Growing a Spiritual Watershed: A Conversation with Pete Nunnally of Water and Wilderness Church

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. 

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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?”

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​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? 
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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.

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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.
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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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