Alex Leach participated in a team of leaders to bear witness to the Holy Love they experience at Burning Man, by offering worship and spiritually-based conversation, and to share what they learned about ministry with the Spiritual But Not Religious with the wider church. All the team members were experienced Burners, and they credit their full participation in Burning Man culture and their embodiment of the Burning Man principles with the success of their work.
Anyone who has wondered how to balance clarity of identity with sensitivity to triggering Christian symbols, or how to counter the widespread notion of Christians as moral police with an example of non-judgemental Christian community, may read the team’s reflections on principles for Christian ministry to those outside the church here.
The team believes that, by incorporating Burning Man language and imagery into their liturgy, they honored the culture of the community and made their offering of Christian spirituality accessible. View the Prayer book they used at Burning Man 2019 here.
The group affirmed their belief that the Spiritual But Not Religious hunger for Christian ritual and teaching through their experience at Burning Man 2019. They have great hope that Christians may learn to provide that.
A BLESSING
The world now is too dangerous
and too beautiful for anything but love.
May your eyes be so blessed you see God in everyone.
Your ears, so you hear the cry of the poor.
May your hands be so blessed
that everything you touch is a sacrament.
Your lips, so you speak nothing but the truth with love.
May your feet be so blessed you run
to those who need you.
And may your heart be so opened,
so set on fire, that your love,
your love, changes everything.
