大象传媒

Introduction (Chine McDonald)
Good morning. I remember the first time I walked into the Greenbelt Festival. It felt... like exhaling. I had been a Christian all my life, but had become increasingly disillusioned with a faith that put up walls rather than held out harms of welcome. Greenbelt - this festival of art, faith and justice - drew together all the things I held dear and asked me not to cast my doubt aside, but to hold firm in my faith despite the questions that could have crippled my Christianity. In this place, I found a Christianity that looked a little bit like Jesus, who hung out with the people he shouldn鈥檛 have; who asked for better from religious leaders and those in political authority. Jesus who was a place of home and of healing to many. In the past year and a half, many of us have held our breath under the weight of anxiety and uncertainty and pain and loss; we鈥檝e witnessed climate anxiety and racial injustice; we鈥檝e stared death in the face. So I鈥檓 relieved to be back in this place again. To stop and to reflect and take a moment to breathe.

Prayer (Chine)
God of homecoming, we thank you for your love for each and everyone of us. We thank you that you welcome us in. Every one of us. Without exception. May we rest in your never-failing love. In Christ鈥檚 name I pray. Amen.

Music
Bow down and worship him
Soul Sanctuary Gospel Choir
CD: You are the Key (Soul Sanctuary)

Link (Chine)
This year鈥檚 smaller Greenbelt gathering is called 鈥楶rospect Farm鈥�, and is somewhat different to usual. Paul Northup, Creative Director here, takes up the story.

Reflection
Paul Northup

Music
Take this moment, sign and space 鈥� John Bell
The Cathedral Singers
CD: Take this moment (GIA Publications)

Link (Chine)
In a moment we鈥檒l hear from Molly Boot - writer, theologian and one of the festival鈥檚 trustees. But first, a passage from the Bible. From that familiar creation story found in Genesis, Chapter 2, read by a festivalgoer.

Bible reading
Genesis 2.4b-8 (read by a festivalgoer)

Reflection (Molly Boot) - Earth: Returning to Dust
To begin with, we were made from the earth and for the earth.
We were ad膩m, the soil itself,
the waters rose up of their own accord to refresh us,
and we lived in a garden.
The only difference between us and the dust of the ground
Was God鈥檚 breath in our lungs.
We inhaled and exhaled in time
with the ground of our being:
God鈥檚 boundless creativity turning and growing,
at the heart of all things.听

And as we grew,
we made what we needed to keep on growing;
and much of what we made reflected the Glory of God.
But we realised that we could grow up more quickly
if we wrung out the life of the earth that made us
and grew up past others,
not waiting to see whether there was enough for us all to thrive.听

It was easier if we forgot our earth, and our breath, and our kin.

So what if we paused to remember:
that we are just dust with breath?
that we have no other way of living
than in relationship with the earth that makes us,
and that this relationship is desperate need of love,
of tending,
of inspiration?

I think this pausing to breathe,
to remember our connection to the earth, to the divine and to one another
is at the core of Greenbelt, and this year, of Prospect Farm.
In that field in Kettering, it seems like we suspend our cynical disbelief for a second,
gather all the dreamers together
and dare to ask, 鈥榳hat if?鈥�
What if we lived like we鈥檙e one with the stuff that makes us?
What if we built like we鈥檙e made of earth?
What if we breathed like we share God鈥檚 breath
with all of our siblings?
What if we realised how precious and wild and fragile this all is,
and decided to dance through the death
and into new life
that makes everything what it was made to be?

At Greenbelt, we have a manifesto
that calls the spark that kindles all of this 鈥楪od鈥�.
But however you recognise that spark 鈥�
we are united by our faith in the difference we can all make
when we pause and breathe and pull together,
Towards justice. Towards hope. Towards somewhere to believe in.

Music
You鈥檙e still God
Philippa Hanna
CD: Philippa Hanna 鈥� Stained Glass Stories (Integrity Music)

Prayer (read by a festivalgoer)
God of Adam.
This earth is yours and ours,
this air is your breath and ours,
this water is your life and ours.
Bring us home to the earth that makes us,
and teach us to dwell here
with lightness, compassion and joy.
Amen.

Bible reading
John 20.19-23 (read by a festivalgoer)

Link (Chine McDonald)
Becky Hall, another of Greenbelt鈥檚 trustees, is the author of 鈥楾he Art of Enough鈥�, which explores how we might flourish, making space and moments to breathe, in a world of increasing demands.

Becky Hall
How many of you feel that however hard you try you can鈥檛 be enough?
How often can you get overwhelmed by a sense that you don鈥檛 do enough?
And how can we collectively find a way to stop ourselves from overconsuming and learn to say, we have enough?

