Growing a Spiritual Watershed: A Conversation with Pete Nunnally of Water and Wilderness Church8/30/2024  Molly Johnson (MJ) spoke with Father Pete Nunnally (PN) of Water and Wilderness Church about how his watershed community practices resilient worship.  MJ: Tell us about your community? PN: Water and Wilderness Church is more than a church, it is a watershed. Right now, we worship once a month in Washington DC at Fletcher's Cove. It's an incredibly beautiful spot right on the Potomac River. It's a wild place, with migratory birds there in the spring and fall. Especially in the spring, fishermen are lining the banks to catch fish. When you’re in a place where other people are around, particularly when you’re in a wild place, I think you’re more present to the mystery of the Wild Divine. For example, once during the Eucharist, I saw a man on the edge of the water, with a net in one hand and his pole in the other. He had a catfish on the line and looked like he needed some help. I ran over in my clerical, got the pole, and we brought in the catfish together. That moment was not only part of our worship, but part of the Eucharist. It relates to part of the divine within us that Thomas Merton talks about - that Godspark in our soul is going from the gate of heaven, everywhere. What Water and Wilderness Church is doing is meeting people in that wild space and saying, “we believe that there's a wild Godspark within you that is holy, and good, and unpredictable - that is yearning for the rebirth of the world and the rebirth of our souls. We're going to meet you in the wild places because we agree with you.” MJ: What inspired your action? PN: We have to do things differently, because our world is on fire. People are dying from spiritual malnourishment, from isolation. We have these crises of racial strife, isolation, political unrest, and deep despair, and the Gospel is about healing. It is about thy kingdom come Thy will be done on EARTH as it is in heaven. With all these crises, whether its climate grief, political grief or the loss of a reality that a lot of people thought was really true, we need new ways of doing things in our soul. Traditional worship is often so regimented that there is not really room for the Holy Spirit to break in. Water and Wilderness church is a wonderful and fine complement to traditional worship. But it's also an opportunity to ask the question: if you are going to start a church from scratch, what would you keep and what would you throw away? When I first started doing what we then called Wilderness church at my former parish, I did not know about the Wild Church Network. It was only about a year in that I found out that this is bubbling up all over. It's all the more important to take notice of this movement, because it's bubbling up in organic ways.  Traditional worship is often so regimented that there is not really room for the Holy Spirit to break in. Water and Wilderness church is a wonderful and fine complement to traditional worship. But it's also an opportunity to ask the question: if you are going to start a church from scratch, what would you keep and what would you throw away? When I first started doing what we then called Wilderness church at my former parish, I did not know about the Wild Church Network. It was only about a year in that I found out that this is bubbling up all over. It's all the more important to take notice of this movement, because it's bubbling up in organic ways. MJ: How does it encourage “faithful resilience?”  We are currently leading a book study on Refugia Faith with 19 people from 8 different states. If you have a church that doesn't have a building - the church really is about the people. So you can be from anywhere and be a part of the Water and Wilderness church. The question is, do you believe in the ethos that what's good for the Earth is good for the soul? That's one of our bedrock principles. It points to the symbiotic relationship between our planet and our individual souls. It is a reconnection into God's ecology, which means that we don't exist on top of the planet, but within this larger ecological network. Water and Wilderness Church is also carbon neutral. Most traditional churches aren’t even close. Some folks, including potential donors, have questions about the sustainability of this kind of church and they’re talking about financial sustainability. That’s a legitimate question, and we have an innovative plan for that. But while we’re talking about sustainability, let’s ask our traditional churches: how sustainable are you environmentally? Do you know the true size of your carbon footprint? Why not? The Earth is regenerative, and its processes restorative. It's simply an ongoing process of restoration at all times. In this moment, I think that the soul of the Earth is calling out to us. It is the soul of the earth, and God’s force, that is making these spiritual communities pop up in different locations all across the world. It's not an accident. The Earth is calling us back to itself. How does that make this faith community a resilient community? I think there’s an element of biomimicry in Water and Wilderness Church. When you look at refugia, these groups of organisms that survive cataclysmic climate events like Mount St. Helens, for example, its moss that's under the dead log that stays alive and that helps to regenerate the surrounding areas. Faith communities like Water and Wilderness Church are addressing the crises of climate change, patriarchy and institutionalism, by decentering the institution and recentering the God of the wild places. When you do that, you're creating this network that it's like a river, like a part of the watershed.  MJ: What is something you would like the Creation Justice community to know?
