Meet the 2012 Eco-Stewards

On the eve of our 2012 Eco-Stewards Program, we’d like to introduce you to an amazing group of Eco-Stewards who will gather in Boston and Vermont (June 2-9) to study Climate Change & Christian Activism.  Our ecumenical group reflects a variety of traditions, including Episcopalian, Methodist, Presbyterian, and Roman Catholic.

Meet the 2012 Eco-Stewards:

Rick Herron of Dresden, Tennessee is an undergraduate student studying Political Science at Yale University.

Emily Kinsel of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania recently graduated from Temple University with a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Studies and French.

Vickie Machado is a master’s student studying at the University of Florida’s Department of Religion, with a focus on Religion and Nature. (Vickie also participated in the 2011 Montana Eco-Stewards Program.)

Katie Mahowski is a master’s student in Theological Studies at Boston College School of Theology & Ministry in Boston, Massachusetts.

Jake Melnyk teaches Earth Science and Biology at Greene Early College High School in Snow Hill, North Carolina. (Jake also participated in the 2011 Montana Eco-Stewards Program.)

Mary Schmidt  is a Religious Studies major at Millsaps College in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

Olivia Taylor of Darien, Connecticut is double-majoring in Environmental Studies and Political Science at the University of Vermont.

Lauren Wright is currently serving as a Young Adult Volunteer with Bayou Blue Presbyterian Church in Houma, Louisiana.

Meet the 2012 Program Leaders:

Rev. Rob Mark is a Presbyterian Church (USA) minister who serves as pastor of Church of the Covenant in Boston, MA, and chaplain to graduate students at Harvard University’s Memorial Church. He’s been with Eco-Stewards since its inception in 2006.

Dawn Sample, originally from Placerville, CA, grew up hiking and backpacking in the Sierra Nevada mountain range, and ever since, she has maintained a love for wild places and a desire to preserve them.  She currently works as the Religious Education Coordinator at St. Labre Catholic Indian School which serves students from the Crow and Northern Cheyenne tribes of southeastern Montana.

Becky Evans is a freelance journalist with ThreeBeats Media and a writing professor at Lasell College and Boston University. She has served as the Eco-Stewards “storytelling coach” during programs in West Virginia and Montana.

Meet the 2012 Hosts:

Church of the Covenant in Boston, Mass.: Worship at Church of the Covenant is the heart and soul of our life together as a community of faith. Since 1932 we have been a federated church, maintaining membership in the United Church of Christ and the Presbyterian Church (USA) and welcoming pilgrims and inquirers from all traditions to our life and work.

Bishop Booth Conference Center in Burlington, Vermont: Located on the shores of Lake Champlain, the Bishop Booth Conference Center (BBCC) is a sanctuary where the people of the Episcopal Diocese of Vermont, other religious groups and non-profit organizations may experience a sense of God’s presence, the beauty of creation and Christian community.

Happy Earth Day!

Happy Earth Day from The Eco-Stewards Program! With Earth Day falling on Earth Sunday, it’s a perfect day to be thinking about the intersection of faith and environmental stewardship.  It’s also a great day to promote our five summer internships at PCUSA camps and organic farms around the country– please spread the word to anyone who might be interested in spending a summer harvesting organic crops, designing composting and recycling programs and educating youth about the connections between faith and food. Click here for more info about the internships.

We also have one more opening for a young adult to join our June 2-9 Climate Change & Christian Activism program in Boston and Vermont. Learn more about our June program here.

And finally, check out this article about how Presbyterians– including our own Rebecca Barnes-Davies, Associate for Environmental Ministries for the Presbyterian Church, USA and Diane Waddell, moderator of Presbyterians for Earth Care–  are addressing climate change from carbon neutral policies to solar-powered churches. Our West Virginia Eco-Stewards should recognize Robin Blakeman of the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, who is also quoted in the article. We have Eco-Stewards West Virginia Program Leader Heather Lukacs to thank for pointing us to this very comprehensive article published by the Yale Forum on Climate Change & the Media.  Read the article here.

More Summer Internships!

