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Fresh Expressions

Creative Church Building

Save the Date! Saturday the 18th of May we are inviting people to gather together for a morning exploring Creative Church Building. There will be opportunities to try things out, discuss, and learn to use tools encouraging creativity and spiritual growth. The day will be guided by Rev Dr Maggie McTernan who, among many other […]

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Forest Church

Forest Church

We will gather at 2pm outside the Crichton chapel on Sunday the 17th of March It is the fith Sunday in Lent, which means that St Patrick gets bumped to Monday. Following his example though, I think we might spend some time considering the solidness of stone, the speed of lightning and other truths of […]

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#SensingSpirituality climate change Forest Church

Land Art

ANDY GOLDSWORTHY is one of the pioneers of land art. Galloway was his playground for a while, but you will have to search out the tracks of his influence. The story is told that when he first explored making art in this way he was told to take photos of it, otherwise how could he […]

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Arts

Lent Cross

If you are able to drop in to the St Johns building in Dumfries you will be able to see the latest art installation. Andy Brook has crafted a cross for the Lent journey. Themes of nails and thorns contribute to a glass so heavily stained that it takes time and effort to find the […]

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Arts Thought of the Day

Thinking Day

Contemplation through cameras. “World Thinking Day” is an international event started by the girl guides and recognised by the scouts too. You can read more about it here Quartz has worked with Stephen Ross before to capture the light reflected from mirrors in one of our Christmas installations. The pictures in this post comes from […]

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Thought of the Day

Simple Things

This picture is a throw away thing. But if you look at the number of people who have seen it that’s about 2200 folk thinking of Jesus, God in human form, with a smile on their faces. What would St Ignatius think? Perhaps their thoughts won’t have been the deepest of contemplations, but how often […]

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#SensingSpirituality Creative Worship Easter2024 Forest Church

Easter 2024

Quartz Holy Saturday Pilgrimage and Easter Sunday Forest Church BBQ (30th and 31st of March) Holy Saturday On Saturday the 30th we are planning a pilgrimage. We will gather outside St Johns building and then travel to Lincluden Abbey. After a pause for reflection there we will continue on, and thousands of years back in […]

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Forest Church Thought of the Day

Iron Galls

Ink is kinda magical. “It’s a bridge between the world of flesh and blood and the world of thoughts and dreams”. Can you imagine how the first people to see books and realise how they work felt? Have you ever wondered about the social and spiritual effects of introducing the technology of the printing press? […]

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#SensingSpirituality Angel Cloud

War Fatigue

Two years ago in 2022 we set up this display as a response to the attack on Ukraine. Around the world in the last few days people have been remembering that the conflict continues. https://kyivindependent.com/2-years-of-russia-full-scale-war/ Every year Christians start a journey through Lent. Knowing that Easter Sunday is coming we can voluntarily enter the ‘wilderness’. […]

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#SensingSpirituality Arts Forest Church

Forest Church Special

We went out to Elshieshields for some stargazing last weekend. We enjoyed a combination of looking at stars, reflecting on ancient meanings, and learning with modern technology. We were made welcome with a warm bothy where we could gather for refreshment. The evening was overcast, but we were able to see the moon and Jupiter […]