Putting the horror into Halloween

I am likely to get some callers this evening and have some fun size sweets ready. They will be children wearing costumes; perhaps a ghost, or a vampire, or a witch, or a zombie or Freddy Kruger or Jason in a hockey mask. And the list could go on. I know some Christians are worried by this and view such costumes as a celebration of evil. I also know contemporary Pagans celebrating Samhain who feel this trivialises an important festival. So who put the horror into Halloween and is it a trick or a treat? More ...

Forest Church Group Meditation for Autumn Equinox

I’m just about to start my third Autumn in the Cambrian Mountains and I’m now convinced that we need to mark – along with nature, tradition and even the solar system – this time as a significant moment of pause, balance and reflection, even more so than mid winter. Vive l'équinoxe d'automne! More ...

Autumn Equinox: the raggedness belongs

It's the Autumn Equinox, and in this part of South Devon everything is looking ragged. The daisies are losing their petals, the dandelions have grown huge, the leaves of the estuary-side oaks are turning, the grasses are browning and breaking. Everything is finding its natural limit, preparing for the unseen but inevitable hunkering-down that will follow in the months ahead. If you like things to be tidy, this may not feel like a good time. More ...

New Forest – Forest Church

We meet on the 2nd Sunday of each month at 4pm in the car park of Hatchet Pond, near Beaulieu (toilets available here) *.From here we either walk in the surrounding area or drive to a specific place together. More ...

Natural Theology, Signs and Omens – God speaking through Nature.

God speaks primarily through sacred scripture, so I’ve been led to believe by those who’ve shaped my thinking, but I’m hearing the same divine voice speaking elsewhere – standing out against the everyday backdrop of my natural surroundings: the unusual behaviour of a bird, a rare plant growing somewhere unexpected, a vision of beauty that penetrates me with a sense of transcendence I can’t ignore. My instincts tell me the voice is God’s but this is a harder book to read. More ...

Hanter Dro. Listening and dancing, the circle turns.

August is high summer; school is out and the holidays are here. It is a time for lazy days of sunshine and long evenings with friends and family. But even if the Gulf Stream really does move and we get some good weather this August the wheel of the year is turning and the nights are getting longer and the dews heavier. Many traditional communities have dances for summer and celebration, but don’t be distracted by the costumes or the stylised movements. Dance is a way of a community planning to deal with change. More ...

East Midlands Forest Church

There have been times in all our lives when we have experienced something of the great beauty of nature and sensed that there must be more to life than the purely physical, something that transcends ourselves and the environment we are in. Whether we are lying back, gazing at the full moon as it slowly traverses the night-sky, or breathing deeply the scent found in pine woods, whether tasting fresh honey from a beehive, hearing birdsong or feeling the breeze across our face, life is a multisensory experience we can choose to either stifle or celebrate. More ...

You must increase, I must decrease

It is mid-summer, St John’s eve, the longest day of the year. Imagine that you’re looking at one of the rarest things in the other-than-human world ... More ...

Lessons from a ‘Poor old Billy’ tree

“Poor old Billy tree,” yelled my daughter as she enthusiastically pointed to a Willow tree across the river. More ...

Pentecost and the Birthday for East Midlands Forest Church

In 2010, as a result of my own spiritual awakening to the ancient history of Christian spirituality, I began writing a series of workshops, held in the evening on the third Sunday of the month at my then church. All were attempting to teach others various spiritual exercises to enhance their quiet times with God and, for me, as a personal exploration of the more contemplative side of alternative worship. We were learning as we went along, including the combustible properties of communion tables whilst using incense! What do Baptists know about the use of incense anyway? More ...

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