Celebrating creator and creativity

Sojourners, Jul/Aug 1998 by Vernon, Richard

A section of the 1992 mission statement reads, "We firmly believe that Jesus Christ is involved in all creation and that in this world there is no division between the sacred and the secular. As a result, personal faith, doubt, politics, social concem, mission, ethics, creativity, work and play are all addressed with seriousness and hilarity in equal parts." A less pretentious, more rooted, and unashamed declaration of faith is a thing you'll struggle to find. It is precisely this lack of divisions whilst being unashamedly Christocentric that is Greenbelt's greatest and most unique strength.

AS CHRISTIAN EVENTS in Britain go, Greenbelt is incredibly diverse. It is not overwhelmingly white; about one-third of the participants are over 30 (some well into their 60s); gender balance is good; and there is a significant gay presence, both on and off staff. Most significantly, it transcends class, even today a rarity in Britain.

To do so as se am lessly as Greenbelt is miraculous.

For the six full-time employees, organizing the festival is a gargantuan undertaking. Last year's deluge lost the organization around 130,000 pounds in one-day tickets. Andy Thornton's worst festival memory finds him lying awake from 3 a.m. on listening to the rainstorm and thinking "balance-sheet." By dint of strenuous effort and the devotion of so many loyal Greenbelters, all the money has since been recouped. Clearly, though, such disasters make fragility a constant part of the picture.

Andy's favorite Greenbelt memory includes leading morning worship in 1994 with 50 singers, 50 percussionists, and 50 dancers in a specially written "percussion-based service which felt like an ANC rally." This year's Sunday morning service will be broadcast live in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland as part of a Bank Holiday special. His hope is that "we [continue to be] as visionary over the next 25 years."

RICHARD VERNON, a former Sojourners intern, is currently on a BBC training scheme in Glasgow, Scotland. He ran Artists Reception at Greenbelt '97, and will he back on site for Greenbelt '98.