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A group of us gathered in His name on the morning of Saturday, 7th March, at Rondevlei Nature Reserve.  This was Vlei Church – an opportunity for “a meditative encounter with God – to listen to God speaking through creation . . . earth, wind, fire, water and all the creatures of creation.”   The week before, also at Rondevlei, some of us had had the privilege of hearing Bp Mark of the Navaho people in Turtle Island (otherwise known as North America) share some of the ways and wisdom of his people.  He told us that whoever they meet and whenever they meet them, they greet them as family.  In the same way, the Navaho people experience their relations with the land and the animals on it, as family relations.  So we started Vlei Church by greeting each other, the land on which we stood and the animals living there, as members of our family.   We met at Rondevlei much as we might meet in a beautiful church designed and decorated symbolically to inspire communion with God and to help bring us closer to God and grasp if only a tiny bit of the great mystery that is God and God’s cosmic creation.  We met with the Book of Creation open before us and what we saw and experienced was good indeed.   Our opening prayer was one authored by Jo Poore[1]: Mother, Father, God, Universal Power. Remind us daily of the sanctity of all life. Touch our hearts with the glorious oneness of all creation, As we strive to respect all the living beings on this planet. Penetrate our souls with the beauty of this earth, As we attune ourselves to the rhythm and flow of the seasons. Awaken our minds with the knowledge to achieve a world in perfect harmony And grant us the wisdom to realise that we can have heaven on earth.   ‘In the round’ we then repeated a few times the first four verses of Psalm 19: 1 The heavens are telling the glory of God;    and the firmament proclaims his handiwork. 2 Day to day pours forth speech,    and night to night declares knowledge. 3 There is no speech, nor are there words;    their voice is not heard; 4 yet their voice goes out through all the earth,    and their words to the end of the world.   A quiet walk in openness  to whatever we came across allowed us by God’s grace to sense the Holy Spirit’s presence and each of us to hear what we needed to hear.  Some of this we could then share with one another sitting on the grass overlooking the vlei.   Our gathering was especially blessed with a rare daytime sighting of some of Rondevlei’s shy hippos as well as by the presence of many beautiful flamingos, pelicans and other birds.   Thank you, Lord, for this special time with You.   Frank Molteno Our next Nature Church event will be “Forest Church” on the 11th of April [1] Elizabeth Roberts and Elias Amidon (eds), Earth Prayers From Around the World, p.179

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“The River of God is full of water” Psalm 65:90 Thirty people joined the Diocesan Environmental Group for a meditative walk with Jesus along the Upper Liesbeek River.  We listened to the voice of God in Creation, in Scriptures and in poetry. Green Anglicans has started monthly services to listen to worship in Creation. Once a month we will be exploring a different part of our this beautiful city, with River Church, Vlei Church, Mountain Church, Forest Church , Ocean Church and so on. The Bible teaches us that we can hear the voice of God in Creation: “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. 2 Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. 3 They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. 4 Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. Psalm 19:1-4”   God is speaking through Creation, the question is – are we listening? Sometimes we forget that we can hear God in Creation and we limit ourselves to only listening to God’s word in the Bible.  Throughout history the Church has believed in General Revelation (in nature) as well as special revelation (through Scripture). So what happens when we take this seriously ? We go into nature and say God speak to me, through the rivers, the mountain, the wetlands… and God does!! Our first service was Wetlands Church where we listened to the voice of God as we walked through the Wetlands at Glencairn. Next month we will have Vlei Church and this will be followed by Mountain Church. These are wonderful services of meditation, silence, some scripture readings, some poetry readings and a time to re-fill your soul. You can also bring a friend especially those friends who say “I am spiritual but I don’t go to church”   Join us on the 7th March at Rondevlei (Grassy Park) for an experience of God in “Vlei Church” For more information contact Rev Mash on [email protected]