Walk Church Sunday, Selling, 23rd March 2025
It was lovely to hear the positive reports from those who took part in Walk Church last Sunday. A huge thank you to Chris Taylor and Peter Newell for leading the organisational effort, guiding the walk, and arranging the refreshments afterward. Thanks also to Julie Lupton for her reflections and prayers.
During this time, I’ve been on the other side of the world in Mexico for a family wedding. The wedding is over so we’re taking the opportunity to explore this extraordinarily beautiful and vast country, with its rich and complex history. Over the weekend, we visited Oaxaca. Little did I know that in a small town just outside the city, Santa María del Tule, I would see the world’s largest tree by girth. Like the largest tree in the UK—a yew in Scotland—this tree is also in a churchyard.
It is difficult to gauge the exact age of this Montezuma Cypress (Taxodium mucronatum), but many estimate it to be around 2,000 years old—long predating the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors in 1521 and the construction of the nearby church. For most of the tree’s existence, it lived through the period of the Zapotec Kingdom and culture, which thrived in this area from around 500 BC.
It was moving to see a tree deeply honoured, celebrated, and protected with such great care. It is clearly central to the life and prosperity of the community. But what of our wider environment? If only it were as easy for us to recognise that our health and well-being depend on the natural world—and to celebrate and protect it with just as much passion and care as the Árbol del Tule in Santa María del Tule.
Our next Walk Church will be on Sunday 27th April, meeting at Shadoxhurst Church.