Dumfries Christian Network are organising some carol singing, just turn up and join in!
Saturday the 2nd of December
10 to 12
In the Loreburn Centre
Find out more about the DCN here.
Categories
Carol Singing
Category: Outerweave
Categories
Carol Singing
An opportunity to join in with people throughout Dumfries
1pm on Sunday the 18th of September
We are meeting up again on the 3rd Sunday in the month as we have been for around a year. During this time we have seen the seasons change and have fulfilled our aim of getting to know the environment of the Crichton.
We are meeting slightly earlier this month so that those who wish can also participate in the Allanton Peace Sanctuary peace sanctuary activities. (but not too early, so those that wish to attend the 11 O’clock service in St Johns can do this too!)
This time of year is one where harvest is in full flow. Our apple trees are full of fruit, and the leaves have already fallen where we have harvested plums. There is a time for everything and it is good to pause and recognise the changes.
The Plan
As is our custom we will meet in Christs name and, whether you consider yourself a close friend or are just curious, all are welcome to share his peace.
The reading of words is Luke 16:1-13
The reading from the environment will involve us walking round the grounds, remembering places and activities we have used over the year. If you haven’t been before please browse the Forest Church posts on the blog to get an idea in advance – or turn up and enjoy the introduction.
As a response we will collect a ‘harvest’ of experiences perhaps expressed in words, sketches, rubbings and pictures on smart phones.
Some of these can feed into visual artwork we hope to install in St Johns church building.
Categories
Local connections
Sunday at Kirkcudbright Art and Crafts trail.
It was a busy day, with three of us working all the time. Since it was so busy, there have been less words written to describe it!
– no rain so we were able to put up the bunting and have the tent fully open with the chairs out. The Haikus were a bit more random, and the syllable rule was not always followed, Nonetheless we had some good conversations.
A highlight of the day was when a person picked up the postcard of part of the Dream of the Rood and I said that this was the poem on the Ruthwell cross. Her eyes lit up and she said she had been christened at the church there! It was a bit spine-tingling for both of us. The labyrinth also provided some people with time and space to reflect, it is a very accessible activity and they were able to use it on their lap whilst sitting on a chair.
Quartz has been using Haiku this weekend as part of the Wordsmith Crafts CiC setup at Kirkcudbright Art and Crafts trail.
The following is taken from notes written by Kate, who has been leading this activity.
We have been giving people a space to stop. The whole of Kirkcudbright becomes a walking trail and on Friday we had a couple of chairs to rest in which were appreciated.
I have experienced people being surprised by what they have achieved, that they have come up with such a profound haiku. One lady took ages, told me lots about her life and the struggles she faced. She was in tears when she finished her poem, and it was a lovely poem for her sons.
Another experience I have enjoyed was asking children if they know what haiku were and wathcing their parents being really impressed that their child knows all about them.
We have a bowl full of words on cardboard strips. Having words provided means that people encountered words they weren’t expecting. One lady was ambushed by the word forgiveness- we had a brief conversation about it but I suspect more thinking and heart-searching happened after she left.
In addition, giving people the opportunity to write their own words allowed one girl to ignore all the rules and simply state “My name is Bee”. One man wrote a lovely poem about someone special in his life. Young twins who hadn’t learned to read yet enjoyed picking up words they liked the look of, and then the adults watching re-ordered them, #SensingMeaningfulness.
Saturday was wet and windy to start so there were no haiku for the first few hours, but some lovely ones arrived with the sunshine later on. It was great to see parents and children working together – parents were happy to help without taking over or changing things that they thought weren’t quite right.
During the morning haiku hiatus, the finger labyrinth we also have on the table, being made of glazed pottery and therefore much more waterproof, came into it’s own. Some had seen one before, but many learned to use one for the first time. I had a great half-conversation with a lady who was trying to get her son to do it as he had had a difficult day and she thought it would help him.
Not everyone felt able to stop for long, but we had many brief conversations about laying burdens down safely and picking them up in a different mindset. I felt able to say that I speak to Jesus in the middle.
More to follow! Sunday and Monday still to go.
