Forthcoming events
Following the talk in April on waste management by Lucy Mottram of Devon County Council, we have been offered the opportunity to visit the Devon Waste Management Plant on Tuesday 18th October, 10am -12 noon. There are places for 20 people, some of which are reserved for those who signed up during the talk. But there are still some spare places, so if you are interested, please contact Sue Cordery (p.j.cordery@talk21.com).
On Sunday July 24th our service will have an “eco” theme. The preacher will be Rev
Stephen Mosedale and other members of our Mint eco church group will also be
taking part. Sue Cordery.
Young Church at Forest Church
On Sunday 19th June we took the Mint and Budleigh Young Church children and their parents/carers to Exmouth Forest School for a morning of fun at Forest Church. The idea behind Forest Church sessions which happen in many places throughout the country is that many of us feel more connected with God when we are out in nature.
Given the recent celebration of Pentecost we took the theme of the Holy Spirit as wind and flame. We started by lighting the fire together and then the children gathered sticks to turn into charcoal in the flames, symbolising how we are changed into something new by the Spirit. The charcoal was later used for artwork and to write prayers which we then offered to God by symbolically casting them back into the flames. The children (and some of the adults) worked together to build some wonderful dens thinking about God as our refuge, as well as the Spirit binding us together.
The morning ended with sausages cooked on the fire by the parents and toasted marshmallows followed by an adaptation of the old Irish Blessing ‘Deep peace of the running wave to you, Deep peace of the flowing air to you’. We all contributed to this closing prayer by adding what had brought us deep peace that morning from the fluttering winds to the cosy hot chocolate!
“I loved cooking the marshmallows because the outside was really crunchy, and the inside was really gooey. I loved making the prayers and making the den because we made a doorbell and the den had a carpet of fern leaves with seats in and some fern leaves on the roof. We made it against a log. I really like playing on the net and the ropes and the treehouse – they were really really fun!” Bethan
“I really enjoyed well-organized activities under the circumstance of woods, fire, and food. I appreciated the young church for everything today. Saerin and Saeah
I loved the den buildings and eating marshmallows and hot chocolate. It was a fun day.” Jein “I liked when we build our den and decorate our den and I liked when I went on the swing.” Sein
“The lovely activity was a precious experience that I can feel the nature. Especially, building our shelter made of branches was interesting. In making the shelter, I felt a bond among our team.” Dohoon & Doyeon
“Today was very interesting. The best thing was to pray to God and burning prayer papers.” Subin
“The experience was very much enjoyed, I enjoyed the den building and the marshmallows were very tasty.” Sean
“Today was very interesting. The best thing was to pray to God and burning prayer papers.” Subin
“The experience was very much enjoyed, I enjoyed the den building and the marshmallows were very tasty.” Sean
“I thought forest church was going to be boring in the first place. But when I got there, I enjoyed it so much. The sausage inside the hotdog was very delicious. I liked it a lot. To be honest, I think everything was fun.” Dhul
“At first I wasn’t so keen on the idea of a forest school Sunday but after the experience I totally changed my mind. It was really fun! I enjoyed the den building and the food was very good. Yum.” Gaang
“The experience was good enough for me. The food was nice and I was able to think of myself more deeply.” San