DAYSPRING EARTH MINISTRY
AWAKENING TO THE DREAM OF THE EARTH
2025 Events Calendar
(Scroll down for details -- as they become available)
January 5, February 2, and March 2 - Wild Earth Spiritual Community at Dayspring
March 21 Spring Equinox Ceremony and Celebration
May 4 Spring Wildflower Walk
June 21 Summer Solstice Ceremony: Prayer for the Earth in this Season of Summer Sun
September 22 Autumn Equinox Ceremony
October 10-12 Creative Resistance: Weaving small paths of beauty in a heart-rending world
November Wild Earth Spiritual Community at Dayspring
December Wild Earth Spiritual Community at Dayspring
December 21 Winter Solstice Ceremony
January 5, February 2, and March 2
Wild Earth Spiritual Community at Dayspring 3 PM
About Wild Earth Spiritual Community (Formerly Church of the wild DC-MD-VA)
We seek to live in deeper relationship with Earth, Divine Presence and each other. We gather twice monthly in sacred, natural woodlands in the Metro DC area. We are a diverse, inclusive and inter-spiritual community. Our gatherings combine contemplative spiritual practices with songs and chants, drumming, silent wandering and fellowship. Our practices enhance and grow our commitment to Earth and Her Beings, informing the work we do individually and collectively in the outer world.
We are a member of the Wild Church Network.
Please register for this free gathering so that we can keep you up-to-date on event information, including what to bring, directions, parking information, and weather-related changes! Register at https://www.wildearthspiritual.org/
March 21 at 5:00 PM
Spring Equinox Ceremony and Celebration
Amongst the debris and the horror and the sadness of so much that is around us right now, I say: cling to beauty -- Dr. Martin Shaw
On the day of the Spring Equinox we come together for a ceremony both ancient and new to give thanks for all the precious beauty and intimations of new life that Spring embodies. For the first flowers pushing up from the forest floor and the swelling of little buds on the trees. For all the small wonders that bring us joy and love. May that beauty fill us with a radiance that flows through us and even makes people around us more beautiful.
In heartbreaking times like these, it so important that we do this.
Here's a general flow. Come for all or part.
5:00 pm We will gather outside the Dayspring Farmhouse and walk on the land for this ceremony of poetry, silent wander, and shared prayer, inspired by the "Thanksgiving Address" of the Native People known as the Iroquois.
6:00 pm Gather indoors at Overlook for a simple supper.
7:00 pm We will circle for creative sharing time around the seasonal theme. Please bring a poem or a story … share a favorite work of art or image … bring your musical instrument and play a song … guide us in singing or sacred dance …
For planning for the outdoor ceremony and for seating and food at Overlook, and to inquire about the possibility of staying overnight in the Overlook retreat space, PLEASE RSVP
to Jim at jimhallmd@yahoo.com and Trish at stefanik.trish@gmail.com
Dayspring * 11301 Neelsville Church Road * Germantown, MD 20876
On the day of the Spring Equinox we come together for a ceremony both ancient and new to give thanks for all the precious beauty and intimations of new life that Spring embodies. For the first flowers pushing up from the forest floor and the swelling of little buds on the trees. For all the small wonders that bring us joy and love. May that beauty fill us with a radiance that flows through us and even makes people around us more beautiful.
In heartbreaking times like these, it so important that we do this.
Here's a general flow. Come for all or part.
5:00 pm We will gather outside the Dayspring Farmhouse and walk on the land for this ceremony of poetry, silent wander, and shared prayer, inspired by the "Thanksgiving Address" of the Native People known as the Iroquois.
6:00 pm Gather indoors at Overlook for a simple supper.
7:00 pm We will circle for creative sharing time around the seasonal theme. Please bring a poem or a story … share a favorite work of art or image … bring your musical instrument and play a song … guide us in singing or sacred dance …
For planning for the outdoor ceremony and for seating and food at Overlook, and to inquire about the possibility of staying overnight in the Overlook retreat space, PLEASE RSVP
to Jim at jimhallmd@yahoo.com and Trish at stefanik.trish@gmail.com
Dayspring * 11301 Neelsville Church Road * Germantown, MD 20876
May 4 Spring Wildflower Walk
at Dayspring Creek
Sunday, May 4 from 12:30 to 2:00 PM
Join Dayspring Earth Ministry for a Spring Wildflower walk at Dayspring Creek after worship on Sunday May 4. We will leave at 12:30 from the Farmhouse and return by 2:00 PM. Bring a snack to eat ahead of time if you wish. Among the flowers we expect to see are wild columbine and rue anemone. Wood Thrush and Scarlet Tanager may have returned as well.
We will be walking to a section of the creek upstream from Dayspring -- an area of County Parkland that has been designated as one of ten high biodiversity areas in the County. The walk is a little over a mile round-trip. The trail is steep in some places, rough and rocky in other places. We recommend wearing sturdy footwear and bringing a walking stick or trekking pole(s).
Please register!! Space along the creek is limited, so we can only accommodate about 15 people. Contact Jim Hall at jimhallmd@yahoo.com to register.
