This is the first day of Spring and while the flowers aren't exactly bursting forth we've been pleasantly surprised to see some shoots emerging in sheltered spots. The snow has quickly receded from our yard and I was excited to see that the Moira River is opening north of Belleville.
I heard an interview on the CBC Radio program appropriately named Fresh Air with Rev. Bruce Sweet about a Wild Church Worship service to be held this afternoon near Midhurst, Ontario. Bruce is a retired UCC minister and I know him because he kindly visited my father in a nursing home during his final months and presided at his funeral.
Bruce was featured on the CBC program Tapestry three years ago because he'd become involved in the Forest Therapy movement, about which I've written and experienced. He's now offering monthly outdoor worship experiences as a complement to rather than competition with "inside the walls" church services. Bruce was articulate about what he's been doing and his connection to the Wild Church Network of roughly 170 congregations which are now offering these opportunities, mostly in the United States, the UK, and Canada. https://www.wildchurchnetwork.com/About-Us
Two of the organizers of the outdoor summer ministry in Algonquin Park, Svinda and Marilyn, are congregational ministers who also offer monthly Cathedral of the Trees worship experiences. They are part of this growing movement and the Algonquin ministry, in which I've participated, is under their auspices. We were chatting recently and they admitted that their February St. Brigid gathering was a tad frosty! https://riseabove470.wordpress.com/cathedral-of-the-trees/
There is a semi-feral feel to what is emerging, which seems to fit, don't you think? When I retired I said that I wanted to be more of a "be-wildered outsider" and I've done what I can to honour this.
Jesus did some of his best work in the midst of Creation, offering the Beatitudes from a hillside, feeding a crowd by Galilee, using a storm on the lake as a "teaching moment." We'll find our way through Holy Week to the olive grove of Gethsemane where Jesus and his disciples were camped out. Why wouldn't we follow his example?
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