The Church Forests of Ethiopia

 

I came across this video about a month ago and found it fascinating. I love this example of how the church can participate in preserving and restoring ecosystems and landscapes. I think this provides us a beautiful example of how God abides in the world.

My favorite part of the video is when the man says that "the church is in the forest and the forest is in the church." I've been pondering that statement all Advent. The church needs the forest for worship, and now the forest needs the church so that it can persevere. The church's relationship with the forest encouraged the borders of the church to expand to include the forest. As the deforestation expanded, so did the church. 

I was also captivated by the way that both the past and the future are woven together through the church. It was humbling to imagine how green the landscape must have been when these churches were established. How that green was maybe even taken for granted. But now that most of the green has been devoured, the forests stand as a memory of what was and a beacon of what could be. It helped me to see anew how the present church is living faithfully when it is the intersection of both the past and the present.

And all of this came about because these worshipping communities decided that the most holistic way to worship was surrounded by trees as an homage to the Garden of Eden and (I add) the gardens of New Jerusalem. And then they stayed put. Another poignant example of why stability is such an important spiritual practice.

If you'd like to read more here is the Wikipedia article.