June 21-- 5 PM at Dayspring
Summer Solstice Ceremony
An Invitation to a Gathering of Prayer for the Earth in this Season of Summer Sun and Wildfire
On the evening of the Summer Solstice, we come together to remember and give thanks: for the gifts of the sun's light, for the beauty and abundance of summer gardens and fields, for the wisdom of Earth herself. It matters -- perhaps more than we will ever know -- that we do this. Especially now, when northern forests burn on an unprecedented scale, and our air is filled with smoke. When it is dangerous for us and our children even to be outside.
5:00 pm You are invited to an outdoor prayer ceremony to welcome in the change of seasons. Meet at the Farmhouse to walk together to a particular place on the land. 6:00 pm Gather indoors at Overlook for a simple supper.
7:00 pm We will circle for creative sharing time around the seasonal theme. Please bring a poem or a story … share a favorite work of art or image … bring your musical instrument and play a song … guide us in singing or sacred dance …
NOTE PLEASE: For planning for the outdoor ceremony and for seating and food at Overlook, RSVP to Jim or Cheryl at jimhallmd@yahoo.com or 301-916-4827. To inquire about the possibility of staying overnight in the Overlook retreat space, contact Trish at stefanik.trish@gmail.com or 240-357-3551.
Autumn Equinox Ceremony and Celebration
Monday, September 22 at Dayspring
When I turned toward the hurt in the silence, I entered a kind of tenderness that was not sore, not wounded, but rather powerfully present... I sunk deep into the soft ground, where the source of life was revealed... And then, dare I say it, I was ‘completely tender.’ --- Zenju Earthlyn Manuel
In Autumn, as the life force shifts from visible bounty to invisible mystery, we pause to listen to Earth’s wisdom inviting surrender, inner growth, and renewal. We sink down into our roots, and into the deep ground of Earth’s tenderness. This is an act of profound resistance to all that seeks to tear our world apart. And we offer gratitude -- ancient prayers of thanksgiving. It matters -- perhaps more than we will ever know -- that we do this.
5 pm -- We will gather outside the Dayspring Farmhouse at 5:00 pm and walk to the amphitheater for this ceremony of poetry, silent wander, and shared prayer on the land, inspired by the “Thanksgiving Address” from the Native People known as the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois).
6 pm -- We will gather indoors at Overlook Retreat House for a simple supper.
7 pm -- We will circle for creative sharing time around the seasonal theme. Please bring a poem or story ...share a favorite work of art or image ...bring your own musical instrument and play a song ...guide us in singing or sacred dance.
For planning for the outdoor ceremony and for seating and food at Overlook, and to inquire about the possibility of staying overnight in the Overlook retreat space,
PLEASE RSVP
to Jim at jimhallmd@yahoo.com and Trish at stefanik.trish@gmail.com Dayspring * 11301 Neelsville Church Road * Germantown, MD 20876
October 10-12
Creative Resistance: Weaving small paths of beauty in a heart-rending world
Even in the chilliest of times, and in the midst of a heart-rending world, the old tales remind us that small things have tremendous power. A hummingbird brings back the sun. An ancient woman re-creates the world by weaving again a cloth of transcendent beauty...
A nature & soul retreat at Rolling Ridge near Harpers Ferry, WV with Jim Hall, Cheryl Hellner, and Lindsay McLaughlin
Join us to wander the wild land of Rolling Ridge, return to intimate relationship with the Sacred Others in rock and stream, tree and bush, with the winged ones and the four, six, and eight-legged ones.
Participate in ceremony and council, share in circles of safety and grace, listen to poets and storytellers, dance in sacred circles, sing heart songs with and to the Earth.
$445 single occupancy
$375 shared (full or bunk) - please tell us the name of your roomate when you register
$350 camp - bring your own tent
Register at www.friendsofsilence.net under events.
$75 non-refundable deposit requested.
A November Sunday at 3PM
Wild Earth Spiritual Community at Dayspring
Theme: To Be announced
Wild Earth Spiritual Community at Dayspring
A December Sunday at 3PM
Theme: To Be announced
December 21 at 5 PM at Dayspring
Winter Solstice Ceremony
Cradled in darkness,
be restored to the embrace of mystery.
Glory wakes here.
Let it kindle
your joy.
-- Rebecca Parker
On the day of the Winter Solstice we come together for a ceremony both ancient and new to honor and give thanks. Thanks for the embrace of mystery that winter embodies. For the Glory that wakes here. And for the way that winter kindles joy.
In these dark times we seek another, deeper darkness. A fertile darkness. The darkness of God. And in the coming light we seek not the brightness of mid-day, but a little light, dappled in shadow (TS Eliot). A light that sets our hearts dancing, alive with dream and possibility.
6:00 pm Gather indoors at Overlook for a simple supper.
7:00 pm We will circle for creative sharing time around the seasonal theme. Please bring a poem or a story … share a favorite work of art or image … bring your musical instrument and play a song … guide us in singing or sacred dance …
NOTE PLEASE: For planning for the outdoor ceremony and for seating and food at Overlook, RSVP to Jim or Cheryl at jimhallmd@yahoo.com or 301-916-4827. To inquire about the possibility of staying overnight in the Overlook retreat space, contact Trish at stefanik.trish@gmail.com or 240-357-3551.
