The Land is an outdoor faith community dedicated to connecting with and caring for creation. This dedication to caring for creation is visible in all we do at The Land; including our Saturday morning worship gatherings, our Prairie School education program for children, our community garden feeding our neighbors in need, and our summer youth mission program offering young people an opportunity to reconnect with their call to care for creation.
In every program at The Land, we remain committed to cultivating an inclusive spiritual community that affirms all people as beloved children of God. This means providing a safe space for trans and nonbinary children, youth and adults. This means listening to and learning from the stories of persons from diverse religious backgrounds. This means being a community that accepts nothing less than full inclusion for 2SLGBTQIA, communities of color, indigenous communities and persons marginalized due to age, weight, relationship status, socioeconomic status, education level, mental illness, physical appearance, disabilities and many other social constructs created by our culture to convince people they are unworthy of full belonging.
Located on 10-acres of undeveloped prairie lands in Aurora Colorado, The Land provides sacred space for participants to reconnect to creation in the community. Every physical installation at The Land integrates service, spirituality, and story. The cobblestone labyrinth, the perimeter prayer pathway, the canopy sanctuary, and the community garden all exist to deepen our sacred connection to the earth and to our community. We understand that participating in a faith community is beyond some people’s comfort levels. We know that the Church harms persons and that this harm traumatizes persons to the extinct that they can no longer participate in the community of faith. The Land is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for people seeking spiritual solace to come walk the labyrinth, rest in the garden or walk on our meditation pathways. This is your spiritual home whether you participate in worship or not.
When participants step onto The Land, they are truly walking on sacred ground. Behind every visible physical installation at The Land, exists an invisible story of connection and community. The Gamble Oak at the south end of the garden was planted in honor of a beloved member of our community, Clea Edelblute. This is just one story of many reminding us that each visible element at The Land symbolizes a sacred story that will always be remembered.
The Land was incorporated as a 501c3 organization in 2015 and began gathering for weekly worship on Saturdays at 10 am in June of 2018. The Land is an official new church start of the Mountain Sky Area Conference of the United Methodist Church and an organizational member of the Wild Church Network. The founding pastor, Rev. Stephanie Price, is a graduate from The Iliff School of Theology and was ordained as an elder in the United Methodist Church in 2012. She is committed to crafting gatherings where everyone feels welcome to think critically, ask questions and participate in ways that feed their souls.
The Land does not have a system for traditional church membership. This is because we believe that all people belong equally regardless of frequency of participation. Additionally, The Land affirms the rights of all people to participate in holy sacraments and stands in solidarity with communities who have been and continue to be marginalized in certain institutional and independent churches.