As well as the Quartz area Wordsmith Crafts has a workshop where people can become 5 or 10 minute apprentices and learn to make copper armbands. This is a hands on encounter with millennia old skills. Conversations about value, time, and our relationships with the people who have contributed to making the Scotland we know today.
There is also a shop area where artists associated with WSC can exhibit and sell their work. This helps support the artists, and fund the installation at the trail – any surplus will be directed to helping people access the full resources of their Heritage through other projects.
A Quartz Outerweave at Kirkcudbright Art and Crafts Trail
We will be #SensingSpirituality in Kirkcudbright during the last weekend of July 2022. The trail is open from 11am to 5pm on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. You can find more info here
We were last there in 2017, and are looking forward to returning. This year we will have three main activities to help people use art and crafts to become aware of, explore and express the invisible things which make humans more than just their physical elements.
The theme for the trail this year is “Cats” in memory of one of the trails founders. We have taken this and then approached it through a poem called “Pangur Ban” The poem compares a monks search for meanings in texts to the quest of his pet cat trying to catch mice.
We will invite people to practice #SensingSpirituality in general and #SensingMystery and #SensingMeaningfuless in particular. Here are a couple of examples of how we do this.
Haiku
Either writing freestyle, or by arranging from a selection of words people will be encouraged to reflect on their environment and make an observation. Traditionally this type of poetry is 17 syllables in a 5,7,5 pattern. The poems will be fleeting glimpses of meaningfulness, but they can be photographed and then tagged #SensingSpirituality to be found online as long as the internet lasts…
Weaving
Continuing our practice of collaborative artwork, individuals can record their reflections on ribbons of cloth or paper. These are then woven into a tapestry using a warp weighted loom. Fragments of thoughts will be visible in the final banner, but each is anonymous as part of the whole.
Interested?
Come along and see for yourself what we are up to! Quartz takes the challenge of leaving our spiritual comfort zone to find “The face of God in friend and stranger” seriously. We will be setting up in Kirkcudbright to learn as well as help. We contribute from our own traditions and the experience of walking the paths we have made, and we hope to receive from the discussions this inspires. If you would like to get involved in helping do this, then talk with us and we can work out how to help each other.
Studio and Cluaran
As well as the Quartz project being on display, we are inviting people to glimpse a travelling version of the Wordsmith Crafts Studio . We will have a workshop set up where we will be experimenting with Iron Age crafts. Making rings and broaches. Some of these will be replicas, some “in the style of” and some will be contemporary creations.
We run 10 and 20 minute craft workshops. In these people can drop in and make something, and then take it away with them. We provide the skills and learning for free, but anything made in the workshop has a value and a trade needs to be made in order to take things away!
We will also have a shop front where the artists involved with Wordsmith Crafts can exhibit and sell their work.
Oh, and there will be stories too…
Categories
Singing for trees
Those who like Forest Church may like this :
https://www.crichton.co.uk/event/sing-for-the-trees/
If you go, please comment here on what it is like?
What could we learn from the experience? Where do you recognise the Holy Spirit at work?
And don’t forget the value of a smile, or the worth in experiencing the was a particular ray if light illuminates the green in ways that words fail you to describe.
As the culmination of our Lent journey we invite you to join us to cook fish by the water, and meet the risen Christ.
This is the start of a journey as well as the end of one. We have chosen this place to meet partly because of the connection some of the group have with Lincluden Abbey, and also out of sensitivity to the preservation of information buried in the soil. This means that we are meeting on the other side of the river where our fire will not disturb the scheduled monument.
To what extent did the disciples know what to expect when they left those times they met Jesus on a beach and ate fish with him? They would have many memories to fall back one – several of which involved eating bread and fish! But also the filling of their hunger for #SensingSpirituality . They had seen the dead raised back to life, blind people able to see, and also the quickening of downtrodden women and slaves in ways which humbled the authorities (and scared them) .
They had walked through towns and villages doing these things. Feeling the good news flow through their fingers.
When we meet we remember the history of what has happened. Reenact the events to re-member abstract thought in physical experience – both smokey taste and spiritual reality. We also have the opportunity to prepare for and dream up our path for the coming year.
All are welcome!
