We’re happy to share that we’ve received some wonderful applicants for our upcoming Seattle Eco-Stewards Program in June!
We can admit a few more candidates, so please keep spreading the word to young adult leaders in your midst!We’ve extended our application deadline to April 13.
Our focus this year will be on Creativity and Power: Theological Reflection and Action on Climate Change. Please be in touch with Rev. Rob Mark (revrobmark@gmail.com) with any questions.Here is a link to the 2016 application.
Help us spread the word about our upcoming 2016 program in Seattle. We have an awesome new poster that you can download here. Read on to learn more about our exciting program that connects Pope Francis, climate change and the power of organizing.
In peace,
The Eco-Stewards Leadership Team
Eco-Stewards 2016: Seattle, Washington: June 13-18, 2016 “Creativity and Power: Theological Reflection and Action on Climate Change”
Join us in the beautiful Pacific Northwest as we gather and delve into the climate justice movement through the lens of faith. This unique part of our country stands at the current nexus of energy debates and hopes for a more sustainable tomorrow—battling powers of coal, oil and gas with the new alternative powers of wind, sun and water. We will dive into these issues to contemplate our call to address climate change as people of faith newly inspired by Pope Francis’ clarion invitation to care for Our Common Home. We will spend this placed-based learning week listening to local faith-based communities who are responding to the challenges of energy in creative, inspiring and powerful ways. A good portion of our time together will also focus on daily theologically reflection of the Pope’s encyclical and sharing our own Eco-Faith Journeys with one another. Applications are forthcoming. For more info, email revrobmark@gmail.com
Greetings to all! We are excited to announce specific plans for our June 2013 Eco-Stewards Program in Portland, Oregon: Connectional Urban Living as Creative Response. We are eager to recruit a new crop of Eco-Stewards (Ages 20-30), so please help us spread the word by sharing the link to this blogpost with any young adults who care deeply about faith and environmental stewardship. You can find more information about the program below:
Connectional Urban Living as Creative Response
Portland, Oregon: June 1-8, 2013
This place-based learning program for young adults (ages ~20-30) will consider how people of faith in the Portland area are responding in creative ways to environmental challenges such as climate change (Oregon coal export controversy), food inequality and urban sprawl. We will spend the week exploring the city by foot, bike and public transport as we visit farmer’s markets, ecumenical partnerships, co-housing communities, food cooperatives and farms. Along the way, we’ll meet with community organizers, city planners, church leaders and environmental activists to discuss how they are laying connectional roots to build a sustainable urban community. During the week, we will also take time to reflect on our individual eco-faith journeys while staying at Menucha Retreat & Conference Center and hiking and recreating in the Columbia River Gorge and foothills of Mt. Hood in the Cascades. For more information, contact Rev. Rob Mark: revrobmark@gmail.com
Application Deadline: Applications still being accepted this week, so apply ASAP. (Rolling admission).
The Bighorn River, as viewed from Greenwood Farm on the Crow Reservation
Join us June 2-9, 2011 as we explore the connections between faith and environmental stewardship along the banks of the Bighorn River in southeastern Montana. We will camp in tents and tepees at Greenwood Farm, a 40-acre organic farm on the Crow Reservation, just outside of Hardin, MT.
Through discussions with environmental experts, local farmers, doctors and tribal leaders, we will consider how communities can achieve sustainability and reconciliation through better agriculture, health care and green building practices. Our exploration of these issues will include lectures, community gatherings, field excursions, hands-on project work, creative worship, and sharing of personal passions and vocational discernment. While paddling the Bighorn and hiking in the Sand Rocks, participants will have time to absorb the region’s powerful landscape while reflecting on their own eco-life journeys.
The Eco-Stewards Program, formerly known as the Presbyterian Conservation Corps, is open to young adults (ages 20-30) who are looking for education and training in environmental stewardship from a faith perspective.
Participants may choose to follow up the week-long program with a paid summer internship at one of several sites, including: Greenwood Farm in Montana; one of several Presbyterian churches in West Virginia; or one of several Presbyterian Church (USA) camps around the country. These Eco-Stewards Interns will put their skills into action through a variety of projects such as planting organic gardens, building green structures, designing and implementing “greening” plans for camps, or creating an eco-stewardship curriculum for campers.
Among others, the program’s leadership will include: Rev. Rob Mark of Harvard University’s Memorial Church and First Presbyterian Church of Waltham, Massachusetts; Dr. David Mark, MD of Crow/Northern Cheyenne IHS Hospital and Bighorn Valley Health Center; and Becky W. Evans, a freelance environmental journalist and communication professor at Boston University and Lasell College.
To apply, email Rev. Rob Mark at robfirstpres@gmail.com
The Eco-Stewards Program 