I consider anybody who's reading this to be a member already of Water and Wilderness Church, and you can have dual citizenship with your home church and our church. So, come take a pilgrimage to join us. A monthly worship of Water and Wilderness Church just started in Delaware because people want it. If Water and Wilderness Church sounds exciting to you, we need your help wherever you are! Here’s how you can get involved: Pray for us. Contact us and share your ideas. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Come to our book studies and retreats, including the Sea & Soul Retreat which you can register for by Sept. 9. Come to worship in DC or Delaware. Start a WWC in your local context. We want a strong foundation to launch WWC weekly next year. In order to keep spreading the healing gospel through WWC, touching more lives across the country, consider donating $5 or $10 a week. For the price of a cup of coffee you can help chart a bright course for the future! I would also say that you’re not alone, there are churches out there doing this, probably one near you doing similar things and I will come and help you. It’s part of my vocation to meet people in their context. I will come to you and let's look at your ecological context and historical context and see how something like this can work for you. But be brave, be brave. You don't have to hold on to every single thing we used to do. Because God is preparing a way for you, for your community, for recovery, for restoration, and for healing, and that comes naturally, for free, in the wild places, so let's go together. Thank you.
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Psalm 51:1-12 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy, blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you alone, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are justified in your sentence and blameless when you pass judgment. Indeed, I was born guilty, a sinner when my mother conceived me. You desire truth in the inward being; therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have crushed rejoice. Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your holy spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a willing spirit. 2 Samuel 11:26 – 12:13a When the wife of Uriah heard that her husband was dead, she made lamentation for him. When the mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD, 1and the LORD sent Nathan to David. He came to him and said to him, "There were two men in a certain city, the one rich and the other poor. The rich man had very many flocks and herds, but the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb that he had bought. He brought it up, and it grew up with him and with his children; it used to eat of his meager fare and drink from his cup and lie in his bosom, and it was like a daughter to him. Now there came a traveler to the rich man, and he was loath to take one of his own flock or herd to prepare for the wayfarer who had come to him, but he took the poor man's lamb and prepared that for the guest who had come to him." Then David's anger was greatly kindled against the man. He said to Nathan, "As the LORD lives, the man who has done this deserves to die; he shall restore the lamb fourfold because he did this thing and because he had no pity." Nathan said to David, "You are the man! Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: I anointed you king over Israel, and I rescued you from the hand of Saul; I gave you your master's house and your master's wives into your bosom and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah, and if that had been too little, I would have added as much more. Why have you despised the word of the LORD, to do what is evil in his sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and have taken his wife to be your wife and have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. Now, therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, for you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife. Thus says the LORD: I will raise up trouble against you from within your own house, and I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in broad daylight. For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel and in broad daylight." David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the LORD."  Murdering Uriah and raping Bathsheba were irreversible acts. David used his power to take and destroy what was not his. It wasn’t until Nathan told the story of the rich man stealing from the poor man that David truly grasped the severity of his actions. Nathan the prophet showed great bravery by confronting the king to bring justice. We are given Psalm 51 as a glimpse into David’s prayer of repentance to God after being confronted by Nathan.
Like Bathsheba, Creation is often taken for its beauty and exploited. Many gaze upon Creation for what they can extract, ignoring that it is not theirs to take. Similarly, the poor, like Uriah, suffer because of this exploitation. Lacking power, they are often unable to stand up against oppressors. With rising sea levels and temperatures causing food and shelter shortages, many are forced to become climate refugees, live in unsafe conditions, or die. Creation and the poor share much in common. Both are heirs of the Kingdom, both know what it is like to be in need, and both hold a special place in the heart of God. Nathan plays a pivotal role in this passage. He stands up for truth and justice, risking his life in the process. Speaking against a king could be seen as undermining his authority, often warranting death. With God’s help, Nathan wisely tells a story of injustice that captures David’s attention, helping him understand his wrongdoing without becoming defensive. Stories have the power to break down walls, bring people together, and convey profound truths in an approachable manner. Some of the harm done to Creation and the poor is irreversible. I invite you to pause and examine your life: where do you find yourself like David in this story, exploiting the poor and Creation for your own benefit? I encourage you to read Psalm 51 and ask God for forgiveness. Now, where can you be Nathan? There is still hope for a more sustainable society where all can flourish, but it often takes someone with the wisdom and bravery of Nathan to stand up against the oppressor. We pray for more prophets who speak truth in our land! If you are among the poor or a caretaker of Creation, there are other Psalms for you (you may find yourself needing to pray all the prayers): How blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob, Whose hope is in the Lord their God, Who executes justice for the oppressed; Who gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets the prisoners free. The Lord protects the foreigners; He supports the fatherless and the widow, But he thwarts the way of the wicked. (Psalm 146: 5, 7, 9) Caroline Hiler is a Seminary Intern at Creation Justice Ministries. |
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