We will be holding a Midsummer Forest Church service on Sunday the 25th of June. We will meet at the castle road end car park near Caerlaverock castle at 3pm.
https://goo.gl/maps/RQ8FqEaXA3Bpcst26
(54.97845046765338, -3.5229645328674453)
We will walk up the hill to Wardlaw iron age fort. This is a farm track with steps. There are no facilities at the top, so please dress appropriately and bring a snack!
Having cautioned you, the reward for walking up the hill will be the opportunity to bathe in some woodland with views over the Solway. We will meet in Christs name and share his peace, whether you consider yourself a close friend or are simply curious – we meet in peace.
We will use a variety of poetry, music and reading to compliment the messages placed in creation from the dawn of time. Hopefully this will be more than just Church outdoors and the saunter up the hill will help us worship and restore relationships.
As this Sunday is close to midsummer we will also reflect on the themes of light, the sun, and pausing to contemplate. The place we are meeting is an ancient watch hill, so a good physical, and metaphysical, vantage point.
The plan – Midsummer forest church 2
Meet in car park, gather and share peace
“We meet in Jesus name. Whether you consider yourself a close friend or are just curious, we meet in Christs peace. Peace be with you”
share a sign of peace.
Intro
The summer solstice occurred in the middle of last week. It was the longest day and the shortest night. The amount of daylight we experience had been building up all year, then stood still, and will now decrease. You could use the journey up the hill to think about your year so far, and then pause to reflect in the fort, or simply enjoy the experience! If you want to chat about what you are thinking with someone, make eye contact (sometimes thoughts happen best in discussion out loud) however if someone doesn’t make eye contact they are not being rude, they are just being busy with their thoughts (some people think best in private).
22 “The eye is the lamp of the body; so if your eye is clear [spiritually perceptive], your whole body will be full of light [benefiting from God’s precepts]. 23 But if your eye is bad [spiritually blind], your whole body will be full of darkness [devoid of God’s precepts]. So if the [very] light inside you [your inner self, your heart, your conscience] is darkness, how great and terrible is that darkness!
Matt 6:22,23
Start Walking!
Gathering on Rampart
Gloria in exelsiuis, Gloria in exelsius, Glo.ri.a
Christus natus est.
Together
Come I this day to the Father of Light,
Come I this day to the Son, morning-bright,
Come I this day to the Holy Ghost great in might;
Come I this day this day with God, blessing to find,
Come I this day with Christ, promise to bind,
With the Spirit of potion kind.
Reading from the bible
(NRSVA)
24 ‘A disciple is not above the teacher, nor a slave above the master; 25 it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher, and the slave like the master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household!26 ‘So have no fear of them; for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known. 27 What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops. 28 Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.[a] 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground unperceived by your Father. 30 And even the hairs of your head are all counted. 31 So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.
32 ‘Everyone therefore who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven; 33 but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven.
34 ‘Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.
35 For I have come to set a man against his father,
and a daughter against her mother,
and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
36 and one’s foes will be members of one’s own household.37 Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; 38 and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.
Matthew 10:24-39
Reading from creation
We stand in an ancient fort, set on a high hill. What conflict did the builders fear, what statements were they making?
Trees grow through the ramparts, transforming them. The shape of the roman fort has been ploughed out of recognition. Who remembers the names of those who built these proud structures, or the taoiseach and emperors who commanded their building. We slow our minds to think at the speed of growing things, trees, earth, stone.
All living things grow, take time to wander, talk to the trees about being rooted. Reflect on where you draw your energy from and feel it tingle in your fingertips. Allow yourself to become aware of the presence of the comforter, bathe in the green and the presence of the sun.
Repeat Gloria (to gather)
Lords prayer (Old English version)
On rampart ready to walk down the hill
O God, and Spirit, and Jesu, the Three,
From the crown of my head, O Trinity,
To the soles of my feet mine offering be;
Come I with my name and my witnessing,
Come I with contrite heart, confessing,
Come I unto thee, O Jesu my King –
O Jesu, do thou be my sheltering,
(South Uist, Celtic spiritual verse, GRD McLean
Walk down the hill.
In the car park, sending out (together)
May the God of life with guarding hold you,
The loving Christ with guarding fold you
Each night of life to aid, enfold you
Each day and night of life uphold you.
The grace of our lord Jesus Christ, the Love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all evermore, Amen
Go in peace, to love and serve, Amen
One reply on “QFC 25th of June”
I found the reading from the Bible quite hard initially. Once the reading from Matthew finished, there was a feeling not unlike panic!
Being in a fortress, surrounded by green and the warmth of summer helped me though. Bathing in the light, finding healing in the trees, slightly unhitched from time. The second reading from creation encouraged me to keep my ‘eyesight’ focused and healthy. Not to fear conflict, but to resolve it through seeking what is eternal and letting the temporal walls be overun by trees. (Like the bitterness and despair of Sarumans Isengard being turned back into a garden by the ents).