The Eco-Stewards Program is happy to announce four wonderful summer internship opportunities working at organic gardens and farms around the country.

Love gardening? Camp Albermarle in Bogue Sound, North Carolina is looking to hire a paid intern who will maintain their new camp garden, start a composting and vermicomposting program, and create environmental education programming. Read more here.

Love farming? Camp Holmes in Holmes, New York is looking for an intern to help with the camp’s new sustainable farm project. The paid intern will harvest produce, care for farm animals, tend composting and vermicomposting, plan environmental education activities and more. Learn more here.

Love Montana? Greenwood Farm in Hardin, Montana near Crow Indian Reservation is offering an unpaid summer internship for someone with a passion for sustainable, organic farming in a Christian community. The intern will help with a variety of farm projects from fence building to weed control to free-range poultry to harvesting and stacking hay and much more. This position also provides opportunities for community service at a homeless day center, community garden and a new community health center. Read more here.

Love Nebraska? Calvin Crest Camp in Fremont, Nebraska wants to hire a paid summer intern to create activities for campers to get involved with the new camp garden. The goal is to get campers thinking about how the food they eat connects to their work in the garden. The intern will also build a sustainable composting program for the camp and encourage community involvement in the garden.  Learn more here.

Love New Jersey? Johnsonburg Presbyterian Center in rural northwest New Jersey is looking for a intern to tend the camp garden and create composting and recycling systems. Read more here.

Can’t commit to an internship? Then join our week-long Eco-Stewards Program in June and meet other young adults who are passionate about connecting faith and environmental stewardship in practical ways. Our theme this year is Climate Change & Christian Activism, June 2-9 program in Boston & Vermont. Click here for more info.

Eco-Stewards Share Experiences

2011 Eco-Stewards enjoy a hike under the beautiful Montana sky.

Thanks to everyone who took time to take our program evaluation survey! We got some incredible feedback about  previous weeklong programs and internships. We’ve included just a few of the great responses below, and it gives anyone, past participants or newly interested applicants, insight into this meaningful and transformative program.

Just a reminder that you can apply for the weeklong program and summer internships.  You have nothing to lose and so much to gain!

Responses from past Eco-Stewards:

“I received some much-needed encouragement. I somehow manage to find myself in situations where people do not see the connections between earth and faith that I see–or situations where people simply don’t care about the earth. It is easy to let the loneliness turn into an impediment. The Eco-Stewards program & the internship, too, helped me not just realize, but experience that I am part of a larger network of people trying to make a difference around them in small ways and large ways. That experience still keeps me going, two years later.” Response to: Was your personal faith or religious belief(s) changed or impacted during the week? If so, in what way(s)?

“I think my desire to integrate faith with environmental concern was greatly supported by this program and the participants in it during a critical time. Hearing the stories of others and seeing the variety of ways in which people were engaging this subjects was deeply encouraging as well as thought and action provoking.” Response to: Was your personal faith or religious belief(s) changed or impacted during the week? If so, in what way(s)?

“The time spent listening to each others’ stories, working in small and large groups, making music. So good to hear the perspectives from such a diverse group of people.” Response to: Of all the activities and experiences you encountered during your week, what was the most meaningful part for you? Why?

“Your actions and choices have an impact. Your care for the earth is right and just. Applying and sharing what you learned is the ripple in the pond that will make change. Prayer is important in all of these issues.” Response to: “What was the most important idea you took away from your Eco-Stewards experience?”

“I found the welcoming and ecumenical nature of the eco-stewards program to be particularly relevant to the current needs of our often divided society. I also found the presenters to be thoughtful and insightful as they engaged a variety of topics. The focus at the end on discerning one’s own specific calling in relation to faith and the environment was a particularly good way to integrate the activities of the week with the specific context of one’s life.” Response to: Any additional comments?

