With eggs and muesli in the backpack, we set off from Dartington at 6am to get to the 6:15 sunrise service at Holy Trinity, a ruined church on an outcrop of rock overlooking Buckfast Abbey. 23 years ago the church set ablaze, and today it stands in its majestic skeleton, rewilded by plant and animal life and open to the skies. On Good Friday this was our final destination after a long and aptly challenging pilgrimage from Staverton, journeying through the Jesus story from incarnation to crucifixion, using the ‘Stations of the Cross’ and intuition as our guides. Returning this morning, it felt like a physical enactment of the resurrection, rising with the awakening of the sun.
This morning Holy Trinity housed the congregations of St Luke’s Church and Wild Chur
ch, coming together to celebrate the rising of the sun/son. Whilst the sun was still to rise, our senses were aroused by the sweet melody of the black bird and sensual smells of spring’s blossoms. Sat on rocks in the empty church, we shared a simple service, singing together hymns of hope, love and light, words of joy, sharing of peace and lighting of candles. Two fires were lit; one by Rev. Tom as a symbol of the Risen Christ, and another by Sam for our breakfast… Hot cross buns toasted, tea boiled, eggs scrambled.
The fire in the centre of the church sent up billows of smoke which from the outside invoked a powerful symbol of new life birthing from old. This ch
urch in its bridge between traditional place of sacrament and outside book of Nature speaks to the soul of Wild Church; a soul stretching into the wild while keeping roots embedded in the soil from which it finds stability and nutrients.
From here, the pilgrimage set foot along the path to Buckfast Abbey, with an Easter Egg hunt along the way. After half an hour or so of silent meditation in the gardens and chapel, we pilgrimaged on in silence out of the Abbey and towards Dartmoor. Our destination was Hembury Hillfort, and it was on arrival here that the sun shone in all its glory. Atop the fort, we shared a collaborative communion with Welsh cakes and water, receiving from one neighbour and giving to the next. Some of us remained on the Hillfort to soak up the sun, while others walked and talked back to our starting point at Holy Trinity.
The contrast between our pilgrimage on Good Friday and this one today felt symbolic of the story we were treading through. Weightiness and struggle transformed into lightness and joy. The story of Jesus came alive in our footsteps.
Words by Beth
Photos by Beth and Jan