In his latest blog post, the Revd Neil Thorogood, Moderator of the URC’s General Assembly, looks back on this summer’s Christian festivals – and on one in particular.
Festivals come in many shapes and sizes, catering to all sorts of tastes. They often spring up in a field somewhere; an encampment of possibility, artistry, performance and community.
Christian festivals have joined the line-up, evolving and embracing a host of themes and styles: Wildfires, with its focus upon revival across the UK; County Antrim’s New Horizon, with its inspirational worship and Bible studies; Creation Fest’s celebration of creativity; the Keswick Convention exploring mission in all its forms. There’s the Big Church Festival which, heartbreakingly, made headlines this summer when an accident injured some and took the life of Pastor Robert Guanco.
When that news broke, I was at another festival. Each of Greenbelt’s talk and music venues the day after events at Big Church started with time for prayer as we shared the sadness and shock.
Greenbelt has run since the 1970s. It has grown into a gloriously eclectic mix of worship, music, talks and conversations about life in the world and where God shows up. This year we were at Boughton House in Northamptonshire for the last time. Greenbelt will find a new home somewhere. The URC has a significant presence at Greenbelt, and the organisation’s staff are based with us in the URC’s London office. It’s a festival I’ve called home for decades. It evokes so much for me and many others. So, a poem…
Look up.
The ceiling of leaves is letting in the sky;
clouds unrolling against outrageous blue.
The tall trunks of trees climb in a colonnade
that someone has decked with bunting
that hangs in gentle waves above
our red and white striped deckchairs.
Christian Aid stories are unfolding on a stage beneath the branches;
our aching world caught in a grove
amongst the fallen apples.
Hearing, we feel the flood;
despair and anger,
impotence and danger,
that elusive miracle of hope.
Christ’s Spirit roams amongst these trees,
source and sorcerer,
seeking us with demand and healing.
We breathe deep,
taste possibility on the breeze;
the scents of paradise offered.
Weekends end.
Greenbelt works its alchemy slowly,
lingers long.
Such magnificent magic!