2012 Summer Internships Posted

2011 Eco-Stewards Dave Grace and Gerard Miller pose with David Mark at Greenwood Farm.

Interested in organic gardening and sustainable farming in a Christian context? We’ve posted two new summer internship opportunities for Eco-Stewards to connect their faith with environmental stewardship. Click here to read more about the garden and composting program at Calvin Crest Camp in Fremont, Nebraska and the intentional organic farming community at Greenwood Farm in Hardin/Crow Reservation, Montana. Don’t have time for a summer internship? We’re still looking for applicants for our week-long Eco-Stewards event in Vermont and Boston. Learn more about this June 2-9 Climate Change & Christian Activism event by clicking here.

Apply Now for the Eco-Stewards Vermont & Boston Program

Applications are now available for our June 2-9, 2012 Eco-Stewards Program in Vermont and Boston. Spread the word! This program for young adults (age 20-30) will focus on Climate Change & Christian Activism in light of the recent surge in protest movements from Occupy Wall Street to Tar Sands Action to 350.org. Join us in Boston as we meet with Occupy Boston’s spiritual leaders and visit Walden Pond to discuss Henry David Thoreau’s Civil Disobedience. In Vermont, we will help with Hurricane Irene relief projects in Vermont, talk with author and climate change activist Bill McKibben and his 350.org’s grassroots organizers, and discuss our individual eco-faith journeys while hiking in the Green Mountains or paddling the Connecticut River.  Questions? Send an email to revrobmark@gmail.com

Eco-Stewards Vermont/Boston Program Set for June 2012

We are excited to announce plans for the upcoming Eco-Stewards Vermont/Boston Program to be held June 2-9, 2012. The program will focus on Climate Change & Christian Activism in light of the recent surge in protest movements from Occupy Wall Street to Tar Sands Action to 350.org. Join us in Boston as we meet with Occupy Boston’s spiritual leaders and visit Walden Pond to discuss Henry David Thoreau’s Civil Disobedience. In Vermont, we will help with Hurricane Irene relief projects; talk to author and climate change activist Bill McKibben and his 350.org’s grassroots organizers; and hike in the Green Mountains, bike around Lake Champlain or paddle the Connecticut River.  Applications for the week-long program and paid summer internships will be posted soon. In the meantime, email revrobmark@gmail.com with any questions.

Eco-Stewards Program Featured in Presbyterians Today Magazine

The December 2011 issue of Presbyterians Today features The Eco-Stewards Program in an article exploring how young adults are encountering God through programs focused on caring for God’s creation. You can read Anitra Kitts’ “Learning from the land” article by following this link. Both Brian Frick and Rob Mark are quoted in the article, and you’ll also find some familiar photos snapped by our Eco-Stewards reporters.

Some Thoughts on Mindful Living

Montana Eco-Steward Vickie Machado is a graduate student in the Religion and Nature master’s program at the University of Florida.  She lives at The Gainesville Catholic Worker House, where she recently gave a talk on mindful living.

After helping out here for about two and half years, I committed to living at The Gainesville Catholic Worker for the Fall semester. This Catholic Worker House is one of more than 150 Catholic Worker communities around the world dedicated to living the social dimension of the Gospel by serving and living with the impoverished, struggling for social and economic justice, and working for peace. We practice this through our weekly activities, which include Dorothy’s Café, Breakfast Brigade and Art for All.

We strive to live as an intentional, faith-based community committed to a life of prayer, scripture study and culture critique. As a house, we host a variety of events that act as an effort to carry out these ideals. In terms of culture critique, we hold a monthly Roundtable Discussion. The first Thursday of every month, the house hosts a potluck dinner in which everyone is invited in the hopes of promoting dialogue on topics and issues pertinent to the world we live in today.

In October, I co-led a roundtable discussion on mindful living with Dr. Whitney Sanford, a professor at the University of Florida. We hosted a good group of about 24 people over a potluck family-style dinner. Dr. Sanford discussed the intentional non-violent, Gandhian-based communities (the Possibility Alliance and Dancing Rabbit) that she had visited this past summer. And I focused my part of the discussion on my time spent last summer with the Eco-Stewards in Montana. Together we showed how living an intentionally-based life is possible and how the way it is carried out varies from place to place. We really stressed the importance of being aware of the impact humans have on the world and the other people around them.

Vickie Machado (left) during a discussion at The Gainesville Catholic Worker House.

