Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

The Pangea Blog

Home

Home
Progressive Christian
Forest Gardens and the Unexpected Church

Forest Gardens and the Unexpected Church

Last updated on: October 15, 2012 at 6:00 am by Kurt Willems

Forest Gardens and the Unexpected Church 2012-10-14T22:15:11-07:00 Kurt Willems

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Last week I was driving home from leading a training session in the of North of England in our new car. Hoping to listen to some music on the radio I switched on the stereo system.

Having only collected the vehicle that morning I hadn’t worked out how to change radio channels yet and was reluctant to get distracted from driving by trying to read the microscopic print that my middle-aged eyes refuse to acknowledge these days.

I settle for listening to whatever shows happened to come on during my two hour journey home. Towards the middle of my sojourn I was treated to an episode of the BBC radio program Gardeners Question Time, during which all manner of aphid related advice seemed to be on offer.

Now I am not a gardener and I have to confess that I phased out much of what they said as my mind wandered to other things.

Then in the middle of the show my attention was grabbed by a contributor speaking about what she called ‘Forest Gardens’.

She explained that these were areas of garden that were encouraged to grow in a more natural and free way. To be honest if I hadn’t been forced to listen by my inability to use a new radio and drive at the same time I would have changed channels a long time since. Yet here was a moment when I realised this truth about gardening could be used to help me understand the church in a fresh way.

British gardening habits are still highly influenced by Victorian sensibilities and the need for order. This regimented, unemotional, approach to life was in many ways a reaction to the French revolution and the distinct possibility of a similar uprising in these fair isles.

Mirroring the new ordered approach to life, gardens (at least for the wealthy) became expressions of control and dominion with the Laird being congratulated for the work done by his underpaid workforce.

In years to come slum terraces would be demolished to be replaced by modern houses with small amounts of land in which inhabitants could mirror this need for order, with close cut lawns and well stocked flower beds.

During this period you would be forgiven for thinking that such landscaping was the definitive standard for all gardens everywhere. Indeed there are examples of this view all around the former British Empire.

The benefits of this style of gardening are obvious in that it allows for clarity with well defined borders between flowers and lawn.

Forest Gardens, however, offer the possibility of seeing new flowers and wildlife that would not be welcomed in the ordered world of Victoriana.

The radio expert was asked whether it was easier to cultivate this freer expression of horticulture and she, somewhat counter-intuitively, responded ‘no’. Going on to explain her views she said:

‘….you need a different eye’ to even want to begin the journey. ‘

Setting up a contrast with the more traditional approach she continued ‘You are less hands on. But you have to notice different things.’

In an instance I saw a comparison between the conservative evangelicalism that I had been brought into and our new found missional expression of church.

The old offers the comfort of clear lines and a definition that allows us to believe that we are immune from the world outside of our fences.

The new, however, looks messy and doesn’t seem to offer the clarity that we think should be an integral part of church and the gospel. There are many terms used to describe this ecclesiological expression but I have chosen to use Evangelical Morphodoxy. It is way of describing the tension felt between being rooted in an ancient faith but being open to find new ways to shape it in every new context. The Incarnational idea of morphing into the most appropriate expression of the good news seems to best reveal who Jesus Christ is.

Sometimes people will come into our small fellowship and leave with the impression that things are a little more messy than they had anticipated. I have to confess this is sometimes due to things that we have failed to organise well; but mostly it is to do with the type of church we are trying to build.

I am sure that some will equate our messiness with a lack of vision: but they would be mistaken in this view.

We do have a vision but the signifiers are different than the ones that Christians have often been taught to expect.

The reward for producing a Forest Garden is that you get to see different plants and wildlife that are not always welcome in the perfectly ordered Victorian influenced garden.

The reward of having an Evangelical Morphodoxy approach is that we get to see new fruit and new life that at times is unexpected.

To start this we need to accept that we perhaps need to be ‘….less hands on’ and ‘…notice different things.’

————————-

Thanks to my good web friend, Al Molineaux for this challenging guest piece. Connect with him on Twitter.

Church Ministry

Church Planting

Guest Contributors

Previous Post

October 11, 2012

The Role of Archaeology in Biblical Studies

Next Post

October 16, 2012 Red Letter Dialogues: Review and Introduction (Claiborne and Campolo)

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category (Series) All Out War-Spiritual Warfare (Series) Church Plant Journal (Series) Dear Reader... (Series) Earthquakes...Signs of the Times? (Series) Entering the... Conversation (Series) Evangelical Culture Myths (Series) Everything is Meaningless [Pete Enns] (Series) Evolving Evangelicalism (Series) Hell Yes. Hell No! Who Cares? (Series) Hidden Worldviews (Series) If Evolution is Right, what about Adam? (Series) in less than 300 words (Series) Jesus and Nationalism (Series) Liberating Women for Ministry? (Series) Life-Changing Books (Series) Markers of Church Plant Movement (Series) Nonviolence 101 (Series) Philemon - Reconciliation (Series) Quote to Ponder (Series) Red Letter Dialogues (Series) Resource of the Week (SERIES) Revelation Sermons (Series) Share Something Sundays (Series) Simplicity in the Burbs: $2 a day (Series) The Binding of God [Open Theism] (Series) The Creed: Anabaptist Reflections (Series) Values for Church Leadership (Series) Video to Ponder Anabaptism Animal Advocacy Books Church Ministry Church Planting Community Culture Eschatology Eucharist Evangelical Reject Evolution Fundamentalism Greek Greg Boyd Guest Contributors Hell Holy Spirit Israel/Palestine Kingdom of God Lent Missional N. T. Wright Nationalism New Creation Nonviolence Open Mic Open Theism Parenting Passover Paul Philemon Podcast Politics Restorative Justice Revelation (the book of) Rob Bell Ron Martoia Sermon Shane Claiborne Social Justice Speaking Engagement Spiritual Warfare Spirituality Temple Theology Tim Geddert Tribulation Uncategorized universalism Video Blog Women in Ministry Worship Music Youth Ministry

Select a Month August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 October 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 December 2016 October 2016 August 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! What is this valley also called?

Select your answer to see how you score.

The valley of Kidron The valley of Jehoshaphat The valley of Megiddo The valley of judgment

Support this
Column