Northumbrian Collective members James and Julie were at the Greenbelt festival over the August Bank Holiday weekend. Here are some more of their thoughts about their time there.

Julie: Is there anything else you’d want to say about your time at Greenbelt?

James: Well, I did have a bit of a “wow” moment at one point. I went to a Bible study given by Miranda Threlfall-Holmes who is now Archdeacon of Liverpool. She was talking about three parables: the parable of the sower, the parable of the man who found a field with treasure buried in it and then made an offer to buy the field, and the parable of the pearl of great price.

Julie: Yes, I was there too.

James: The wow moment for me was towards the end. She reaffirmed that these parables are about what the kingdom of God is like and that we so often see ourselves as being the subject of those parables. But Miranda then reversed that perspective. “What if these parables that describe what the kingdom of God is like have God as the subject?  What if it’s God who is buying the field with the treasure in it and you are the treasure? and what happens if it is God identifying the pearl and selling everything they have to secure you? and I never seen those parables from that perspective before I was just blown away by that.

Julie: I was too. It was brilliant.  I was there with two members of our church, and it was their first Greenbelt, so I thought, before all the beer and the music let’s have a bit of Bible stuff – so they were with me and so it was so powerful. It was a moment that I think affected the rest of my Greenbelt, because as I saw all these different people on stage and off stage being their beautiful authentic selves, each of them is the pearl. We’re all pearls – in God’s eyes we are all beloved.

But then I had an experience one evening as we were leaving – it was VERY muddy, so wet and muddy! We were leaving a car park, which was a muddy field and people were not behaving their best. Cars were queuing to leave and slipping in the mud and there was not a lot of loving kindness being shown! It was late at night, and everyone just wanted to get home. I was like “Happy Greenbelt everyone! We’re at a Christian festival! Do we want to give way to each other?!” What a contrast – in the fields in the daytime it was all lovely and everyone’s happy and then in the evening we get to the car park and we all revert to our selfish ‘me first’ attitude.

James: There’s something there about living in the light and living in the darkness isn’t there?

Julie: Yeah, yeah being authentically loving!

James: Yes , it reminded me of something I’ve known and I have practiced sometimes. I will do this when I walk down into the centre of our town and just notice the people who are walking in the other direction and I will say to myself “image bearer, image bearer, image bearer” and try and get that into myself so that it is my natural reaction. It’s almost like a spiritual discipline to train my heart to see every human being as created in the image of God. And I want that to be my first response to anyone I meet. I know that sounds very pious and sanctified but it isn’t and it is only because that isn’t necessarily my first response that I try and work at it.

Julie: That reminds me of something else that happened at Queer & Hymns which I mentioned earlier.

We were invited to pair up and one person had to point at the other and say to them, “you look just like God”. Then they had to point and say it back. That was the first time I cried at Greenbelt this year. Saying that to a lovely friend of mine and having them say it to me, set me off. And to be surrounded by a community of people who have been shamed and will probably have been told they’re not at all like God, or that God hates them. For these people to be told they look just like God was just so powerful that it made me cry.

James: You said that was the first time you cried. Am I allowed to ask what are the second or third or fourth time?

Julie: Yeah. Another one was when I went to see “The Lighthouse” performed by Alys Williams. Did you see that?

James: Yes.

Julie: Yeah, that that made me cry.

James: Oh, it did me too! I have never felt as emotionally attached to an angle poised lamp in my life as I did then!

Julie: I met Alys at Greenbelt last year and I know her parents Jo and Andy Williams. Jo has been a guest on one of our podcasts. For the people reading, it’s a beautiful play about mental health struggles. The way Alys involved the members of the audience was so sensitive and lovely. One of the audience members had to shout “man overboard” and my friend who has a really loud voice and was sat directly behind me was chosen and she did it in the loudest voice possible. So it was a moment when I was actually laughing and crying at the same time: I was crying because what was happening on stage was so moving -and then every time my friend shouted I laughed as well! So much emotion!

James: So we need to bring this to a close – let me ask you, is there anything that you have taken away from Greenbelt – a lasting thought or something you’re going to live with into the foreseeable future?

Julie: I listened to an interview with Sue Parfitt who is 84 and is the UK’s most arrested priest, and it was a lesson in moral courage. She talked about how her prayerful obedience to God leads her to civil disobedience which I found interesting. Her lawbreaking is rooted in prayer and, for her, obeying God looks like peaceful law breaking. This involves suffering – spending time in prison and having things taken away from her – but she sees it as being in solidarity with those suffering from climate crises, and more latterly Palestinians. I’ve been thinking deeply about moral courage more broadly ever since.

James: Yes.

Julie: She referred to the Thomas Merton quote along the lines of, “just because I’m seeking to do God’s will doesn’t mean that I actually am, and I just hope that trying to so is somehow pleasing to God”. There must be moments when doubt creeps in and she was just so humble about what she does.

Sue also mentioned Marianne Budde’s book, How We Learn to be Brave and the power of tiny acts of courage. I’ve read this book recently and I’m thinking deeply about these two women who are respected priests and ministers. Their faith in God means taking a stand on issues and facing up to those in power. I’m challenged to think about where I show moral courage in my life.  Sue’s point was that not everyone is called to break the law, but we are called to prayerful obedience and discerning what God is calling us to do. That is a great question to reflect on regularly.

What about you James. Is there something that you’re taking away with you from Greenbelt?

James: Yes. I think I go back to this desire to be open to all wherever they find themselves in life. A line that has been with me, not just out of Greenbelt, but one that I was reminded of through the fact that it’s very easy to see people in the moment they present themselves in, but the reality is that everyone has a story. And I want to be someone who is inquisitive – curious not in a sensationalist way, but genuinely wanting to know the other. Wanting to know your story, how you came to be who you are and where you are now; but also not assuming that this story, once told, will be the final version. It is important to recognise that every story is a developing story.

The other special moment is always the communion service at Greenbelt. Thousands of people all who want to remember Jesus – that’s why they’re there and I just love the fact that at that moment Jesus is important to them and we want to make that known and remember him and engage with him and his people.

Julie: Yeah, I love that too. Whether we share the communion with friends or strangers, it’s Jesus we’re remembering and we welcome each other to the feast. That’s the Greenbelt spirit, isn’t it?

James: Wonderful. Well there is no Greenbelt next year as they are moving on from Boughton House and will have a fallow year before regrouping in 2028. Can’t wait!