Summer in the Spirit: Forest Church
Submitted by Sheryl Spencer
This column is called Stopped in Awe and on July 19, I literally was stopped in awe. In fact, I was almost moved to tears. It was the evening that we held the Summer in the Spirit Forest Church event.
What’s Forest Church?
Well, when you think about it, over the history of humanity, human beings have been gathering to worship the sacred much more outside than inside. Forest Church is a fresh expression of church that, according to the Wild Church Network, seeks to create a larger beloved community that includes the natural world “as kin. As sacred. As beloved co-participants in a larger story of grace and inter-being.” It’s not just worship outside. It’s about including the trees, the rocks, the sky, the birds, the plants, the water, the gathered human community – all as participants in the worship experience.
So, on the evening of July 19, about twenty people gathered at the Parks Canada Visitor Centre. In light of Bimooseyaang Gagwejimigo Nmama Aki (They’re walking, asking [ymama] the Earth), the Water Walk that the Saugeen Ojibway Nation has just completed in order to listen to the Earth as a means of discernment for important decisions, we wondered how we, as people of settler origin, might also practice listening to Creation, something that has been drummed out of worship experience. So, though we started walking in community, we switched to walking in silence, then when we’d made it to Little Dunk’s Bay Lookout, everyone was invited to find a spot to sit in silence, to listen and observe and come back with a three-word poem.
That’s where the stopped-in-awe moment came along. The water at Little Dunk’s Bay Lookout was calm as anything. There was no wind. You could see every crack and fissure on every rock below the surface. I closed my eyes and listened, and what I heard was the water lapping ever so gently on the shore, like it always has, forever and ever. My three-word poem? Ancient Water Lullaby.
Many thanks to all who participated and to Parks Canada for their support of this event.
Summer in the Spirit continues Wednesday July 26 with “Songs for a Summer Night,” music by Nick Ferrence and Jon Newitt. Bring a lawn chair to “the Gap” beside St. Edmund’s Anglican Church. The following week, August 2, there will be a Celtic Service of Healing at Tobermory United. All events start at 7:00 p.m. More info can be found at https://tobermoryunited.ca/summer.htm.
51st Annual Tobermory Chicken BBQ August 5
A Tobermory tradition continues! Tobermory United Church’s 51st Annual Summer Chicken BBQ will be held August 5, 4:30 to 6:00 p.m. Each meal includes a halal-certified half chicken, baked potato, coleslaw, roll and dessert and costs $20.00.
Advance tickets may be acquired by calling 519-596-2227 or by e-mailing tuc.treasurer@eastlink.ca. Tickets are also available at the event.
This will be a drive-through pick-up dinner, with dinners ready for pick up between 4:30 and 6:00 p.m. at Tobermory United Church, 5 Brock St. Delivery is also available, if arranged via phone or e-mail in advance.
Rev. Sheryl Spencer is minister of Tobermory United Church
