Woman at the Well

Published 3rd November 2024 by Aike Kennett-Brown

After a busy 3 day of leading seminars, networking, and being on the Messy Church stand at Church of Norway conference, I had the opportunity to visit a sauna, called The Well, Oslo. It’s the Nordic region’s largest Spa in Scandinavia, with baths, saunas and spa treatments from all over the world.

It promised that I would avoid stress, recharge my batteries and experience pure wellness.

I have to admit, my visit was far from stress free. I was out of my comfort zone from the moment the receptionist explained that you can only wear your own swimwear on a Tuesday (it was Thursday), so this experience is either naked or you have to buy swimwear from The Well. The prospect of wandering around ‘as God intended’ for the next 3 hours created immediate huge internal stress. I quickly discovered in the women’s changing room that that the majority had opted to buy the swimwear. Much relieved, I hastily headed back to reception and bought a bikini, which cost as much as the entry fee!

Kitted out in new bikini, bathing robe, slippers and sauna towel, I started to explore the many rooms of The Well. There were steam rooms, saunas, blue-lit swimming pools both inside and out, bubbling Jacuzzis, Finnish saunas, Japanese saunas and Onsens, Turkish baths, ice-baths, plunge pools, buckets of ‘mountain-stream’ water to pour over your head. The variety of ways I could ‘recharge my batteries’ seemed endless.

However, it turns out that ‘recharging’ is not a solo pursuit but can be enhanced by a group experience and before I could jump into a jacuzzi, I was ushered into an ‘Aufguss’ sauna ritual, along with 20 others. It was probably the most unusual and hilarious 15 minutes of my trip. I had no idea what to expect, but clearly some were experienced sauna lovers, wearing nothing except a traditional sauna hat, which can best be described as a felted pixie bonnet.

This multisensory experience was conducted by an ‘Aufguss meister’ (also wearing felt sauna hat that resembled a Roman centurion’s helmet, but fortunately also wearing a towel around waist). He dramatically poured water, and snowballs mixed with essential oils onto the hot sauna stones, to the soundtrack of ‘Kill Bill’. Using a towel, he directed the steam towards us. I tried relaxing into the experience and closed my eyes, like others around me were doing, but found myself being splashed with cold water by our Aufguss meister, who had now picked up bunches of oaks leaves drenched in cold water and was busy flicking each sweaty person. I was reminded of the practice of ‘asperging’, the act of sprinkling holy water as a preparatory ceremony before the Eucharist or after the renewal of Baptismal vows, which I had experienced on occasion in an Anglo-Catholic setting.

The parallels with baptism didn’t stop there, as we were quickly ushered into a cold plunge pool. Being a novice, I went full under, experiencing brain freeze, and resurfaced to the experienced participants shaking their unsubmerged heads at me. There was no time to dwell on my rooky error, as we were back in the sauna having the heat ramped up, this time to the tune of ‘I’m only human’ by Rag’n’Bone Man. Without instruction, the sauna erupted into a group karaoke session, singing and clapping along to the tune, as our Aufguss meister danced along like a chicken, using fans like wings to waft the hot air over us. It was a surreal and humorous moment that I will never forget.

It made me consider the different Church rituals I think are perfectly normal because I’ve grown up in that environment, which an outsider might find weird. For example, a service led by a person in a funny hat and robes, sprinkling people with water, wafting incense, knowing when to sit, stand and sing group karaoke are not just found in sauna rituals, but form part of Christian liturgical ceremonies. Messy Church, aimed at those who wouldn’t normally attend church, does its best to model a Christ-centred community, without religious Christian jargon and terminology, that make services inaccessible to outsiders. However, I wonder how often we develop our own Messy Church culture, and forget to explain why we pray, spend time in messy activities and eat together as part of our worship? Do we expect a newcomer to just slot into our culture, or do we extend the hand of welcome and spend time explaining what will happen and where to find the toilets?

 

As I drifted out of ‘The Well’ later that evening, I did indeed feel that my batteries were recharged, but had I experienced ‘pure wellness’? For a few hours, I felt as though a weight had been lifted from my shoulders, after carrying heavy luggage and laptops in the previous days. However, within 24 hours, I was ready for my next sauna.

I pondered one of my favourite Bible stories where Jesus meets a Samaritan woman at the well. In this highly unusual encounter, a deep theological conversation develops during which Jesus claims:

Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life. (John 4:13-14, NIV).

What an attractive offer! Having the need to drink vast amounts of water after my sauna experience, I can understand why the woman initially understands this in a very literal way when she responds, ‘Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.’ (John4:15, NIV). As the conversation continues, Jesus prophetically yet gently reveals a path for achieving permanent ‘pure wellness’. The Message puts it like this:

It’s who you are and the way you live that count before God. Your worship must engage your spirit in the pursuit of truth. That’s the kind of people the Father is out looking for: those who are simply and honestly themselves before him in their worship. God is sheer being itself—Spirit. Those who worship him must do it out of their very being, their spirits, their true selves, in adoration. (John 4:23-24 The Message)

Whilst my sauna experience temporarily cleansed my body and eventually provided an opportunity to relax, I know that ‘pure wellness’ goes beyond good physical and mental health: it requires my spirit to ‘pursue truth’, walk humbly and honestly with God, helped along the way by God’s spirit.

I wonder..?

What helps you stay physically, mentally and spiritually well?

If you’re thinking of introducing Communion to your Messy Church and now wondering how to do this in a way that allows the newcomer to understand and encounter Christ, do join our Communion masterclass on 12th November.

Aike Kennett-Brown

BRF ministries Messy Church Ministry Lead

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