Convocation 2023
Kinship: Re-Weaving the Great Web of Belonging
Meet our Creative / Contemplative Immersion Leaders
Preeta Banerjee, Ph.D.
Preeta Banerjee, Ph.D. is the Hindu Chaplain at Tufts University and a spiritual companion who draws on a broad and deep range of experience, having spent over 20 years in academia, coaching and consulting as an advocate, educator, researcher, and author. Her passion lies in creating brave spaces at the intersection of contemplation, activism and healing and deepening in interreligious manyness, from a lens rooted in bhakti, gyan, karma, and raj yog. She is a founding board member of the North American Hindu Chaplains Association; Advisory Council member of the Spiritual Directors of Color Network; and in process to becoming a Mass Audubon certified naturalist. Marpheen Chann
Marpheen Chann is an author, writer, thinker, advocate, and speaker on social justice, equity, and inclusion. As a gay, first-generation Asian American born in California to a Cambodian refugee family and later adopted by an evangelical, white working-class family in Maine, Marpheen uses a mix of humor and storytelling to help people view topics such as racism, xenophobia, and homophobia through an intersectional lens. Marpheen Chann lives in Portland, Maine. He works in the nonprofit and advocacy sector and holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of Southern Maine and a law degree from the University of Maine School of Law.Rev. Liz Fulmer
Rev. Liz Fulmer (she/her) is a queer pastor and musical storyteller serving Grandview Church in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Trained as a songwriter and vocal principle at Berklee College of Music and spiritually formed through the care and teaching of Lancaster Theological Seminary, Fulmer is passionate about facilitating divine encounter through the blending of breath, music, word, and community. A multi-instrumentalist, she has 3 albums of original music: Heaven Knows (2016), Ellipsis (2018), and The Bible Tells Me So (2023). Liz has been a guest lecturer at Millersville University and Lancaster Theological Seminary, teaching on the craft of songwriting and how to effectively combine music and visuals to create accessible and meaningful worship experiences. She was ordained in 2020 by the Movement of Inclusive Methodists. Liz feels called to the work of sacred space-making, particularly for those who have been made to feel unworthy or unacceptable in the eyes of the Christian Church for any reason.
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Steve Garnaas-Holmes is a pastor, poet, musician, retreat leader, and the author and curator of the popular blog Unfolding Light, where he records almost-daily reflections rooted in a contemplative, Creation-centered spirituality, often inspired by a practice of walking in the woods. For four decades, Steve served United Methodist churches in Montana and New England. From 1975 until 2013, he was a writer and performer with the Montana Logging and Ballet Company, a comedy and political satire group that performed around the United States, recorded several albums, and regularly appeared on NPR's Sunday Weekend Edition. Now living in Maine and enjoying retirement from local church ministry, Steve continues to write and lead retreats on prayer, poetry, contemplative practice, and renewing our language about God. Steve and his wife Beth have three grown sons and three grandchildren, whom they love dearly.
Rebecca Kneale Gould, Ph.D.
Rebecca is Associate Professor of Environmental Studies and co-director of the Philosophy, Religion and Environment focus at Middlebury College. She is delighted to be working with the BTS Center as a resident scholar, assisting with Applied Research and other programs. Rebecca is scholar of comparative religion and American religious history by training (PhD, Harvard University, 1997). Her prevailing interest is in how people make meaning for themselves, in both religious and “spiritual-but-not-religious” ways. Her book, At Home in Nature: Modern Homesteading and Spiritual Practice in America explores back-to-the-land movements as an expression of American “nature religion.” At the same time, much of her research and writing has focused on religious environmentalism, particularly the ways in which Christians and Jews of various stripes understand and negotiate the relationship between their religious identities and their ecological commitments. In addition to articles and book chapters addressing these questions, she is the co-creator, with Phil Walker, of a contemplative documentary short: The Fire Inside: Place, Passion and the Primacy of Nature. Rebecca embraces the liberal Jewish roots of her multi-religious family tree, leads a monthly women’s Hebrew chant group and is active in various interfaith spiritual direction initiatives. She has a passion for Thoreau and currently serves on the boards of the Thoreau Society and Vermont Interfaith Power and Light. She lives in Vermont with her wife and a small flock of adorable rescue sheep.Kimberly Knight, M.Div
Rev. Dr. Andrea Lloyd
Rev. Dr. Andrea (Andi) Lloyd is pastor of the Trinitarian Congregational Parish of Castine, Maine, United Church of Christ. She received an M. Div. from Yale Divinity School in 2022. Prior to her career in ministry, Andi was an ecologist. She received a PhD in ecology and evolutionary biology from the University of Arizona in 1996, and went on to serve as a professor of biology at Middlebury College from 1996 until 2020. She served as the Dean of the Faculty and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Middlebury from 2012 through June 2019. In her work as an ecologist, she studied the effects of climate change on forests in Alaska and Siberia; taught classes on plant ecology, evolution, and climate change; and authored/co-authored more than 30 articles and book chapters on climate change. Along with Rev. Andy Nagy-Benson, she is the author of Letters to the Ecotone: Ecology, Theology, and Climate Change (Resource Publications, 2022).
Rev. Holly Morrison
Rev. Holly Morrison serves as full-time pastor of Phippsburg Congregational Church, United Church of Christ. She has previously served congregations in Maine, Colorado, Washington State, and Alaska. She and her wife are the stewards of Tir na nOg Farm, an educational farmstead devoted to restorative agriculture. In farming as well as ministry, she draws inspiration from her Celtic roots. Her writing is included in two collections: There’s A Woman In The Pulpit (Skylight Paths, 2015) and The Smeddum Test: 21st Century Poems In Scots (Kennedy & Boyd, 2012).
Rev. Andrew Nagy-Benson
Rev. Andrew (Andy) Nagy-Benson is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ. A graduate of Colby College and Yale Divinity School, Andy has served congregations in New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Vermont. He was a lecturer of homiletics at Yale Divinity School, and has recently co-taught courses at Middlebury College. Andy is the senior pastor of The Congregational Church of Middlebury (UCC) in Middlebury, VT, and an affiliate chaplain at Middlebury College. He is the co-founder and president of Table 21, a nonprofit that has issued nearly $1 million in grants to Addison County (VT) farms, restaurants, and small businesses since 2021. He is currently a Doctor of Ministry student in the Creative Writing and Public Theology cohort at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. Andy and his family live in Weybridge, Vermont. Along with Rev. Dr. Andi Lloyd, he is the author of Letters to the Ecotone: Ecology, Theology, and Climate Change (Resource Publications, 2022).
