Children, Nature, God and the Church

Can children gift the church a closer relationship with God and nature?

And if so, will this help both the church and creation to flourish?

Introduction

"Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from him." Psalm 127:3

I was blessed to be able to complete the Christian, Rural and Environmental Studies Course CRES – CRES in September 2021. This is an adapted form of my dissertation.

I am writing this from a heart of personal interest, wondering how children can be the gift that leads the way to the church connecting deeper with both God and nature. I will consider what we, as the church, can learn about connecting with God in this way, its potential as mission and to enable our beautiful world to flourish. As a child I loved spending time in nature and longed to be outdoors, as a mother of four children I haven’t always found it easy to get them outside. However, I have endeavoured to take opportunities to take church outdoors, into an environment where children are freer (and the parents too). I would like to investigate whether, while cross generationally encountering God in nature, we can rediscover a love for God’s creation (human and non-human) and a desire to protect it. Seeing our living faith passed onto those around us and generations to come, enabling God’s church to flourish.

I’m going to guide you to some projects and church activities already running to seek whether they help children interact with God and nature, together with adults and can help teach adults anew this childlike wonder. I will see in what ways these groups help draw the Christian faith together with the natural world.

I will also look at a report that expresses young people’s frustration at the church’s lack of engagement in caring for our planet, and the challenge that they face holding this together with their faith.

Methods

I will begin by investigating spirituality, in particular children’s spirituality. I will ask, what did Jesus say about children? I will then address various reports and books that consider how time in nature promotes care for nature. I will see if there is a link with time spent in nature and a connection to God (or spiritual experience).

For the purpose of this project, children are aged between 0-18

Children and Spirituality

When we think of children and young people in our church settings, our minds often turn to how they can be entertained. We want to keep them interested and teach them all they need to know in order that they come to faith like us. Unfortunately, our thinking is sometimes flawed, as Rebecca Nye says “understanding spiritual capacity as natural to every child’s life is often not reflected in the approach and underlying attitude of some Christian teaching programmes. Some still seem to treat children as spiritually empty and passive vessels until and unless adults intervene.”1 But maybe there is already something deep within each one of us from birth that knows God, although this may not be easily expressed by children in words. In David Hay and Rebecca Nye’s book “The Spirit of the Child” they share a number of interviews with 6 and 10 year olds who speak of their spiritual experiences, instances of knowing of something outside of themselves and a sense of conscience.2 “Cavaletti’s observations have identified deep joy and a sense of pure wonder as core strengths in children’s spiritual capacities. An ordinary example might be a toddler becoming totally absorbed in watching snow falling. Cavaletti believes that these states of joy and wonder also characterize children’s capacity to ‘fall in love with God’ in the most natural, uncoerced way.3

In Matt 18:10 Jesus says: “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.” (NIV) This suggests that children enjoy a spiritual perception that has nothing to do with what a child of any particular age can do or ‘knows’. This is a strong hint that adults have things to learn from children’s ways of simply being themselves, and that traditional power/authority relationships between adults and children may be misleading. 4 Richard Louv says that whilst researching his book “Last Child in the Woods” “I heard many adults describe with eloquence and awe the role of nature in their early spiritual development, and how that connection continued to deepen as they aged.”5

In Rebecca Nye’s book Children’s Spirituality, she invites us “to regard the simple fact of being a child as an inherently spiritual vocation.”6 As adults we have become caught up with ‘doing’ and have often forgotten how to ‘be’. The younger a child is the more absorbed they can be in the moment; they are less likely to have a phone, camera or watch, when they are out. They will not have an agenda or be wondering how long this is going to take or what are we going to cook for tea when we get home. We are so easily distracted by many things – Jesus explains this when he visits Martha and Mary, saying ‘you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed – or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.’ This is a good reminder to learn to slow down with our children, whether they are our children or those who are part of our church and sit with them and Jesus outdoors.

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me – watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” Matt 11:28-30.

This passage taken from The Message version of the Bible spells out the need to, and the reward of slowing down with Jesus. John Mark Comer quotes Dallas Willard and his wise words “Hurry is the great enemy of spiritual life in our day. You must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life.”7 A walk with a child in the woods may take us farther on in our walk with God than we had ever thought.

