The Land is an outdoor faith community dedicated to connecting with and caring for all of Creation!

Our community is open ALL! The labels and distinctions of society tend to divide us, at The Land we call on God’s love to unite us.

Welcoming Prayer

– Tom Troeger
Each breath is borrowed air,
not ours to keep and own,
and all our breaths as one declare
what wisdom long has known:
to live is to receive
and to answer back with praise
to what our minds cannot conceive:
the source of all our praise.

We take a few moments to release the pressures of our lives, bringing ourselves completely to this time and space and readying ourselves to receive that which divine presence has for us to share.

This is God’s wondrous world, and to my listening ears,
All nature sings, and round me rings the music of the spheres.
This is God’s wondrous world, I rest me in the thought
Of rocks and trees, of skies and seas,
God’s hand the wonders wrought.

This is God’s wondrous world, the birds their carols raise,
The morning light, the lily white, declare their maker’s praise.
This is God’s wondrous world. God shines in all that’s fair,
In the rustling grass or mountain pass,
God’s voice speaks everywhere.

This is God’s wondrous world. O let me ne’er forget
That though the wrong seems oft so strong. God is the ruler yet.
This is God’s wondrous world: why should my heart be sad?
Let voices sing, O let the heavens ring!
God reigns, let earth be glad.

You make springs gush forth in the valleys; they flow between the hills, giving drink to every wild animal; the wild asses quench their thirst. By the streams the birds of the air have their habitation; they sing among the branches. From your lofty abode you water the mountains; the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work. You cause the grass to grow for the cattle, and plants for people to use, to bring forth food from the earth, and wine to gladden the human heart, oil to make the face shine, and bread to strengthen the human heart. The trees of the LORD are watered abundantly, the cedars of Lebanon that he planted. In them the birds build their nests; the stork has its home in the fir trees. The high mountains are for the wild goats; the rocks are a refuge for the coneys. You have made the moon to mark the seasons; the sun knows its time for setting. You make darkness, and it is night, when all the animals of the forest come creeping out. The young lions roar for their prey, seeking their food from God. When the sun rises, they withdraw and lie down in their dens. People go out to their work and to their labor until the evening. O LORD, how manifold are your works! In wisdom you have made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.

A Land Ethic – Aldo Leopold

In short, a land ethic changes the role of Homo sapiens from conqueror of the land -community to plain member and citizen of it. It implies respect for [our] fellow-members, and also respect for the community as such.

As the executive director of Eco-Justice Ministries since 2000, Rev. Peter Sawtell has helped churches to apply their faith and ethics to this time of deep ecological crisis. Eco-Justice Ministries has brought this message to hundreds of congregations and thousands of church leaders in the Rocky Mountain region, nationally and internationally. Peter has been a speaker and workshop leader at religious conferences across the United States. He is widely known for his weekly email commentary, Eco-Justice Notes, which addresses current issues of environmental justice from a theological perspective. Peter is an ordained minister of the United Church of Christ.

At The Land, communion is an open table where all are invited to participate.

All creatures of our God and King

All creatures of our God and King
Life up your voice and with us sing
O praise Him, Alleluia
Thou burning sun with golden beam
and silver moon with softer gleam
O praise Him, O praise Him
Alleluia, Alleluia, Allelu–ia

Thou rushing wind that art so strong
Ye clouds that sail in Heaven along
O praise Him, Alleluia
Thou rising moon in praise rejoice
Ye lights of evening find a voice
O praise Him, O praise Him
Alleluia, Alleluia, Allelu—ia

All of earth’s creatures roam The Land
Seeking their food as from God’s hand
O praise Him, Alleluia
Then they will go back to their dens
And there protection is from Him
O praise Him, O praise Him
Alleluia, Alleluia, Allelu—ia

Let all things their Creator bless
And worship Him in humbleness
O praise Him, Alleluia
Praise, praise the Father, praise the Son
And praise the Spirit, three in one
O praise Him, O praise Him
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia

We invite you to participate in nurturing The Land by adding compost to our compost bin (info here), supporting us financially and by spending time in fellowship.

In all the earth oh Yahweh God
how glorious is your name
For you have set above the skies
your glory and your fame

From infants and from children’s lips
you ordered praise to sound
To silence all your enemies
the wicked to confound

When I regard the skies you made
your fingers’ work I trace
I see the moon and shining stars
which you have set in place

I ask myself, what’s humankind
that you should give him thought
The son of man that you to him
such gracious care have brought?

You made him little less than those
who dwell in heaven above
And you have crowned and honored him
with glory and with love

You gave him charge of all the works
created by your hand
And everything that you had made
to steward as you planned

All flocks and herds and birds and fish
all beasts both wild and tame
In all the earth, oh Yahweh God
how glorious is your name!

Christ has come to bring peace anchored on justice and genuine love, to offer us renewed vision of transformed persons and communities. Christ calls us to become channels of peace based on justice.

We offer ourselves to always seek peace and affirm justice for all people: choosing struggle rather than indifference; choosing to be friends of the Earth and of one another, not enemies; choosing to be peacemakers rather than peace keepers; choosing life, not death, for all creation.
(based on a call to commitment from the Asian Methodist Youth Seminar)

We invite you to share in the joy and wonder of creation by taking a reflective walk around The Land. Our path was is a loving and generous gift from the Youth Group at McFarlin UMC, Norman, Oklahoma!

A time of sharing the Divine love of Creation and each other…
Sunset is at 8:01