The following is a reflection I wrote after thinking more about this roundtable discussion on mindful living:

Socially, environmentally, and spiritually, we have the opportunity, more so the personal responsibility, to account for our actions. This accountability works best with love. In order for an effective and lasting change, we cannot blame others for not being able to make the common sacrifices we take for granted. We must support one another. Even a small change is better than no change at all. As much as I dream about writing those “angry letters,” I have learned you catch more flies with honey rather than vinegar. We are ALL God’s children. Sometimes we need a friendly word to ease ourselves into things. Trust me, three years ago I would have never thought I would be living at a Catholic Worker House, but after being here for a couple months, it seems so natural.

As cliché as this sounds knowledge is power. It’s not that people don’t care, sometimes they just don’t KNOW.  In those cases, we must open up the conversation, not with guilt and condemnation, but with hope and love- and with humility.

For those that do know, I believe it was Peter Maurin who said we must create a society in which it is easier for people to be good. We must promote positive changes in our communities and in our social structures that allow us to care for the environment, the people around us, and the world at large. We were put here on this earth for a reason: to love God and to love our neighbors. These aspects go hand in hand, and I think most people would agree this is not something that stops at a church, a synagogue, a mosque, a temple, or any other place of worship/spiritual growth.

I truly believe love is something that must be carried out into the world. What better way to show love than through the everyday mundane things we usually take for granted? So with this, I encourage you to live your life with intentionality. However it is carried out. Don’t walk around with your head in a cloud, strive to know the impact you have in and on this world. Create community; bike somewhere; build an Earthship; know where the food you eat comes from; engage in discussions. Most of all: love people. We only have one life, and it goes by fast.

Please consider The Eco-Stewards Program in your year-end charitable giving. Donation information is listed in the sidebar on the right.

Building A Reflective Community

Eco-Steward Kathi Pogorelov studies public health and sociology, with a concentration in health and environment, at The College of New Jersey. She took a break from her coursework to reflect on her participation in the June 2011 Montana Eco-Stewards Program.

Eco-stewardship means more than caring for the environment; it means caring for “our” environment, possessive, as in an entity which belongs to and is very much an extension of our being. It involves a type of caring which does not view oneself as separate from the surroundings in which one exists, but rather, as a permeable part belonging to a larger whole. One of the inside jokes among the Montana Eco-Stewards, in fact, was the concept of “fractals”– the humor was in repeating the word ‘fractals’ over and over with a certain emphasis that evoked feelings of infinite complexity and sci-fi awe.

A fractal project at Greenwood School in Hardin, Montana.

A fractal “is a rough or fragmented geometric shape that can be split into parts, each of which is (at least approximately) a reduced-size copy of the whole,” according to Wikipedia. From this structural perspective, all sorts of environments, depending on scale, can be seen as reflections of one another. Whether it be on a biological, psychological, familial, societal, ecological, global or other kind of organizational level, the health of one environment affects and mirrors the health of all other environments. None are exclusive to this phenomenon. Therefore, when our ecosystem is in any way out of balance, as earthlings, so are we. With this holistic understanding comes the responsibility and role of the Eco-Steward, demanding conscious choice, from what we purchase and put into our bodies, to how we live our lives.

The Montana Eco-Stewards pose for a "family photo."

It is this awareness of collective ownership upon which we formed a culture of eco-stewardship. As our mission in Montana strengthened thanks to a shared ideology (and love of farm food!), we unexpectedly began to form our very own ‘social ecosphere’. Similar to the community of the Crow Reservation, we too created a ‘tribal family’ during our time spent together. Congregating into circles, storytelling, gathering over hearty meals, car drive conversations and other bonding events were among the many activities that revealed the group’s great synergy. In effect, a ‘safe place’ between Eco-Stewards had been birthed into existence. By fostering a nourishing environment of acceptance, openness, mutual care and support, we had effectively planted the seeds for a tribe of gardeners. Our united knowledge and interactive collaboration had grown into something beyond ourselves, nurturing and empowering us in ways that could not have been accomplished alone. Each one of us, with our natural light, had burned a hole into an otherwise ordinary slab of wood, etching a piece of art that only Crow portrait artist Jon Beartusk could challenge.

