29th June 2024
A one-day event to equip you to get started with outdoor church. 

Contributors

Anne Scott - Sensio Divina

Anne is the lay-leader of HTL Forest Church in Leicester who has led a wide range of outdoor worship gatherings with a missional community over the past 15 years. She is a trained Forest School teacher, working in a primary school and enabling new leaders. As well as being a church-planting pioneer, advocating for Eco Church and being a trustee for the John Ray Initiative, Anne is facilitating the Outdoor Worshiping Leicestershire (OWL) network which aims to celebrate, encourage and inspire worship outdoors: she is passionate about seeing people worshipping the Creator within creation and joining with all creation in praising God.

Sensio Divina
We will consider how creation communicates something of the Creator as we learn to read God’s fingerprints. We will then spend time listening to God’s voice in the world around us using Sensio-Divina – a reflective way to engage with God’s Spirit and the wonderful world we live in.

Amanda Butler

My name is Amanda Butler, and I am a Reader within the Birmingham Diocese, part of the Forest Church movement, and I work as a counsellor and eco therapist. I make labyrinths, mandalas and create meditative spaces that support an individual's spiritual journey, and connection to God. Labyrinths can teach us how to be mindful, be grounded, and offer up problem or question we might have to God. 

Labyrinths

I am offering space to walk a three circuit labyrinth, and providing information on how you could incorporate labyrinths into your ministry or personal spiritual practice. 

Sarah Folkes

I am the Family Link Worker at St Matthew’s Church, Salford Priors. As well as visiting our two local schools to lead Collective Worship and a lunchtime spiritual club, I run a busy toddler group at Church, and primary aged Bake through the Bible session once a month. I introduced Muddy Church as a new way of worshipping in October 2020 and we have grown from there. We meet on the second Sunday of the month in our beautiful Churchyard; now adorned with a log circle, a handmade natural shelter, bug hotel and water pallet play.

Muddy Church
Muddy Church for us is just a name for families meeting together and experiencing God outdoors; I haven’t signed us up for any scheme and I make up the sessions to fit the season/service theme/cyclical events. We do things that you wouldn’t do indoors and meet whatever the weather. We are created to have a natural connection and Muddy Church gives families an opportunity to build on their relationship and respect for the natural world. At St Matthew’s Church, we have also been able to engage with those who might not worship indoors.

In my session, I will talk about my experience of setting up a Muddy Church and what I have learned along the way. I will then set you off with a couple of example activities that your families could do which are linked to Bible verses. The best way for you to learn is to experience it! We will then gather back in our circle to reflect on the session and have time for any questions.  

Guy Allen

Guy Allen is the facilitator for Arden Marches Forest Church. 

Forest Church
This circle meeting has eight rituals for the yearly cycle as well as material for use on walks, craft activities and nature study. Short stories often appear in the sessions with voices from Welsh and Irish Christ followers and those that lived in biblical times. The reference to Deity is deliberately not like contemporary church services, to be accessible to a broader faith start point. Winter has lessons for us as well as the summer and time is taken to see the plants and wildlife.

At the Outdoor Church Day we will be allowing ourselves to come away from our achievements and structure to become aware of the Great Spirit. Please bring a blanket or folding chair.

Angela Corlett/Linda Salsbury

Angela Corlett, is Studley with Mappleborough Green's Family Link Worker and plays an important part in the relationship between home and school in supporting families on a wide variety of issues.  Working closely with the class teachers, school staff and church/outside agencies to help others to understand children’s Christian needs; as well as those of parents and carers.  Linda Salsbury is Mappleborough Green's Churchwarden and is currently being drawn towards young people through Foundation Governor and school activities, plus being part of Leading Your Church into Growth (LYCIF) team focussing on bringing our children of today closer to knowing and loving Jesus, and God.  Currently Messy Church Goes Wild! is part of a bespoke, afterschool activity within ideal Forest School grounds.

Messy Church Goes Wild!
Having successfully been involved with BRF Messy Church for several years, Angela and Linda have diversified to Messy Church Goes Wild as the movement within Messy Church; which aims to encourage Messy Churches to meet God outdoors, love the natural world, experience a sense of awe and wonder there and to be more eco-aware in all we do, both inside and out.  Messy Adventures resources includes fun activities with a strong scientific focus, offering questions to discuss, and suggestions for creative ways of responding in Christian worship with awe, wonder and celebration.  Themes and topics can be adapted to suit most outside spaces and varying age groups.

Rapid-fire sessions

There will be three rapid-fire discussions in the middle of the day. 

• Phil Harper from Holy Trinity Church, Stratford, will be describing Forest Church in a town, co-led with Methodist colleagues. 

• Jane Cornwall will show how she set up a reflective trail around St James, Weethley churchyard, based on the 23rd Psalm

• Daniel Corlett will share a model for an outdoors Christingle service based in a churchyard.