September Forest Church

QFC on Sunday the 15th of September

We will gather outside the Crichton chapel at 2pm.

Our theme this month will be harvest. At this time of the year you can walk up to a hedgerow and it is waiting there to give you fruit. Will we be able to find any at the Crichton?

Join us to find out.

Peace

We meet in Jesus name and share his peace. Whether you consider yourself a close friend or are just curious, we meet in peace.

Offer each other a sign of peace

We meet outdoors, vulnerable to the whether and worshiping with the natural world which we recognise being part of. We take a moment to be aware of our surroundings.

Listen, Touch, smell, taste, look and see.

Mushroom Hunters Psalm

Words in bold are a sung response.

The Lord is my delight, when I expect autumn he brings harvest. x2

The Lord is my provision, when I am dwarfed by my landscape he makes me live.

The wise seek and taste the Lord’s blessings but the ignorant taste nothing.

The Lord is my delight, when I expect autumn he brings harvest.

You fill my basket with the choicest fruits.

You fill my soul with creations mystical song

The Lord is my delight, when I expect autumn he brings harvest.

In the dark, I am blind to the ways you feed my life.

Me, myself, isolated, I don’t see the fruits beyond my reach.

My roots stand in contaminated soil.

The Lord is my delight, when I expect autumn he brings harvest.

Give me wisdom to know good from bad, to choose life over death and to speak your praise as you ever feed my soul.

The Lord is my delight, when I expect autumn he brings harvest. x2

Bruce Stanley, Forest Church, p130 (adapted for tunes)

Reading from the book

7 ‘Do not judge, or you too will be judged.  For in the same way as you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

 ‘Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?  How can you say to your brother, “Let me take the speck out of your eye,” when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?  You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

 ‘Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.

 ‘Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

 ‘Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone?  Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake?  If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!  So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

 ‘Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

Matthew 7: 1-14

Response

We take a moment to reflect and pray. Pray with your eyes open or closed. Speak out loud or reflect internally as you are inspired.

Reading from Creation

We will walk around, hunting for berries and mushrooms! Keep your eyes open and ‘read’ the landscape. While you are doing this here are some questions to think about.

• What things will harm us, and what will help us flourish – and what about everything in between?
• The estate is carefully managed, who benefits from the way each area is maintained – or left wild?
• If humans were to vanish, or just stop working here, what would happen?

We will pause occasionally as we walk. There are baskets/tubs to gather berries in. Don’t pick anything unless you know it is good to eat! Ask if you are unsure.

While we walk give each other space. If someone is up for chatting they will make eye contact, if you prefer to quietly reflect don’t make eye contact. You/they are not being rude but we try to find a balance between companionable silence and revelation through gossiping as we walk.

Nature.scot Foraging

Visit Scotland Foraging

Woodland Trust UK foraging-in-september

Response

We will gather together to share food and drink – perhaps in the Crichton central – and to chat about what we have discovered.

#Sensing Spirituality Questions

Did you Sense Meaningfulness from connections between the texts and our walk? #Sensing Meaningfulness

Did you experience a changed sense of Awareness while we walked? #Sensing Awareness

October Forest Church

The next Forest Church will be on October the 20th

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