Big Sky in My Heart

Eco-Steward Gerard Miller is living in Los Angeles after spending his summer at Greenwood Farm in Hardin, Montana. As part of the Episcopal Urban Intern Program, Gerard works as a campus aide at the Alliance Health Services Academy High School, a public charter school in South LA. Here he reflects about his time on Greenwood Farm and the Crow Reservation.

There is so much that happened during my two months at Greenwood Farm that it’s impossible to distill the experience to the “best” or “choicest” moments. Though the work was hard, building an Earthship and doing other farm tasks were as much a part of my personal and spiritual growth as the rest of it. Being able to get down and work with my hands, to learn by doing, and to be deeply in touch with the “stuff” of the Earth really fulfilled a longing that I had. I now have a deeper personal understanding of the parables and the lives of the prophets and patriarchs of the Bible, and of my personal calling.

Here’s a sample of my typical day at Greenwood Farm:

Our wake up call at 6 a.m. rolled around all too quickly, and that powerhouse of Dave Graber, like time and tide, waits for no man. Not willing to let a man 40-some years older than us show us up, Dave Grace (my fellow intern) and I struggled out of those soft beds and headed down to work.

Eco-Stewards Dave Grace and Gerard Miller pose with Dave Mark at Greenwood Farm.

Once outside in the early morning light and cool air, things were better. I fell into a good rhythm and felt like it was no time before Bonnie called us in for breakfast at 7 a.m. Before we ate, we would read daily Psalms from the missal handed out by the Catholic church in Crow Agency. Then, one of us would pray over the food and the day. Mealtimes were one time during which I felt the most different from everyone else. Raised by a southern or southern-oriented family, I was taught to take my time and enjoy the food and fellowship as much as possible. More often than not, at breakfast, lunch and dinner, the Daves and Bonnie would be up clearing the table and washing dishes while I was finishing the last third of my plate.

Then it was time for the real work, which usually went from about 7:45 a.m. to about noon. Weeding the garden, mowing the considerable grounds, rebuilding the chicken coop, planting trees, and working on that monster of an Earthship, I worked like I have never before. Relieved when at 11:45 a.m. I went in to help Bonnie set up for lunch, around 2:30 p.m., we were handed over to “Graber” again. We’d continue working until 5 p.m. or 6 p.m., depending on the task at hand and what else was going on.

The Earthship (made of reclaimed tires) under construction at Greenwood Farm.

“Grace” withstood my daily rant, where I used things we saw or heard on the radio as a way to think through and organize my thoughts after so much study over the past several years. I can never be more grateful for him putting up with me as I preached to him, the choir.

Many table-side conversations were opportunities to learn from the life and wisdom of the Grabers, who have lived exceptional lives and stand as examples of a well-thought and well-applied faith. I also gleaned a great deal from talking to the Mark’s (Dave and Bonnie’s daughter, Kristen, and her husband, Dave), who had their own insights into both temporal and spiritual matters. We agreed on so many things that it surprised me, and those areas in which we saw differently, challenged me to consider my stance. Even the Mark children taught me attitudes, ways of understanding, and a patience that I couldn’t have gotten without their earnest and lively input.

Gerard and Dave Graber pose with the Mark children.

In addition to life at Greenwood Farm, we also got out into the community of rural Montana, particularly the Crow Reservation. We attended numerous cultural events, among them:  Catholic and Pentecostal church services, Baptist and Pentecostal camp meetings, pow wows, rodeos, Crow Hymns Ministries meetings, a Sun Dance, and a sweat. These cultural events gave me insight into the daily emotional and spiritual lives of the people in the area. I saw God manifested in so much of the experience– the people, places, and events– that I’m still playing it back to extract understanding. The ideas of community, of koinonia, and of intentionality guided and highlighted my time on the Res. It expanded my worldview and deepened my conviction to discern my gifts and callings, though they be without repentance. I carry Big Sky in my heart.

