Wild Church

We set off on our first Wild Church from Castle Hill in April 2022. Since then we have met in a variety of locations locally in rain and shine to 'find God in the natural world'. We are lucky that New Mill Community Gardens (owned by the parish church in New Mill) are very happy for us to meet there, as there's a shelter that makes a great base if the weather forecast is not good!

On the first Sunday of every month we meet for Wild Worship. Our time together usually lasts between 1.5 - 2 hours. There is an introduction to the theme (all have a biblical/Christian focus even if they are not specific bible stories) and some sort of reflection and / or a bible reading. We will have an activity which might be a short walk or time to explore the area we're in whilst we reflect on a question or "notice" things linked to the theme of the morning. There may be other activities depending on the theme/location. To finish off, we each have a Journal and we spend some time reflecting - through writing or drawing - on what we have seen/learnt/felt during our time together. We finish with a prayer and refreshments.

In the summer of 2025 we also started to meet on the third Sunday of every month for a Wild Walk. This is completely inappropriately named as it is in fact a reflective walk! It lasts about an hour plus refreshments and includes 3 or 4 reflective readings along the way.

The age of our 'congregation' ranges from about 5 - 70+ with families and individuals from our church and other churches enjoying the alternative way to worship God.

Wild Church is the name we use for our outdoor worship at Almondbury but you may have come across it under other names at other churches - Forest Church; Outdoor Church; Church in the Woods; Mud, Mess & Mystery; Wellies & Worship. A good article to read to get an overview of what outdoor worship is about is one on the Methodist Church website - https://www.methodist.org.uk/about/our-stories/forest-church-another-way-to-engage-with-god/.

For further information about Wild Church email wildchurchamc@gmail.com.