OUR STORY
River Dart Wild Church is an original wild church and was the first to appear on the world wide web. It emerged from the research, practice and experience of founder, Rev Sam Wernham, and has also been informed by years of collaboration with many creative colleagues. We are delighted to be a source of inspiration in the unfurling of the outdoor church movement.
Our Wild Church and associated groups (Wild Monastics, Wild Wisdom School and the Sophia Sisters) are the most recent explorations to emerge from a mycelial web of meditative, nature based groups and events held within the wider social enterprise Wild Monastery (previously Living Spirit) which have been created and co-ordinated by Sam Wernham, in partnership with different colleagues and organisations over the last three plus decades. You can read more about recent collaborators here and do get in touch if you would like to work with us.
River Dart Wild Church began in Advent 2014 and was created by Sam with the assistance of Beth Thomas. By July 2016 we had completed our first project – a two year pilgrimage, journeying from Dartington, Devon towards the source of the River Dart on Dartmoor and then travelling back towards the sea. In collaboration with colleagues we then started a new pilgrimage in the Autumn 2016 based on ‘meetings with remarkable trees’ which continued until July 2017. From Spring 2018 we started a new series of collaborative pilgrimages inspired by ‘sacred water, wells and springs’. For photos and stories from along the Way, please see our journal. In 2019, after five years of dedicated work, we took a well earned and much needed sabbatical. From Spring 2020 we had planned to return to our Sacred Waters Way along the River Dart until the global Covid-19 pandemic stopped us in our physical tracks… So we moved more fully online, until we were able to gather together again on the good earth in Spring 2021, including working with the Bioregional Learning Centre, Devon Pilgrim and many more partners and collaborators..
We enjoy an unfolding and ever changing flow in what River Dart Wild Church can offer and share with fellow and sister spiritual seekers. This has already included occasional ‘Wild Church – At Home‘ services in our local sacred spaces. These are seasonal services with a strong, sweet taste of collaboration, creativity and contemplation and a little sprinkle of ‘bringing in the wild’.
In 2015 we shared a ‘Wild Easter’ celebration with the Dart Valley Mission Community in the beautiful ruins of Holy Trinity Church in Buckfastleigh. Then co-created a ‘Wild Advent‘ collaborative Holy Communion with the Totnes Mission Community on Sunday 13th December at St. Mary’s Dartington. On Sunday 9th October 2016 we were back in Dartington Church for a ‘Wild Harvest‘ celebration (see poster), as a launch and fundraiser for our 2017 Tree Pilgrimages, with poetry by Ian Adams, storytelling by Helen Raphael Sands and an inspirational talk on Spiritual Ecology by Peter Owen Jones. In May 2018 we were delighted to ‘bring the bards back to church’ with poet, lawyer & activist, Mothiur Rahman, and mythteller, Dr Martin Shaw, for our ‘Wild Spring‘ launch and fundraiser. Our 2020 ‘Wild Spring’ launch was planned for April 18th at St. Mary’s Dartington and finally took place in April 2021. In November 2022 we celebrated our fifth Prayer Vigil of Remembrance for Lost Species at St Barnabas, Brooking. You can read more about all our past events on our journal page and in our facebook community page. We look forward to making new memories with you and welcoming you to Wild Church!
A movement of the spirit
In recent years there has been an emergence of outdoor churches around the world. This is very much a movement of the spirit, as different individuals and groups have spontaneously and independently felt moved to start groups and gatherings that celebrate the sacred nature of all life. For those with a Christian heart, inspiration is often drawn from the more mystical teachings of Christianity and some of its more ancient roots, such as Eastern Orthodox theology and Celtic Spirituality. River Dart Wild Church takes inspiration from these and inter-spiritual teachings from different faith traditions, secular ethics and environmental science – we welcome pilgrims of any faith or none.
In the UK two of the more visible expressions of the wider outdoor church movement are Wild Church and Forest Church, while many other groups are just quietly getting on with it under their own unique names! If you are interested in starting your own Wild Church, we aim to offer inspiration, support and encouragement. Check out our DIY page, or contact Sam to book a mentoring session or training event.