New Life!
Last week we were lucky enough to be able to share our Forest Church story with colleagues from across the North of England at the beautiful Wydale Hall, including using their Woodland Chapel for a taster session! We connected with one another, with nature, and with God. The theme for the week was ‘Our Story, Our Song’, and so Lorraine, Amy and Alyson all got to share the story of how and why Forest Church York got started, plus how it’s been going and what we’re learning as we follow this journey. Then at our taster session, everyone got to experience Forest Church for themselves, whether that was engaging with the activities, sitting quietly in the woodland, being creative, or walking around the space. Someone spotted an egg shell below a tree, cracked open, and shared that it made them think of this passage from Isaiah 43: See, I am doing…
York Festival of Ideas
Over the next few weeks, York has a huge range of talks, workshops and activities happening! You can find the full programme here, below are some of the ones we think would be particularly interesting to those of us who love a bit of nature, eco-friendly stuff and general ‘outdoorsiness’! 6th June 4:30-6pm – The future’s in our hands: Reclaiming our rivers 3rd June 10-12 – Step into Nature at St Nicks 3rd June 7:30-8:30pm – York Minster: A Sustainable Future. 4th June 1:45-2:30 – The sky’s the limit (Evolving Society, with Feargal Sharkey and others) plus a panel discussion from 2:45-4pm 5th June 7-9pm – Beyond Borders: Climate Narratives, personal stories and performance 6th June 12pm – Step aboard: Rail’s journey to a responsible future 6th June 1-3pm – Climate Resilience: Personal Space to outer space (About ground-breaking research on adapting to changing worlds) 6th June 2:10pm – Crafting…
AcombFest
Join us at AcombFest for a Forest Church ‘taster session’! AcombFest is a new weekend festival full of mural painting, Live Music, art markets, workshops & activities with a world of food & drink offers & events. Find out more here!
Be More Gertie!
It’s been a hectic few months. Frenetic might be a better word. Head-spinning, even. My daughter has just started her GSCE exams. My son is doing his final year on his degree, my husband’s book that he’s writing is about to be published, I am still adjusting to full time work after being part time. Throw in the usual life stuff of illnesses, various worries and the general state of the world. Then I decide to go and start up a whole new community. As I said, frenetic. The irony is not lost on me. Here I am, hoping to provide a space for people to breathe and be part of nature. Maybe to connect to something sacred, something more than themselves. Maybe to connect with each other, to put their busy lives to one side for a moment. And I am frazzled… It was always going to be like…
Finding the WOW!
It was great to see so many people at Forest Church yesterday – there were 29 of us in total! Scroll down to see some photos from the session. If you didn’t manage to join us, we talked about the importance of finding time to stop and look for the awe and wonder in everyday life, whether it’s in the clouds, a spiders web, or a cluster of flowers! “Joy has to be about wonder. It’s about plants and clouds and smiles and hot tea. And butterflies. It’s about the everyday things. Not the awards, the exam results, the promotions, the bank balance. All those things are fleeting and finite. Joy says ‘Sorry, I couldn’t care less about you being employee of the month, LOOK AT THAT PETAL IN THE RAIN – ISN’T IT AMAZING?!’ The thing about joy is that there will always be something akin to a petal…
Yorkshire Day: Identity!
Join us in Acomb for Forest Church on Yorkshire Day – we’ll be thinking about identity and what makes each of us unique!
Solstice Picnic
Join us for our Solstice Picnic (yes, it’s a week after Solstice) Forest Church in Haxby!
Plant Swap
Join us for the annual Plant Swap at Haxby and Wigginton Methodist Church!
Updated Website coming soon!
Our New Forest Church Adventure is coming soon across York on 3 sites: Whole Life Community Garden, Haxby Glen Gardens, Heworth Acomb Methodist Community Garden Check out the Socials on Forest Church York for the next date, or find more info on our temporary home: Forest Church York. You can also email lorraine.jones@methodistyouth.org.uk