We are Partners in Action with the Christian eco-charity A Rocha UK. A Rocha are creating a community of ordinary Christians they are calling ‘Wild Christian’ which explores ‘the connections between our Christian faith, the natural environment and how we live.’ You can find out more via this link https://arocha.org.uk/wildchristian/.
You are encouraged by A Rocha to get attentively and creatively involved, in themes like nature and climate, nature and the UK, nature and the global, nature and the local, nature and celebration. You can explore the connections between yourself and the wild through art, poetry, action and so many other ways. We can also immerse ourselves in the wild.
Here at Scargill Movement on community we have an opportunity to immerse ourselves in the local, in the wild Yorkshire Dales around us. Whether it is wild swimming in the river Wharfe, rock climbing Kilnsey Crag, paragliding with views of Scargill House, cycling, fell running, walking the Dales, braving the steppingstones, or toasting marshmallows over a fire pit – there is so much for the adventurous soul!
And then there is the wildlife. You might catch a slug bungee jumping! Or help identify spittle bugs, Bird-cherry Ermine moths all wrapped up in silken webs on bird cherry trees, or Speckled Yellow, Red Admiral, Painted Lady, Peacock, and Speckled Wood butterflies. You will have deer outside your front door in the hay meadow, barn owls and tawny owls haunting your dreams with their calls and silent flight.
We have the huge privilege of enabling others as guests and friends, young and old experience something of the ‘wild Christian.’ We might be maintaining the 90 acres of unspoilt creation on the estate team, or feeding the community, guests and friends after adventure, or creating beautiful and comfortable rooms for them to sleep…we might be hosting, and welcoming, and praying, and leading our retreats and Quiet Days, or helping with our online ministry – together creating a space of hospitiality and thin place to experience God’s presence and generosity.
Whether we are cultivating holy noticing of an otter or kingfisher on the river Wharfe or possible moments of meeting with a guest, friend, or God – we do learn to be attentive to the little details of the wild around us, we learn something of the creative Word God has placed in each member of community, as well as the joy of sharing in the stories of our guests and friends. This is an apprenticeship in discipleship with community and kingdom at the heart of it.
If your heart is strangely warmed reading this, then perhaps God is calling you to experience the adventure of community, to immerse yourself in an Acts 2 moment, being together and sharing a common life. That’s pretty wild and adventurous! Here is a link to explore this: https://scargillmovement.org/join-community/.