I believe that finding a state of Enough 鈥� where each of us feels that we can be, do and have Enough - where every single person on the planet can thrive - live with dignity, equality and sufficient resource - without us overshooting the planetary boundaries 鈥� is the challenge of our age.听

Imagine an old-fashioned set of scales, balancing on pivot, like a see-saw.
At one end is Scarcity 鈥� too little.听 Scarcity is a place of lack 鈥� full of fear and comparison.听 When we鈥檙e in Scarcity we focus on what we don鈥檛 have - and this can lead us to imposter syndrome, lack of confidence, fear of failure or just a sense that who we are and what we are capable of is not enough.

At the other end of the scales sits Excess 鈥� too much.听 This is where we can feel overwhelmed, swamped by the demands on us, too much to do, too much complexity, too much expectation.听 Perhaps it鈥檚 anxiety about the enormity of the challenges facing you personally - maybe it鈥檚 concern about the over-consumption of the world鈥檚 resources.听 Excess too is full of fear, but it can also be a place we go to for comfort from Scarcity.听 Excess is also the state we are in as a human race in the early 21st century.听 We use too much and we are addicted to it.

In the middle of the scales though, we stop oscillating and find stillness, balance, calm 鈥� this is ENOUGH.听 Enough is a state of ease and flow.

It is a place of fullness, where we inhabit the present moment knowing that we ARE all that we need to be.
When you believe that you are Enough, you can find freedom and flow that allows you to shine.听

From a state of being Enough, you can put in place boundaries so that what you do is Enough; you allow yourself to live and work at a sustainable pace.听
With Enough we appreciate what we have and stop craving what we don鈥檛 need.听听听
Enough is a state of being and a way of living.听
With Enough we learn how to live within the natural limits of our lives, giving us time and space to flourish.听

When we remember that who we are and what we do is Enough we can move away from our culture鈥檚 addiction to always striving for more, bigger and better 鈥� and focus instead on connection.
Connection with our deepest dreams鈥�with each other and with Mother Earth 鈥� the planet we call home.

Music
Da pacem Domine 鈥� Arvo Part
Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir
CD: Arvo Part 鈥� Da Pacem (Harmonia Mundi)

Reflection (Molly Boot) - Enough: Returning to our Body
In the Gospel reading we heard just before Becky,
we met disciples who were far from ease and flow,
far from knowing what it was to be enough.
How could anything be enough
when they were alone and afraid,
without their Lord:
Whose body had been broken
by lies and betrayal,
whips and a cross.

These disciples were hiding out, waiting,
Half-believing rumours
that Jesus had risen from the dead 鈥�
And suddenly, he stood alive, among them:
Jesus met them in their shell-shocked grief mixed with excitement and fear,
and gave them what they needed to go on.
He gave them peace;
he showed them his wounds;
he breathed the Holy Spirit upon them.
Peace, body and breath.

After the last year,
We know what it is to be frightened when we鈥檙e behind locked doors
and everything is or seems scarce 鈥�
human connection, health, justice, and joy.
We know what it is to miss the things that make us who we are 鈥�
some of us more than others.
Having followed the news from Afghanistan over the last few weeks,
I recall the faces of women behind locked doors
who had those things that make them who they are
and bring them joy
snatched away overnight.听

This world needs what Jesus offered his frightened followers.
Peace, body and breath.
We need a peace that seems impossible to hope for.
We need the knowledge that wounded bodies are holy.
We need breath in our lungs that is God鈥檚 very life.
With these things,
Jesus offered his disciples a precious gift,
one they thought they鈥檇 lost:
the opportunity to come home to themselves,
to be enough.
To pause long enough to receive peace,
to realise that Jesus shared all their wounds,
and gave them his Spirit,
his very life.

I believe that this is God鈥檚 invitation to every one of us.
To breathe with God鈥檚 life-giving breath.
To draw from deep wells of impossible peace,
To realise our broken bodies are joined
with the brokenness of the world
and transformed in the brokenness of the risen Christ.
God doesn鈥檛 shy away from our wounds:
God shares them
and calls our wounded, wonderful selves,鈥榖eloved.鈥�

Music
Learning to live again
Yvonne Lyon
CD: Held 鈥� Yvonne Lyon听

Prayer (read by a festivalgoer)
Incarnate God, Embodied God,
Your body and our bodies are one,
Sustained by the same breath of life.
Bring us home to the bodies you fashioned,
and teach us to dwell here;
to grieve for our brokenness
and rejoice in our splendour.
础尘别苍.听

Bible reading
Revelation 21.1-5 (read by a festivalgoer)

