When Simon goes into schools to help with history lessons, sometimes he will adopt the character of “Cathbad” from the Viking Era. The (primary school) pupils get to meet someone from their past. This is used to help them think about differences and similarities between their lives and people from the past, as well as find an interest in learning about the places they live in.
You may notice some similarities between the shelter used at QFC and the shelter in the school! This is one of the ways in which the Cluaran heritage work of Wordsmith Crafts CIC harmonises with the Quartz project.
While we were on holiday in Oban we discovered this mobile. Ogham runes from thousands of years ago stitched onto leaves that make the hidden colours in trees visible. There is a tradition which associates each ogham rune with the name of a tree which some people use today to think about ways in which language is embedded in environment.
The work explores indigenous language through natural dyes and pigments. It was a community project which is embedded in a community dye garden. There is more to explore online! Including a digital archive of conversations I’ve not found yet. It is curated by Naoko Mabon though if you feel like doing some research!
What could this inspire in Dumfries?
Continuing a theme of transience and permanence. We will look for signs of change in our surroundings and in the Bible.
Saturday the 14th of October
Timetable
9.30 am Meet at St Johns and shuffle for car sharing.
Leave at 10
11.30 Get to Cairn Holy
Stop to wonder about who built them, why? #SensingMystery
(HES site) (Megalithic Portal)
Look at the view, close up with the stones and then far out to sea. #SensingOtherness
Cairn Holy II reminds some people of Aslans stone table. In the books this has laws written in “deep magic” written in it that are older than anyone remembers.
Gloria and Andy have prepared some readings, prayers and activities to explore the history of Sukkot.
Sukkah is the Hebrew word for ‘booth’ or ‘tabernacle’. ‘Sukkot’, the plural, is the name of the festival of booths. Sukkot were the shelters in which the Jewish people lived during their years in the desert after they left slavery in Egypt and before they arrived in the Promised Land (Israel). Sukkot comes at the end of the High Holydays (Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur), which are the most serious days of the Jewish year. It is a joyful pilgrim festival
find out more on the day…
12.30 to 13.00 ish
Return to vehicles and drive to the beach, which will hopefully be Carrick beach (https://maps.app.goo.gl/8eG8AupjEBF2NeL89) as the weather forecast is good.
13.30 ish
On the beech we will build shelters. Gloria and Andy tell the story of why we are in tents, and the link of the day to the Jewish festival of Sukkot. Hopefully we can sit and eat lunch in the shelters. (Bring a packed lunch! or pick something up on the way)
For those that choose we can also pray (in the way each is accustomed to) for peace and all those who work for it.
Hopefully there will also be the opportunity to make sand moulded candles as a reminder of the journey. Taking something permanent home from the shifting sand, that can be lit to let out some light.
3.30-ish Return to Dumfries for 5pm
There are no modern facilities at any of the locations, but we will pass several towns. The weather forecast is good, but it might be a bit chilly.
Can’t make it on Saturday? We will meet as Forest Church as usual on Sunday the 15th outside the Crichton chapel at 2pm
As well as in the Crichton estate on the 4rd Sunday of the month, you will also find a lot of Quartz members in St Johns building on the 2nd and 4th Sundays of the month.
Like all other services there will be a readings from the bible, prayers, reflection of the readings, and music. There is also an effort to provide the opportunity to respond to the theme of the evening through the creative arts.
This has involved many art forms over the years. Some of the results are on this website. Tonight Alison and Mark leading. The theme is Worshipping through Nature.
We are a part of creation, but how often do you stop to take time to become aware of that? Arranged flowers, parkland, rivers or the growing living things that we find even in urban environments are often places to find peace and connect. Do you have a favourite “Sit Spot?” where you can practice #SensingSpirituality as a discipline like “Quiet times” with the bible.
St Francis describes the Sun and Moon as brother and sister. He was aware of worshipping with the natural environment, and imagines parts of it worshipping along side him. The echo of the Canticle of the sun can be found in many songs, and perhaps was inspired by singing psalm 48
As well as worshiping in and alongside nature though, have you ever worshipped with the natural environment? Perhaps you are familiar with stories of bible verses being given to people as they pray and the words help them. Or perhaps you have sat in front of a picture and through it you have become aware of or explored your relationship with God. The text of picture are not God, but through them we can enter into worship with God. These are skills which take time to learn. Not because they are exclusive, but simply because most things take time to learn and if you spend time learning how to do something you usually get better at it.
