What makes a Wild Church ‘wild’?

Most of what happens in a wild church happens outside and in direct relationship with the natural world we are part of. It’s not about moving existing church services outside, but rather meeting the Creator through creation. River Dart Wild Church draws particularly on Orthodox spirituality, including Celtic inspirations. So theologically we draw on the threefold scheme of the Christian Way devised by Origen and developed by Evagrius and Maximus the Confessor: of the inner and outer practice of ethics, of the contemplation of nature, and meditative union with the divine.

As a ‘homeless’ and mainly pilgrimage based church, in River Dart Wild Church our nature contemplation takes inspiration from the Celtic practice of peregrinatio – a way of ‘wandering and wondering’ that is guided by the Spirit and may not have a fixed destination but is more about being open to the Divine Presence in the grounded and embodied present. We also draw on a traditional ways of reading scripture, such as Jewish ‘Pardes’ and Christian Lectio Divina, or ‘sacred reading’: to focus on coming into relationship with the ‘big book’ of nature, through using creative and meditative methods to help us connect more deeply with life, receive inspiration and carry that blessing back into our homes and communities. You can read more about how we use these practices here and see some sources showing where they are drawn from, or click here to read Bruce Stanley, a Founder of Forest Church, on the practice of what he calls Sensio Divina. For us, environmental concern and activism flows out of this deepening relationship to our outer and inner wilds. Communion is also a key intention for us, as we seek to enter into communion with sacred Mystery embodied in the Earth and each other. See the section below, ‘A Simple Structure’, to access some practical, creative and contemplative tips on how we draw inspiration from the core Christian practice of Holy Communion. 

What makes Wild Church ‘church’?

Growing church is about growing spiritual community. You’ll know it’s spiritual, if it feels freeing, connects you with a sense of something bigger and is deeply life giving. You’ll know it’s community, if it feels kind, respectful of difference, supportive and collaborative. In River Dart Wild Church we have a mystical Christian heart to all we offer and yet we hold this lightly and lovingly, while being completely open to collaborating with other professionals in our local community who have different faith or secular backgrounds and to fully including pilgrims of any faith or none. This means letting go of control, which is another dimension to the ‘wild’ in Wild Church! For us, ‘conversion’ is about processes of inner and outer transformation, not about persuading others to think, believe and act in the same way as us. We are committed to open and enquiring conversations about what helps and hinders loving and life giving change for the good of the earth. It’s good to dig deeply into the rich resources of our own traditions and perspectives and to share, without being defensive, dogmatic or making exclusive truth claims. All our work is rooted in a fairly rigorous commitment to personal and group spiritual practice, based on the ‘prayer of the heart’. (See Sam’s YouTube channel and our Wild Monastics page for more details) and this becomes a foundation for outer ethical practices, from treating each other with care to fundraising for environmental charities. A regular rhythm of spiritual practice really helps when navigating the tendencies we all have for self inflation or lack of confidence, can help us to listen better to each other and the land, and so be better able to work well and grow spiritual community together.

Is Wild Church connected with inherited Church?

Sometimes but not necessarily. River Dart Wild Church is an independent social enterprise, which has an informal connection with the Church of England. Its founder, Sam, has been nationally and formally affirmed in Anglican Pioneer Ministry, and yet has chosen to work on an independent, self employed basis. So while we have relationships with the Anglican and Orthodox Church, River Dart Wild Church and the wider organisation Wild Monastery, that it is part of, is a legally and financially independent business. Sam is also a life member and was ordained within the One Spirit Interfaith Foundation and is a mindfulness based psychotherapist, so she has wider networks of professional support, supervision and CPD. If you are thinking of setting up a Wild Church, reflect on what structure you might use, what preparation and support you might need and how you will tackle issues such as insurance, risk assessment and safeguarding. Having an informal or formal connection with a wider Church or other organisation can help with this and yet it is important to have clear boundaries, know where legal responsibilities lie and communicate this clearly to participants. Even if you decide to be a simple, small scale and informal group, we suggest you still form a core group and work with at least one or two peers, so together you can be relationally responsible and reflective. 

Suggestions for how to begin

‘When two or three are gathered’… we then always begin with silence and with listening for the leading of the spirit. Your core group might opt to plan a single initial gathering or a short series. It can help to connect with a wider theme… such as seasonal festivals, national events such the Big Butterfly Count, Lost Species Day etc or focus on a local sacred site, special tree, river, footpath or suchlike. Start preparing well in advance, so you have time to be creative, contemplative, collaborative, to visit your venue and let the land be part of the dreaming and planning… and still be able to get the word out about 2-3 months before your event. You might like to ‘aim small’ initially and simply invite a few friends to help you explore, practice, reflect and learn. There’s no one or right way to do this… we are based mainly on silent walking and pilgrimage, or gathering for silent sitting and we focus on events to enable depth of reflection, contemplative nature connection and sharing, and mainly for adults…. you might be completely different! We are committed to place based practice and inspired by oral traditions, so we rarely use written materials in our events and all our gatherings are unique creations. So we don’t offer templates, tool kits or sample service sheets- sorry. We encourage you to trust your own creativity, listen to your local landscape and go wild!

Networking and a final request

We continue to add resources and share experience here, and when Sam finishes her PhD, a book may finally emerge! River Dart Wild Church is building an informal network with other outdoor church and pioneer/new monastic groups in the South West and beyond, especially with those who, like us, are not part of institutional churches. Do get in touch if you want to be involved with this and feel free to join our facebook community and to post your events there. Finally… please do draw freely on the information in this & our linked websites but also please remember that all this material is original and copyrighted, so this needs to be acknowledged and sources credited. For example, if you draw inspiration from the ideas and language here, please state this in your work and if you copy and paste text, put it ‘within quotation marks like this’ and simply add something along the lines of by Sam Wernham, Founder of River Dart Wild Church (or by whoever from wherever…) and add a link back to the website where you found it. Thanks!