Rethinking Our Rivers

Eco-Steward Josh Campbell graduated in May from Oklahoma Baptist University, where he studied cultural anthropology. He will soon start a master’s program in international agriculture and development at Oklahoma State University.  The program will focus on using agriculture to preserve, sustain, and develop communities. Here he reflects on what he learned during our June Eco-Stewards Program in southeastern Montana.

During our time in Montana, the Eco-Stewards explored many subjects related to personal faith and the environment. One of the things we explored together was the connection between the environment and personal health ­­­­­­­­– the idea that the land one lives in can play a major part in one’s physical health. Lack of care for the environment often leads to poor health conditions for the people that live in and depend on the land that is treated poorly. This is the case for those living on the Crow Reservation and other places in Montana.

While in Montana, our group met with Mari Eggers, an ecologist and doctoral student at Montana State University, who has conducted water quality research with students at Little Bighorn College and community member research partners on the Crow Reservation. She and her family have lived on the reservation and know first hand the complexity of environmental issues and how they can affect the health and well being of people.

Ecologist Mari Eggers was a guest speaker at the 2010 Montana Eco-Stewards Program.

Eggers discussed how water contamination is impacting public health on the Crow Reservation. The pollution of river systems in Montana is the result of many practices that don’t take consideration for the environment. Some of these include: mercury emissions from power plants; straight pipes, which take sewage from houses straight into the river systems; runoff from chemicals used in farming; animal waste; and inadequate municipal wastewater treatment.  There is also concern about mineral contaminants from old uranium mines reaching the rivers, an issue currently being researched by one of Eggers’ colleagues.  The level of fecal contamination makes the rivers unsafe for swimming in some locations and at some times during the year. In addition, many people on the Crow Reservation rely on shallow well water for home use; approximately half of these wells have tested positive for bacterial contamination and/or unsafe levels of mineral contaminants such as manganese.  Community members are also concerned about pesticides from agriculture in their groundwater, an issue now being researched in the Bighorn River Valley on the Reservation by the U.S. Geological Survey.

Eggers noted that their project has tested mercury levels in local fish, and found that the larger fish of some species are high enough in mercury that women of childbearing age and children should not consume more than one serving of these fish per month.  The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has also tested fish in the reservoir on the Reservation, and found that the local walleye have some of the highest mercury levels of all the fish they tested nationwide.  This seems absolutely wrong to me. Water in many cultures and faith traditions is the most sacred element– the source of life. Life depends on clean water for survival, yet, we take it for granted. What are we doing wrong that it is not safe to eat fish from our waters?

The Bighorn River on the Crow Reservation.

I live in Oklahoma, where natural gas companies are one of the major employers, chemical agriculture is the norm, and Indian reservations are packed into one small place like sardines in a can.  It is a place where our river systems are all but gone, yet, I have never really stopped to consider any of these things. In fact, not until my time in Montana, did I stop to think about how the improper treatment of the environment could directly affect people.  I have never really considered issues of environmental racism on Indian reservations. Nor the effects of chemicals used in agriculture and natural gas production. Now that I am home, I feel guilty for being blind to the issues around me, but also responsible for sharing with others the importance of our natural world and caring for it properly. If we care for it, it will care for us.

I recently read a 2009 New York Times article showing that an estimated 1 in 10 Americans have been exposed to drinking water that contains dangerous chemicals or fails to meet federal health regulations. Here in Oklahoma we know first hand the horrible effects pollution can have on both human, and non-human environments. The former town of Picher, now a ghost town, was once a city in Ottawa County, Oklahoma and was formerly a center of lead and zinc mining. Discoveries of ground contamination and the possibility of a cave-in of mines under the city forced much of its population to evacuate. The nearby town of Cardin is now experiencing the same issues. As a result of the devastation from mining, Picher’s population plummeted from 1,640 people in the 2000 census to 20 in the 2010 census— it is believed to have no true residents today. This devastated land belongs to the Quapaw Tribe of northeast Oklahoma.  After the mining, and after the government moved everyone away, the Tribe was handed back the worst environmental disaster site in the country.