So can the flight of a flock of birds that enters your mind while in prayer, or the experience of green grass on a sunny day become a part of your worship vocabulary?
We will have some of the cards we use at Forest Church available. These are described as “Doorways“. Thoughts and activities to help people become aware of being present in creation, worshipping with it, and in particular through the natural environment.
For those who can’t get to St Johns on Sunday evening, here is the play list we will be using as we reflect on the witness of St Francis of Assisi
(https://open.spotify.com/embed/playlist/1xs8dzPsGSj60TAWuyHDAA?utm_source=generator)
For those that couldn’t make it on the evening here is a flavour:
The theme for this day is drawn from the Jewish festival of Tabernacles known as sukkot
We will be exploring Permanence and Transience using a very ancient place and temporary shelters on the beech to raise questions about experiences of eternity and the present moment.
More information to follow, register your interest and join the mailing list here:
Our plan would be to meet up outside St Johns in Dumfries to share cars and head out by 10am.
We will travel to Cairnholy which is a visually stunning location. There we will reflect on the solidness ancientness of stone and the contrast this has with the transience of a human lifetime emphasised by just how much we don’t know about the people who built the structures. These is a song to sing here.
We will then travel to a shoreside location. If the weather suits the plan is to have a picnic on the beach, but we will adapt!
On the beach we will build a shelter, and use it as a venue to share food and hear the ancient story that is still remembered every year at “Sukkot” . Without too many spoilers the main ideas are God’s provision and presence, harvest, celebration with everyone, and inclusiveness.
To remember the day, and draw things together with an action we hope to make wax candles to take home. This will use the sand as a mould.
The candles might not be as permanent as the stone of a chambered cairn, but when you burn them the light which is released will hopefully be a reminder of the light which has been and is part of the human experience since the dawn of time.
When the Israelites stop wandering and have the resources to find a king, then build a temple, they are reminded that this does not box God in. When we hear the story of Jesus talking with the woman at the well are we reminded that God is at work beyond our boundaries * *
Those who have access to Wi-Fi and a smartphone are connected globally. It is possible to feel a part of K-pop fandom or keep up with the Kardashians 24/7. If people are searching for spiritual nourishment they might choose to go somewhere (gone fishing!) as an antidote to the technology, or perhaps turn to YouTube to feed their hunger for knowledge from a global choice of institutions lecturers. Even if you are miles from a town you can join in with 24/7 live Christian worship (Vinyard). Most people probably use a combination of things like this, and this post has only a small selection of what is out there.
As you are reading this, at this stage of your life, are you more drawn to the story of a shepherd leading a flock to still waters, or to the story of Jesus preparing his disciples to face the challenge of feelings of loss and despair, (but with the promise that they will be connected in ways they cannot yet understand)? The good news is that Jesus meets us where we are, and God is everywhere. For those who are able perhaps though like Heracles this is a time when you can choose the tougher of the two paths. Instinctively we might imagine the harder path to be like rugged mountains and challenges to be overcome. However what if the struggle is to let go of the customs and institutions which shape our perception. If rather than being exiled and needing to replicate our home, we need to be inwardly transformed to adapt to new ways of connecting.
When you are walking the Way beyond boundaries how will you recognise God at work in preparation for your arrival, what truths about your path will you be told by the people you meet? Here are some stories told by people who have made connections with Jesus, but perhaps not with Sunday congregations.
We are Church. Jesus makes sure of that in coffee shops, bus stops, and while people are washing the dishes. The Church is for everyone. Heaven has an open door policy and that starts now.
How can we respond to the issues which challenge our own sense of being, and create congregations where all are welcome though?
I don’t have the answer, but I am sure the way to it is found by shedding the scales of terror, religiosity, and legalism to flourish in a state of metanoia fueled with Love.
If we are to be like Jesus and to minister to those who are different, marginalised and treated as outcasts, then we need to do more than label our churches and websites with messages of ‘all are welcome’. Jesus commanded that we should go out and meet people where they are. For me, this conference has been the start of a process in which to come to greater awareness of how I can be an ally, to reach out and to let transgender people know that they have a place in the Church.
Extract from article
Look for the glimmers, the nuggets of Joy. Learn to ‘Click the links’ which transform doom scrolling through life into a joy filled search. Then our gatherings will glow.