Bruce Stanley talks of the importance of being with nature rather than in it saying “There are a few people around who do seem to demonstrate with ease the participative approach – they are mostly aged between 1 and 5.”8 It would seem from what we have read so far that children have a way of meeting with God unhindered by pre-conceptions, their discoveries are marked with awe and wonder, it is also clear that if we slow down and listen they have much to teach us. There is a chance that in their company we can remember afresh our early encounters with God and meet with Him anew.

Children as Gifts

In the Bible there are many stories that include children in a central role, from God calling to Samuel, to David fighting Goliath. In various passages in the New Testament Jesus welcomes children, blessing them (Matt 19:13-14) and saying what is hidden from the wise and learned is revealed to the little children (Matthew 11:25). Jesus himself, God’s son was sent to us in the form of a child.

Mark 9:36-37 says “He took a little child whom he placed among them. Taking the child in his arms, he said to them, ‘Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.’ Jesus took a child and placed them among them, the English Standard Version uses the words “in the midst of them”.

In our culture we seem to have become short sighted, looking only to what will fulfil our immediate needs, the results of which can be seen in the climate emergency we find ourselves in. The legacy for our children is not good, Psalm 78 shares wise words with us to teach our children the statutes that our parents taught us, then to pass them on again. One of the earliest commands that God gave was to Adam; “The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it” and much later Jesus said that we were to love God with all our heart soul and mind and to love our neighbour as ourselves. In Psalm 127 we are reminded that children are a gift from the Lord, a reward from Him.

In Mac Macartney’s book, ‘The Children’s Fire’ he shares this North American indigenous wisdom, a promise that each chief pledged himself to “No law, no decision, no action, nothing of any kind will be permitted to go out from this council of chiefs that will harm the children.” Other indigenous peoples had many similar commitments, one of the most famous is “The Haudenosaunee confederacy from which came the Great Law of Peace, and within this the Seventh Generation principle. The law of Seven Generations advises on the wisdom of considering the impact of any decision on those born seven generations hence. The Children’s Fire and the Seventh Generation principle are expressions of the same powerful insight into human behaviour. Well known by many and heeded by few”9

What kind of world are we leaving for our children, what does their inheritance look like? In Lucy Jones’ prologue to her book ‘Losing Eden’ she writes a haunting description of what the world might look like 80 years from now. A child walks to visit her granny past artificial trees, Astro Turf and high-speed trains, she arrives to the peace of her granny’s flat to watch nature on the ‘holographic nature scene’, trees, lakes, bees, birds, she enjoys listening to their voices, things she has never touched, heard or seen for real. The prologue finishes with this conversation. “Why did nature end, Granny?” Granny sighed. “We didn’t love it enough,” she said. “And we forgot that it could give us peace.”10 Such poignant words, there is a responsibility to not only love God’s beautiful creation ourselves but love it enough that our children can have that privilege too.

If we acknowledge that children are born with an innate spirituality and an openness to connect in a natural way with their Creator, we have much to learn from observing them and joining in. We have seen the importance that Jesus puts on them and touched on our responsibility to pass on the best world to them and their children and their children’s children too.

Can time in the natural world bring us into closer relationship to God?

“The extent that we separate our children from creation is the extent to which we separate them from the creator – from God.”11 A challenging thought for each of us, in an era where there is much fear of children being allowed to roam, Richard Louv refers to this as “well-meaning, protective house arrest.”12 Fear is a potent force that prevents parents from allowing children to roam free, apprehensive of many things including traffic, accidents and strangers. This fear could be separating our children from the opportunity to discover nature, especially on a one-to-one basis. As I look back through my childhood, I recall moments of awe and wonder in nature, they were moments when I was alone in the natural environment albeit in my garden. Both as children and adults we need those secret moments between nature, our thoughts and God.