After my time in Montana, I do not have an answer to the complex problems that we and our environments are facing, but I do believe that understanding that there are problems, and being aware and concerned about the issues in the place you find yourself, is very important. When our environment is sick, we are sick. We depend on our environment for life and when the environment we live in is disrespected, human life is also being disrespected. Any environmental problem is a human problem.

Now, may God grant us wisdom to understand and the eyes to see the environmental issues affecting the well being of others, and may we be brave enough to advocate for any part of creation where there is injustice. May we be instruments of God’s justice and peace so that all creation might be in right-relationship.

On Leaving Montana

Eco-Stewards Intern Dave Grace stacked hay, repaired a chicken coup and built an Earthship-style garage and goat-milking barn during his stay at Greenwood Farm this summer. He is a sustainable agriculture major at Warren Wilson College.

Tomorrow I will say goodbye to Greenwood Farm and Montana for a while. I have a lot to say about my time here and the thoughts I’ve been having, but I won’t be able to provide much detail in 500 words—so I will just outline the basis for these thoughts and provide a few examples that offer a glimpse into the value I’ve found in joining the Graber family, if only temporarily, in their work and lives.

My Christianity is founded upon resistance to the implications of The Fall while trying to stay attentive to the spirit within me and the signs of the promise of redemption around me. The basis for this is in wild nature—God’s original intention for humanity as expressed in Genesis. For me, this is where the discussion of Christianity and the environment is centered: the fundamental breakdown in human relations and alienation from Earth characterized by The Fall. When it comes down to distilling this theology into practice, it is a matter of creating egalitarian relationships, based in wildness, that are human to human and human to nature. This is an expression of love that is not ideological or fantastic but an experienced reality in alignment with the highest expression of love in God’s grace.

My time at Greenwood Farm has been highly beneficial to me. I see relationships in this family that demonstrate an intention of loving relationship. This intention extends to Greenwood Farm and to involvement in the wider community—from the Crow Hymns Project to the Bighorn Valley Health Center. In short, I really appreciate the genuine respect and care that I felt from this family.

Dave Graber (left) teaches Crow drumming to Dave Grace (right) and other Eco-Stewards participants.

Here at Greenwood Farm, I’ve assisted with many projects: construction of an Earthship-style garage and goat-milking barn, using tires packed with sand, clay and cob for its walls; stacking hay bales and mowing grass; chicken coop repair; leveling an area for a bunkhouse floor; and preparing barrels for hot water storage. This work has proven to be educational for me, especially the Earthship construction. It has offered me an experience of reclaiming an industrial waste (tires) to put to other uses that have the potential to increase self-reliance and community responsibility. I find the necessity of work troubling in civilization, as its production focus is misleading from a wild state of communion in nature. However, there seems to be a way of subverting work’s aims if this necessity is understood and does not become a force of domestication.

Dave Grace (front, red shirt) and Dave Graber (back, red shirt) begin construction on the Earthship structure made from reclaimed tires.

As I leave this internship, I am looking forward to getting in touch with Mi Media Naranja in North Carolina to further study these intimate connections between nature and Christianity. But first, I’m heading to Alaska, where I look forward to fishing for salmon.

Finding Communion in Song

Eco-Steward Gerard Miller studied modern languages, linguistics and intercultural communication at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County. He is working this summer as an intern at Greenwood Farm in Hardin, Montana. Here he reflects on a day from our June Eco-Stewards Program.

Looking back on our week of active learning in Eastern Montana, the one thing that comes to mind as a theme, or overarching idea, is the voice. All week, we sat or stood in conversation with one another, sharing our ideas of God and the world and lending our personal insights to each other’s queries and assertions. This was most true on Saturday, our second day at Greenwood Farm in Hardin. We had gone to sleep the night before under a clear, star-strewn sky like nothing I’d ever seen. Gathered around the campfire, we’d lifted our voices in song, submitting our favorites as requests to be sung by the group. The songs we chose told something about each of us, and about what we thought of the group. It was a great time for fellowship, with any lingering nervousness or anxiety covered by the inky blackness that surrounded the dancing flames.

