Wild Church: Returning to nature as spiritual practice
Wild Church is an emerging yet ancient spiritual practice of coming together into conversation with the holy wild. We are responding to a deep call to change how we relate to the natural world, remembering our place within the sacred web of life. By returning to the soil, waters, and creatures of our local watersheds, we enter into a sacred dialogue of reciprocity and mutual belonging, working toward repairing our broken connection with the living world.
There is no single template for a Wild Church, because relationship is always particular to its place. Many Wild Churches practice a simple rhythm of grounding, storytelling, and reverent sauntering. After wandering solo, listening for the "sermons" whispered through the wind and the trees, we return to the container of the community to process and share what we've encountered.
Though diverse in practice, we are held together by a mycelial connection—a commitment to seeing the Earth as a communion of subjects rather than a collection of objects. This spirituality of reciprocity invites us to return the gifts of the earth through careful attention, prayer, and advocacy. Together, we are re-sacralizing what has been desecrated and restoring a soulful relationship with our home places as holy ground.
The Wild Church Leadership Course, hosted by the Center for Wild Spirituality, is a seven-week journey for those starting or growing a Wild Church in their local watershed. Whether your community is rooted in an existing religious institution, identifies as interspiritual, or avoids the word "church" altogether, this course offers a process of listening to what is emerging within your own soul and your particular place.
Rather than providing a rigid template or human-made dogmas, the focus is on developing the skills of Wild Leadership in service to your community and watershed. This program is designed for both existing leaders and those just beginning to sense a beckoning toward this work. We gather to explore what it takes to plant and guide a wild community that is organic, autonomous, and responsive to the unique intelligence of its place.
Anyone can start a wild church. Wild Leadership is about holding the vision of restored relationship tightly, while holding the specific outcome loosely. If you feel a yearning for a spiritual community that aligns with your eco-spiritual values and you're ready to respond to the call of the holy wild, maybe you're the one to plant a wild church in your home habitat?
Listening to the Call to Start a Wild Church
Note: the course is a deeply valuable resource in starting a Wild Church, but it is not required! Anyone can start a community in their watershed. All it takes is a willingness to say yes to the call of the holy wild.
"When a seed is planted in your soul to start a wild church, you’ll know. ... Pay close attention to that yearning. What that seed grows into will be particular to you, your vision and background, the ecosystem where you live, and the people who are drawn to join you."
— from Field Guide to Church of the Wild by Victoria Loorz and Valerie Luna Serrels
Wild Church Network
While every Wild Church is autonomous and unique to its watershed, we are not wandering alone. The Wild Church Network is the underground mycelial infrastructure for this growing movement. It is our shared hearth, a global community of practice where leaders, seekers, and edgewalkers connect into a web of shared wisdom and mutual support.
All over the world, Wild Churches are popping up like mushrooms after a spring rain. The Network's interactive map and directory serve as a resource for wanderers looking to find a spiritual home in the wild, and for leaders to recognize that their local work is part of a much larger story of kinship initiated by the Earth herself.
If you are already leading a Wild Church, joining the network is a way to take the next step in connecting into the wider movement. Network members have access to resources and opportunities for connection. We gather in digital circles to share the practices, challenges, and radical shifts happening in our local landscapes, finding the collective courage needed to bring a wilder spirituality to life.
Together, we are weaving a resilient ecosystem of spiritual repair that spans across watersheds and cultures.