“Nature is a doorway into the other-than-human world which is more than plants and animals. It reveals secrets about its Creator and it’s somewhere God can speak to us; nature is sacred space.” 13

“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” Romans 1:20

This wonderful verse reminds us that God has indeed revealed Himself to us in the natural world. Jesus Himself used many stories to share God’s truths with His disciples and the crowd; these stories often contained elements drawn from the natural environment around them and many were told outside. Telling these stories outside opens them in a new way to be interpreted afresh, to bring a new depth of meaning. “In many places Jesus demonstrated natural theology, making a point about God or the Kingdom, not by quoting examples from pre-existing texts, but by drawing on the natural world around Him to make meaning.” 14

Cate Williams who co-facilitates Robinswood Forest Church, an all-age gathering that meets on the outskirts of Gloucester says, “The conviction is that, since there is such a strong connection between spirituality and the natural world, enabling people to make a connection with nature also opens doors for connection with God and to conversations that explore the nature of this connection.”15

Does time in nature equate to caring for nature?

Hildegard of Bingen says with confidence “We shall awaken from our dullness and rise vigorously toward justice. If we fall in love with creation deeper and deeper, we will respond to its endangerment with passion.”16 and according to research carried out by others this would seem to be true. “According to the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), only one child in five feels connected to nature, and only one in ten regularly plays in wild spaces. The amount of time spent overall playing outside has halved in a generation, and research has demonstrated that those who do not spend time outdoors as children are less motivated in their concern for the environment as adults.”17 It would seem then that time in nature does equate to a desire to care for it and that in childhood is a vital place for this to start. In the National Trust report, ‘Natural Childhood’ it says: “No one will protect what they don’t care about; and no one will care about what they have never experienced.”18 With the climate emergency that we are facing, together with much evidence that points to nature being important to our mental health it would seem more important than ever for us as the church to encourage children and adults together to reengage with the natural world. Richard Louv coined the phrase “Nature Deficit Disorder” referring to the effect that withdrawal from nature is having on children’s lives; he speaks of healing the broken relationship between children and nature. “It is in our self-interest not only because aesthetics or justice demands it, but also because our mental, physical and spiritual health depends upon it. The health of the earth is at stake as well.” As part of his book, he shares “ways that faith-based organizations can help reclaim nature as part of the spiritual development of children.”19

Gus Speth confesses: “I used to think the top environmental problems were biodiversity loss, ecosystem collapse and climate change. I thought that with 30 years of good science we could address those problems. But I was wrong. The top environmental problems are selfishness, greed, and apathy … and to deal with those we need a spiritual and cultural transformation — and we scientists don’t know how to do that.” There is an opportunity for the church to respond and be a part of this transformation, as we teach our children to love God and the whole community of creation.20

Children teach us much about slowing down, where we can race along the same boring path thinking ‘nothing to see here,’ they see wonders. If only we slow down and observe, we too can see. Since the pandemic, parents aren’t able to stand together and chat outside school, so I have found a nice spot to stand, slightly back from the path in the shallow undergrowth to wait for my daughter. After three months of winter lockdown, I returned to the school drive to find my ‘standing spot’. I was fascinated to discover it obviously still there; the grass was shallower, and the spring flowers grew around the place where my feet had stood. After the Easter break, I again returned to my spot, around where my feet stood were bees, butterflies, hover flies and ladybirds and a sparrow, I considered the wonder of them all on that busy drive probably only noticed by me. A space that I had grown to know in such a simple way has brought me joy and a renewed thankfulness to God for His wonderful world. So, I can join with Bruce Stanley in saying “What you love, you may be better motivated to care about. It involves a change; a reprogramming at a deeper level.” 21

Youthscape and Tearfund have conducted joint research and produced their report: “Burning Down the House, How the Church could lose young people over climate inaction”. The report states that 9 out of 10 Christian teenagers surveyed are concerned about climate change and that only 1 out of 10 think their church is doing enough. 22 This evidence would suggest that many young people have made the connection between caring for our beautiful world and a God who loves them, but they need our support as church. “The church should absolutely be at the forefront of fighting climate change – because the world is God’s creation, and we have a duty of care over it.”23 We are in danger of losing these young people not because they do not believe in God but because the church is not acknowledging and acting on the current climate crisis. It would seem that young people long to work with the church so that we might help each other to engage practically and politically in caring for God’s creation, helping us to truly care for creation. Maybe children and young people’s passion for our beautiful earth could be the inspiration that the church needs to engage with the protection of nature.

