Forest Church is a monthly event, where we wander and wonder in the outdoors, learning about God together, in a creative way, amongst his wonderful creation.  Since starting this a few years ago, we have met in all weathers, in various locations, including woods, beaches, fields, stately gardens and many others, and it is always enjoyable.

This month, we met on our church field and explored what ‘Lent’ means.  Phil and Tracey creatively lead us through Matthew 4, and Jesus being tempted in the desert, using the simple act of moving little wooden people around some sand, that was changed into different shapes as the passage was read out, representing the significant parts of the story (e.g. desert, mountain, temple).  This really helped us to visualise the passage and contemplate what Jesus went through.

Afterwards we worked our way around some activity stations, each one representing a different perspective, or thought, for us to ponder on.

  • We looked through some ‘coloured’ shapes to see God’s nature from a different perspective.
  • We planted daffodil bulbs, considering the time that they take to blossom into flowers and what elements they need to thrive, as well as what weathers they have to battle in order to grow.
  • We worked our way through a string maze that only had one correct route and if we took a step wrong, we had to go back to the start and keep trying to get to the end as a team.
  • We walked down a trail, picking up and carrying various items along the way, each one representing something that takes up lots of our time and can get in the way of us connecting with God (family, work, friends, TV etc.)  At the end of the trail was Jesus (AKA a massive teddy bear) and we had to see whether we had enough room for him too!

The Forest Church Team do an amazing job in providing fun and creative ways for all-ages to think about God and connect with him in a different way.

Forest church is a really lovely place to come and explore faith in a different way.  If you haven’t been before, or haven’t been for a while, why not give it a try.  We meet on the second Sunday of each month, at 3pm.

PLEASE NOTE: 

There will be NO Forest Church on 10th March as it is Mothers Day, and on the 14th April, we will meet at the earlier time of 11am, at Ainsdale Beach (contact the church office for more details).