Chine McDonald (A place to call home/spiritual home)
In many ways the past year and a half has been apocalyptic: unveiling some of the cracks and deepest wounds in our society. Globally, white majority nations have wrestled with the injustices of racism, hearing urgent cries that Black Lives Matter. Most nations have been impacted by the brutality of the coronavirus pandemic, which has not only seen so many people lose loved ones, but has made clear the disparity that exists between richer and poorer nations, with vaccine inequality meaning richer countries have been able to buy and distribute vaccines to their citizens while the world鈥檚 poorest have been left behind. It鈥檚 the world鈥檚 poorest again that have borne the brunt of climate catastrophe, standing on the frontline of floods, droughts, storms and earthquakes brought about by greed and over-consumption in the global north. The world has felt like a dangerous and alien place, a place of fear and anxiety and hopelessness. It鈥檚 all felt a little too much at times. A far cry from the vision of God鈥檚 kingdom and its wholeness encapsulated in the Hebrew word shalom.

Reflection (Molly Boot) 鈥� Restoration: Returning Home
As Chine has reflected, this last year has been a stark unveiling:
this world is not as it should be.
The earth is groaning,
trying to catch her breath.
Across the globe our family
cries out through injustices
we don鈥檛 even know are taking place.
What does it mean to be at home here?
What would it mean for everything,
not just every person or even every living thing,
but the whole cosmos,
to come home?
To have a safe place to dwell
and to flourish and to be exactly what it is supposed to be?

Christianity might seem ridiculous
for promising that this is how things will end up:
but it does.
This strange faith dares to hope that our cries for justice
are only echoes of the loudest cry,
a cry from heavens that promises
to abolish death and mourning and crying and pain.听

All things shall find their home,
as God will be totally, finally at home with us.听

Thousands of people over the last 50 years have come to call Greenbelt, 鈥榟ome鈥�:
people of all faiths and none,
all ages, genders, sexualities and abilities,
with ever more diverse cultures, languages
and places they call 鈥榟ome鈥�.
Year after year, all these people keep coming
to set up home together for a little while.
And I think it鈥檚 because, when we put up our tents,
for a few days we make ourselves a dwelling
that looks just a bit more like the city of God
than the worlds we usually inhabit.
We start from scratch, in a field in Kettering,
and rehearse that 鈥榤aking new鈥� that God promises.
You鈥檙e welcome to come and join in, by the way:
there鈥檚 music and feasting and dancing;
there鈥檚 space for joy and justice and despair and everything in between.
And, you鈥檒l find everyone from Pussy Riot to the Archbishop of Canterbury.听

It鈥檚 great practice for the Kingdom of God,
for God鈥檚 final homecoming in our midst.
It鈥檚 also great practice for spotting where that鈥檚 already happening in the world around us:
for noticing the making new,
the making peace,
the coming home that happens in small and revolutionary ways,
whenever we choose love.
Whenever we chose to take a breath,
and make our home with ourselves and with one another,
with God, and with our world.听

Music
Lamb of God
Soul Sanctuary Gospel Choir
CD: You are the Key (Soul Sanctuary)

Prayer (read by a festivalgoer)
God with us,
Our desire for home
is just a reflection of your desire.
And so we have this hope:
that we will dwell here together in perfect peace
for all eternity,
in a holy city built on love,
which has been our foundation since before the world began.
础尘别苍.听

Chine McDonald
Throughout this Greenbelt Sunday worship, we have named our hopes and our anxieties; our needs, and the needs of this world; our desire for rest, and for a place to call home. We bring all these things before God in prayer, trusting that we are met with boundless love.

To the God of Creativity,
We need your power to make and mend things.
For the wars we started and don鈥檛 know how to end,
For the rubble we鈥檝e wrought and don鈥檛 know how to rebuild.
For the artists and creators who give us colour,
For the beauty we don鈥檛 yet understand.
For the paths that brought us here,
and for the ways we don鈥檛 yet know.
Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.听

To the God of Justice,
We are in such urgent need of justice
for the earth we love, but have wounded,
For the people we oppress, whose dignity is their birthright.
For the Black lives that have always mattered,
For the queer lives that were always holy.
For the disabled lives that were always glorious.
For the women鈥檚 lives that were always, always meant to be free.
Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

God of Homecoming
We pray for those who鈥檝e lost their home:
and in particular, in a moment of silence, we pray for Afghanistan.
Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

We gather all our prayers together, in the prayer that Jesus gave us:

Lord鈥檚 Prayer听

Blessing
May the God who formed us from the earth bless our making and being made.
May Jesus Christ, whose body we share, bless our being, and teach us the art of enough.
May the Holy Spirit, the breath of life, bless us with loud cries for justice and deep breaths for peace.
And may the Almighty God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, dwell in us and among us, this day and forevermore. Amen.

Music
Mighty God
Soul Sanctuary Gospel Choir
CD: With all your soul (Soul Sanctuary Gospel Choir)听