Earlier that day, we had started our morning with prayer and a song, both of which served to unite us and lend a sense of purpose to our work for the day. After breakfast, a group of Eco-Stewards went to offer their hands and strong backs to Dave Graber in setting the foundation for the earthship outbuilding at Greenwood Farm. Others hung around inside the farmhouse for an impromptu jam session around the Grabers’ piano. With guitars, piano, harmonicas, and our humble and wonderful human voices, we continued to weave together a common narrative and to unify our voices.

As a choir director and musician, I really appreciated the spirit of cooperation, of koinonia (the Greek word for Christian fellowship or communion), that came to the fore as we sang. This was helped along later that afternoon, after Heather arrived and led us through the writing and sharing of our “ecofaith journeys.” The idea was to reflect on those influences which had led us to the spiritual and ecological place that we find ourselves in today. Whereas our songs had told something of our personal and corporate stories, these stories and the way one flowed into the next created a fluid, lyrical song.  It was a beautiful time of sharing in the true spirit of God’s message to His people and Jesus’ example. Having broken bread, we gave up our voices to a chorus, singing His praise, reflecting on His works, and seeking deeper purpose in our own walks.

Negotiating Difficult Terrain

Eco-Stewards Intern Andrew Foltz-Morrison is constructing a community garden this summer at Krislund Camp in Madisonburg, PA.  This fall, he will return to Rutgers University, where he is double majoring in philosophy and geography. Here he reflects on a moment from our June Eco-Stewards Program in Montana.

“As you walk back, stay separate from the rest of the group and just take in the landscape on your own.”

We were given these instructions just before climbing a very steep rock face on our way back to the Rim Country Land Institute in Billings, Montana. And so we walked. Each person found his own way up. I chose to climb more than walk, taking large steps from rock to rock as I made my way up the rock face. As I climbed, I could hardly do anything apart from focus on the terrain in perhaps the most direct manner possible. Though I largely found the path on my own, I did look to see where others ahead of me had gone and adjusted my route accordingly. The thought of that stayed with me as the ground leveled out. As a student of geography, I seek to understand the landscapes that surround us, but it is always at a degree of abstraction far greater than the simple task of getting from one point to another on the terrain. I also wish to understand the social dynamics that affect these landscapes; it was refreshing to very directly see and participate in one.

Eco-Stewards hike through mixed grass prairie at the Rim Country Land Institute in Billings, Montana.

I noted afterward that this concept of negotiating difficult terrain was an apt metaphor for the work that we, as Eco-Stewards, have to do in the world. We have to bring people together across both physical and mental landscapes. In order to bring about the change we seek to do, we have to reach people where they are, and show them where they need to go. But we also have to give them the opportunity to find their own way of getting there. The act of negotiation necessitates nothing less, if we are to give people the participation they deserve to have in changing our world for the better. It also implies a sense of mutual understanding that I usually don’t experience with things like physical landscapes. But if we are to discover a more just and sustainable way of living in and caring for God’s creation, we must recognize the reality and importance of things like us. Just as we respect the perspectives of other people in our negotiation, so too must we come to an understanding with the natural world as we negotiate our relationship with it.

Another important thing about negotiating: it never goes exactly as you intend or expect it to. At my internship at Krislund Camp and Conference Center, I am helping to build both a physical garden and the network of people who will support it in years to come. Any part of ministry is slow work, and working with volunteers means accommodating their schedules and plans. Nevertheless, it also means giving them the opportunity to think differently about their relationship with their food. I also must learn to be humble in my interactions with the land itself. The rototiller, when confronted with the rocky Pennsylvania soil, reminded me of this quite nicely! It is also quite late in the planting season, so I must seek to understand what can and cannot grow in the remaining warm months. I’m also figuring out what it means to negotiate with a constrained budget as I scavenge whatever materials I can for raised beds from around camp. I am, however, very grateful for the opportunity to link this type of negotiation with positive action in whatever way I can.

Upcycled tires are put to new use in small garden beds at Krislund Camp in Madisonburg, VA.

Garden beds are located in the middle of the camp to make fresh produce visible to campers.

Raised beds (such as these made out of reclaimed wood and cinder blocks) enable easier participation for garden volunteers.