Forest Church – Fun and Faith for Families
Lots of people feel closer to God when in nature. Windmill Forest Church is a partnership with ‘A little bit Wilder Ltd’, a local Forest School Provider, to create an outdoor space where children and their parents can explore God’s creation and learn more about faith and God.
We have sole use of the forest and all the activities on offer there
including rope work, free play, swinging in hammocks, craft activities including the use of tools and carving, plant & wildlife identification, foraging, cooking and fire-lighting. Each session has a faith-based theme and we interweave the faith aspect through worship songs, prayers, a short interactive talk linked to the theme and activities based on the theme.
When we did our children’s work in the Chapel before the pandemic, we increasingly found that the children we have within Windmill like to be active, rather than sitting down and crafting. The pandemic then brought an increased focus on exploring outdoor worship. Our underlying motivation is to make church fun for children and accessible to all.
We currently meet once a month in the Forest, usually on third Sundays in the afternoons between 1.30-3.30pm. We use woodlands in Screveton and Stapleford Woods, near Newark. Lifts are available from Bottesford. Booking is essential for safety reasons and regular Forest Church attendees are part of private whatsapp and facebook groups to keep connected between sessions.
We comply strictly with the Diocese of Leicester Safeguarding policy (see Policies section) regarding procedures, ratios, training and DBS checks for our Leaders.
