In order to increase compassion-building for Earth Day (April 22),  the Mental Health Committee has chosen the viewing of The Green Planet (2022), narrated by David Attenborough. The strange and wonderful world of plants are revealed like never before. 

The Biggest Little Farm (2019) is the true story of a natural farm built and based on biodiversity, with a recognition of interconnections, impermanence, and transformation.  The 8-year journey of John and Molly Chester, trading city living for 200 acres of barren farmland, reveals their dream to harvest in harmony with nature.  They provide a vital blueprint for better living and a healthier planet.

Through this workshop at the Holy Wisdom Monastery in Madison, WI, we will explore climate impacts and ministry responses, including biblical, personal, scientific, community and congregational aspects of climate change.

We are offering this workshop for free to pastors and ministry in the region. We would like to invite you to share and support this opportunity for your leaders.

We invite your partnership in two ways: 

1. Share the attached letter or announcement below with pastors and congregations in your region. 

2. Consider being a co-sponsor by offering financial support. We have several sponsorship options listed in the attached document.

This retreat brings together the theological resources of Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary with the ecumenical reach of Creation Justice Ministries, and the formational experiences developed by the Anabaptist Climate Collaborative. We begin with lunch on Monday, May 22 and continue until lunch on Wednesday, May 24. The application deadline is March 31, so please help publicize this soon! 

Creation Justice Ministries and the Anabaptist Climate Collaborative have decided to provide this event free of charge for those engaged in ministry in the region. In addition, other leaders who come with their pastor or executive are also free. Your support would help us over those costs. 

We have an exciting and diverse team of leaders from across the region. Presenters include:

· Rev. Dr. Otis Moss III, Senior Pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, Illinois

· Victoria Loorz, “wild church pastor,” “eco-spiritual director,” and author of Church of the Wild

· Dr. Timothy Eberhart, Assistant Professor of Theology and Ecology at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary

· Rev. Brian Sauder, President and Executive Director of Faith in Place

· Rev. Scott Onque, Pastor of St. Luke Missionary Baptist Church, a 100-year-old historic church on the south side of Chicago

· Doug Kaufman, Director of Pastoral Ecology at the Anabaptist Climate Collaborative

· Avery Davis Lamb and Karyn Bigelow, co-Executive Directors of Creation Justice Ministries

More information, including biographies and a full list of presenters, is available at www.creationjustice.org/wiworkshop or contact me at ecopastor@anabaptistclimate.org.

Dear loved one –
I hope you let go.
I hope you let go of holding yourself to impossible
standards.
Lower the bar. Give yourself grace.
God delights in who you are.
And while you’re at it, I hope you let go of ignoring your beauty.

The mirror is tired of your harsh words, for you are
made of star stuff and music.
You are the only you there is, and you. are. simply. stunning.

And I hope you’ll let go of certainty.
For the sun will always rise and set, and you will always be loved.

What more do we really need to know than that?
So let go of your fear.
Let go of perfection.
Let go of busyness as a sign of your self-worth,

and the notion that creativity is a luxury.

Plant roots like a redwood,
and a spine like a sunflower;
For the days are short, and you are beautiful.
I love nothing more than to see you happy.

So don’t be afraid to let go.
The only thing you cannot lose is God’s, evergreen love.

 Sarah Are, from Sanctified Art: Cultivating and Letting Go

____

Cultivate

Tell me again.
Tell me again because I will forget.
Tell me again because change has never come easy.
Tell me again, because on Monday I’ll wave palms
And by Friday I’ll be at the foot of a cross.
So if you can, tell me again
Of the love that changed the world,
And my invitation to do the same.
Sarah Are, from Sanctified Art: Cultivating and Letting Go

The Grove City College Touring Choir, under the direction of Associate Professor of Music, Dr. Katherine Mueller, is a select group of 43 singers. The choir consists of students from a variety of academic majors and tours annually throughout various regions of the United States. The GCC Touring Choir members desire to make beautiful music using the gifts and talents given them by God. In addition to the spring tour, the choir performs for churches, colleges, and community events in the western Pennsylvania area. Past honors include performing with Keith and Kristyn Getty, the Erie Symphony Orchestra, and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.