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Feature 16 and
d in nature
For adults, Wild Church invites congregations to build their relationship with God through reflecting on Scripture and teaching. Sung worship is rare, replaced by whatever music is around, birdsong or the wind in the trees. An important aspect is helping people learn to respect the world around them and developing their confidence in an environment that can perhaps feel alien. Activities can involve sending members of the congregation out to find specific leaves or plants that tie into the message or brewing tea over a firepit.
‘It’s an opportunity to teach people how to respect nature,’ Vivienne adds. ‘So, when they go and take a leaf, I’ll say don’t take more than you need, make sure you’re leaving enough for wildlife. We don’t just take what we do indoors, sit outside and do it and then go home. We’re teaching adults how to be at home in creation and just love all that God has made.’
Wild Kids has the added focus of teaching life skills. From whittling to lighting and cooking over a fire safely, everything revolves around respecting the ground and having minimal impact on the biodiversity of the area. This approach fosters a culture of respect and love that can leave a lifelong impression.
‘If they fall in love with nature now as kids, they’re always going to love it,’ Vivienne enthuses. ‘During a circle time I told an impromptu story of a “special place” using objects to represent our trees, dens, shack, feed shed, animal shelter and campfire. I then asked the children: “Where are you in the story of this place?” I found it so moving to hear the children say things like “this is a special place because we can just come here”, “it’s a peaceful place”, “we are all together here” and “we are safe in this place”.’
As this ministry branches out, further wild ideas are beginning to germinate. Wild Women looks to help people find the artistic edge within themselves as they create things from what they can find outdoors. Wild Tots hopes to reframe the parent-and-toddler group in the newly rewilded land at Forest of Dean’s Growth and Learning EquineAssisted Ministry (Gleam) field.
‘It’s a playground and a classroom,’ Vivienne enthuses. ‘We refer to the Gleam field as our outdoor cathedral. It is a place of worship. It’s where we go to be with God and to love God and to be loved by God.
‘If worshipping in a building is not your thing and you feel that you connect to God through nature, if nature moves you in a way that you want to explore further, then this could be for you.’
Whether looking to make mission more eco-friendly or striving to learn from God through what he has made, if the Army is to take the environmental crisis seriously, we as Christians cannot afford to divorce God from nature.
How do you see the Almighty in nature? What do you see happening to his creation? You can help change things for the better – now isn’t that a wild idea!
SIMON HOPE
Editorial Assistant Salvationist
Pick up your mat and walk!
Captain Helen Froud invites us to consider how Captain Helen Froud invites us to consider how Jesus responds to those who seek healing Jesus responds to those who seek healing
JOHN 5:1–15
HOW does this Bible passage make you feel? For many people, the idea of being healed of an injury or illness through faith in Jesus is very real. Christian history and Scripture are full of evidence of people who have been healed in body and mind by the transforming power of Christ.
Over centuries of Christian belief, many people with disabilities have found damaging and unhelpful attitudes in the Church that stem from hurtful misinterpretations of these and other similar verses. People who are unwell have been wrongly portrayed as powerless, as passive recipients of care, as outcasts and, even, as ‘sinners’. Our study passage invites us to reflect on how Jesus hears the voice of those who seek or find healing.
PAUSE AND REFLECT
How do we ensure that people with illnesses or disabilities are given full opportunity to participate in Christian life and are not harmed or limited by the attitudes of others?
The pools at Bethesda were the centre of a healing tradition that valued rest and a good diet. People went there to recover and water immersion was part of this. Although there is reference to supernatural healing forces inherently within the pool, this is thought to be a later addition to Scripture.
The people at Bethesda were not waiting helplessly – they were already participating in their own healing in a place of peace. Jesus enters into this place of recovery and finds the person there most in need of his help. He shows us that Christians are called to be respectfully alongside those who seek healing.
PAUSE AND REFLECT
To what extent does the idea of Bethesda as a positive place of rest and recovery change our perspective of this account?
Care and recovery in the ancient Middle East were family matters. Family and friends would look after those who were unwell. The man who was healed had been at Bethesda for so long that he might have outlived his family carers. He explains to Jesus that there is nobody to assist him.
Jesus asks the man: ‘Do you want to be made well?’ (v6 New King James Version). Some writers have asserted that this is indicative of Jesus’ respectful understanding that not all people with disabilities or differences desire to be healed. Having received assent, Jesus instructs the man pick to up his bed and walk. In this act of healing, Jesus
Through the week with Salvationist
– a devotional thought for each day
by Major Lynda Levis
SUNDAY
As for me, I call to God, and the Lord saves me. (Psalm 55:16)
MONDAY
All that you need is a miracle,/ And all that you need can be yours,/ All that you need is available/ The moment you turn to the Lord. (SASB 406)
TUESDAY
The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. (Psalm 145:18)