We have seen how time in nature either with children or inspired by the way they are in nature can help us to rediscover a love of our natural environment, maybe there is also a way they can help us to meet with God, even those who have not met with Him before.

Forest Church and Muddy Church

There are different types of movement that seek to use our connection with nature and God as their way of being church and mission, here we will consider what Forest Church and Muddy Church offer.

Of Forest Church Bruce Stanley says: “A good few people will come along to your events and might simply categorise forest church as a fellowship group or as an interesting workshop about trees – which is fine. In time, however, you can see the effects that practically participating in nature begins to have – you create the space and tell the stories; let nature and God do the changing.”24 Although not specifically for children Forest Church groups often contain people of all ages and by their nature enable participation of all ages. “Participants come with an attitude of experimentation, playfulness and readiness to connect with nature. God is present in creation and can be understood through creation; you’re in the sermon, the readings come from the Second Book of God. The worship will happen when you’re caught up in the beauty of the moment.”25

Muddy church is a movement more focussed towards children “The heart of Muddy Church it is about being aware, listening and responding to the world around you and God.”26 Groups can happen either in rural or urban areas, in public, private or church land. "Muddy Church is about people discovering through that connection with one another something about themselves and of God, to come into a space in creation where they can journey with others in a place that all feel accepted and equal, and leave transformed.”27

It is encouraging to read this description of Muddy Church, in particular the concept of children being very much a part of the whole. “Muddy Church” offered a sense of formal and informal together, expressing openness and belonging. It was important to address that using the name “church” wasn’t just notional, but we were considering this being a place where relationships with God, one another and the world were formed. The idea was of a church that was open and equal – children could lead, no separate teaching times, accessible routes, free activities, talk or be silent, questions with no one suggesting they were the only person with the right answer.28

We too as a church have embraced the opportunities offered us by living in a beautiful rural location from outdoor services, monthly outdoor family groups to whole family retreat days in the woods. Even through the pandemic I’ve been able to put together material monthly entitled “Welly Boot Church” to enable families to engage with God, outside as families, even though we cannot meet together.

So returning to the question that we began with, we have seen that children are indeed a gift from God, whom Jesus literally placed in the middle of those gathered. God reminds us of the importance of children, what we teach them and how we lead them and tells us that we are to consider the generations to come. Maybe as the church in recent history we have forgotten this obligation. Discovering the seventh generation principle could be a prompt for how, as the church today, we need to be considering the generations to come in the decisions we make.

We have heard of instances that people, both children and adults, have had in the natural world that develops awe and wonder which in turn can open us to God. Being aware of the way we do this is important so that it is our faith in a triune God that is discovered not merely a spiritual experience, although it would seem that these experiences may be part of the journey. Jesus told stories in nature about nature, in the same way, retelling these stories in outdoor environments brings these stories to life, using all our senses helps us grasp more of the story than in an indoor environment. Although children would seem to have a natural ability to awe and wonder that can draw adults in, adults need to be provided with these opportunities whilst remembering that for many children ‘nature’ has been seen as ‘scary, dangerous and dirty’ they may need adults willingly engaging with the natural world to help them feel comfortable.

Through all of the projects that we read about, many people with no connection to church feel able to connect with these activities and appreciate them. The outdoors create an environment where both parents and children are able to feel relaxed, enabling them to connect with the Christian faith at a level they feel comfortable with.

Although it is hard to quantify the effect that time in nature has on our children’s relationship with God, it seems that time outdoors as ‘church’ is something that children and those who would not normally attend church can relate to and enjoy. Relationships can be built, where learning can take place, both ways. This time in nature can develop a love for nature and a space to allow children and ourselves to ‘be’.

Conclusion

At this time of Climate Emergency and climate anxiety and as children face nature deficiency, the church has a role and more importantly a responsibility to play their part. Church in an outdoor environment with children playing a central role creates a strong opportunity in helping both nature and the church to flourish.