Celebrating creator and creativity

Sojourners, Jul/Aug 1998 by Vernon, Richard

To a large extent, this intersection of faith, social action, and the expressive arts is what makes Greenbelt so exciting, so relevant, and so loyaltyinducing. Outside of a few magazines, some small faith communities such as Iona Community, and maverick mystics like Frederick Buechner, this dialogue often has no wider venue, no visible protagonists. For around 18,000 individuals a year, Greenbelt is that wider venue; they are the visible protagonists. They are encouraged, challenged, and stimulated. They find communion and community; that's the bigger part of the big picture. And in addition, they have a whale of a time.

THE FIRST GREENBELT Festival took place on a farm in 1974. About 2,000 people turned out for the weekend festivities, which were organized primarily by members of a Christian rock band who felt out of place both in the prevailing church scene and in the rock world. To James Holloway and Richard Gibbons, among others, it was becoming obvious that believing Christians needed a place to celebrate both the Creator and the gift of creativity. Hippie dreams of love, peace, harmony, and guilt-free sex were already cracking under the stultifying weight of shattered illusions, guilt, death, paranoia, and worldly cynicism. Altamont had happened; Jimi and Janis were both dead; the Kids were turning into the Man.

The festival so clearly met a need among Christians, initially disaffected evangelicals, that they organized another the following year. And another the year after that. Although only one of the founders remains on the 14strong board, the others are very much part of the scene, and still faithfully roll up to see what's become of their baby.

Now in its fifth home, on the grounds of Deene Park House in Northamptonshire, the Greenbelt umbrella has grown to include a fringe festival so large it prints its own program; a full-sized fun fair; a fairtrade market "street"; a main street (with food vendors, a 24-hour cafe, and the larger performance areas); the main stage; the smaller marquees; onsite reception; toilet blocks; the "Womb" dance tent; a Greenbelt shop; book and record stores; and more. Oh, and a limpid, be-bridged stream wends its gentle way down through the site, separating the "residential" area from the action. (It is possible that some Greenbelters might want to sleep in quiet at some point during the weekend.)

It can get pretty loud, but it doesn't seem to matter very much. I've sat in a large tent going through a guided meditation on the hard sayings of Jesus with Iona's Wild Goose Worship Group, in a deep and healing stillness. Meanwhile Goldie's drum 'n' bass DJ set, the screams from the fun fair, and feedback from the next tent's worship band's lead guitar combined into a wall-flapping cacophony which somehow seemed indeed to be a joyful noise unto the Creator. The next morning I lay in my tent listening to the skeins of wild geese flying overhead, honking jubilant greetings to each other and reminding those of us wed to the ground just how apt an image of the Holy Spirit the wild goose is.