17th April – Easter Sunday BBQ – meet outside St Johns at 2pm to walk along the riverside to a beach opposite Lincluden Abbey – or 2.45 meet at the Nunholm car park. (Bring things to BBQ) We will have fire.
We held the March Forest Church meeting at Allanton Peace Sanctuary. This was part of one of the eight seasonal festivals they are planning for this year. These festivals recognise the changing seasons in what is sometimes called the wheel of the year.
We had a particular focus on peace in Ukraine and Russia, but also were very aware of all the conflict taking place worldwide. We pray for peace in all continents and between all people.
You can find out more about Allanton here
Categories
St. Brides Day
St. Bride, or St Brigit of Kildare, is a category 6 saint in the Scottish Episcopal Church Liturgy. For those unfamiliar with the number categories, this means that she is recognised as a person worth special recognition but that remembering this every year is a matter for local discretion.
So why is she significant for Quartz Forest Church?
The day she is remembered on is the 1st of February. This is associated with the first signs of spring and is one of the Scottish Quarter days which marked the change of seasons in the agricultural calendar. It is the promise of new life returning, if not altogether obvious unless you look out for it. We have been walking around the Crichton estate to get to know the place, and there are a few wee signs like snowdrops and bulbs breaking the soils surface.
The Gospel according to John starts with a retelling of the story of creation. In it the cosmic Christ, the Logos, the organising principle and light through which everything can be understood, enters the world as Jesus the human. This light should be recognisable to all Gods children, but some of those who you’d think should be aware of this miss it completely, and yet all those who recognise the good news can be born as children of God. Light is something which helps you to see things as they are, and the act of lighting a candle to look at something is very similar to having someone help you ‘see’ the truth.
Since there have been about 1500 years since the Abbess of the dual abbey of Kildare walked in the fields around it, the historical truth of her life is difficult to discover. The transformation of beliefs about the daughter of the Dagda, or good god, of the De Danan into the stories of the life of St Brigit took place long before the earliest record we have. There is more to truth than historical facts however, and the stories have survived because people recognise a sense of meaningfulness within them. They illuminate aspects of human being which they wish to be reminded of. It is worth taking some time to think about this and to learn to recognise the eternal truths, Logos, that can be found in them.
These truths can be markers of a shared space, where people of peace can gather. Rather than engaging in conflict about whether Christians stole Brigid to fool people into joining the Church, or complaining that neo-pagans are fabricating a pseudo history, why not recognise that this is a good time to clear out clutter to make room for new growth. Search the stories in the confidence that they are pregnant with the seeds planted by God ready to come to term within the womb of time. Have confidence that as you recognise truth the light which it sheds on your assumptions will transform you and set you free to be reborn. Reflect on the words, and find those who will be generous nursemaids to help with this process.
While you are doing this, perhaps you would like to weave a Brigits cross or four to place around your house to remind you. (6Mb download)
Simon will be participating in a gathering at Allanton Peace Sanctuary On the afternoon of Sunday the 30th This is the second of 8 events set equally throughout the year, based on the solar solstices and equinoxes.
Following the devastation of the Second World War, Mr Goi looked for a way to bring peace to all people, and the prayer and affirmation May Peace Prevail On Earth came to him in a moment of great inspiration. He realised that these words express the common wish of all humanity, transcending all boundaries of race, religion and politics. He envisioned that their gentle, yet powerful, effect would activate global peace consciousness.
Allanton website, describing the aim of the founder of their organisation
There is an open invitation to join online.
Imbolc Gathering at Allanton (online)
Sunday the 30th of January, 2022, from 2 – 3pm UK time.
A time to mark the strengthening of the light, as we in the Northern Hemisphere approach spring, in the Wheel of the Year, an auspicious time between the Solstice and Equinox.
Simon will show us how to make St Brigid’s Cross, representing the strong feminine energy of nurturing, hearth and home
This is participatory so if you would like to have a go, bring straw, or long grass, or just paper (A4 cut into strips of 2cm on the long side)
Kirsten will tell us a story, while we weave our crosses.
We will have a short meditation, followed by the Divine Spark Mudra, a prayer/meditation of the breath and movement.
The Zoom Room will be open from 10 minutes before. Join us round our fire and hearth. If possible, we will be outside, and will be delighted to see you,