Sacred Stories: Water and Wilderness Church

Water and Wilderness Church is more than a church, it’s a movement—a carbon-neutral watershed community of people who believe that nature is God’s heartbeat. We believe that, especially in this time of climate crisis and racial and political strife, the earth is calling us home. Through outdoor worship, zoom book studies on wilderness spirituality and eco-Justice, and nature-based retreats, this watershed community offers hope and belonging for anyone, anywhere, all the time. 

WWC is a threshold space between the church and the world, lowering barriers for entry for those who seek God in nature but don’t have a spiritual community. We translate the beauty of the Christian tradition into experiences of worship and community that are meaningful and relevant to people today. You can come as you are, with all your mess and dreams, and truly belong, not just to WWC, but the whole “community of creation.”

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You can come as you are, with all your mess and dreams, and truly belong, not just to WWC, but the whole “community of creation.”

In our worship and our community, we try to reclaim the true gifts of the Christian faith, and cultivate an alternative way of being based on the radical love of Jesus. This means de-centering a patriarchal and atonement-based theology, and listening to the first testament of God: this generative natural creation. By worshiping in the wild, uncontrollable places, we open ourselves up to the wild and uncontrollable movement of God, whose love and restoration are made manifest in the Body of Christ in all creation. For us, the point of the Eucharist isn’t that Christ died for us, but that Christ—love, justice, mercy, grace, forgiveness—live for, with, and in us. As the wild, natural world is regenerative and restorative, so too are we restored and regenerated by God’s love in creation. 
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We walk and talk together during worship, just as the disciples did with Jesus. We sing, pray, and have contemplative time in nature, listening to what God is sharing with us, and sharing that Word with one another. By stepping out of the church walls and into the natural world we are trying to recapture the faith of the first followers: an embodied faith in the God of Love who walks with us and works for us, showering the world with wonder, beauty, and grace. 

Wherever you are, you can be a part of the WWC watershed community!  Join us for worship, book studies or retreats, and follow along with worship videos and messages from Father Pete the Wilderness Priest. Our Spring retreat is at the Chincoteaque Bay Field Station in Wallops Island, VA May 17-21. Email Father Pete for more info and to register, at [email protected]

Join the community at our website,  on Facebook and Instagram, and follow Father Pete’s Substack.

Check out our worship in the driving snow earlier this month

This blog was written by Father Pete Nunnally, of Water and Wilderness Church.