Contemplative Practices for Convocation 2021
It is good and necessary to find our ground and keep our breath as we tend to the often heartbreaking work of spiritual leadership for a climate-changed world.
Here we have assembled several prompts and practices — form a variety of sources — each intended to guide you in an experience of contemplation. We hope these offerings will take you outside, help you to connect with the earth, and deepen your sense of self as a generative part of nature.
A Forest Walk • by Kimberly Ruffin (Emergence Magazine)
Kimberly Ruffin is an educator, an author, and a Certified Nature & Forest Therapy Guide based in Chicago. She is the founder of Cardinal Encounters, a company through which she celebrates the joys of life on Earth.
This guided practice was published by Emergence Magazine, an online publication — with an annual print edition and weekly podcast — that features essays, op-eds, photo essays, films, multimedia, audio stories, interviews, and events that explore the connections between culture, ecology, and spirituality.
Use one of these links to listen to this 45 minute guided forest walk:
Listen on Spotify • Listen on Apple Podcasts • Listen on Stitcher
The Soil of Creativity: Beginnings • by Bronwen Mayer Henry
Bronwen Mayer Henry is a self-taught contemporary painter specializing in trees and flowers on large scale canvases with acrylic paints. Her work is filled with movement, light, color, and a sense of freedom.
This video was made in collaboration with The BTS Center in the summer of 2021.
Occupying Space • by Aram Mitchell
Aram Mitchell is a Registered Maine Guide and Wilderness First Responder with a Master of Arts degree in Religious Studies from Chicago Theological Seminary. He serves as the Director of Partnerships and Formation at The BTS Center.
This video was made in collaboration with The BTS Center and Renewal in the Wilderness in the fall of 2020.
Praying with Our Body • by Margaret Bullitt-Jonas
Margaret Bullitt-Jonas is an Episcopal priest, author, retreat leader, and climate activist, who serves as Missioner for Creation Care for both the Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts and Southern New England Conference, United Church of Christ.
This video was made for the American Climate Leadership Summit 2020, hosted by ecoAmerica. Videography and background shakuhachi music by Robert A. Jonas. Filmed in Ashfield, MA and published online by Margaret Bullitt-Jonas.
Befriending a Tree • by Chelsea Steinauer-Scudder (Emergence Magazine)
Chelsea Steinauer-Scudder is, among other things, the staff writer for Emergence Magazine.
Emergence Magazine is an online publication — with an annual print edition and weekly podcast — that features essays, op-eds, photo essays, films, multimedia, audio stories, interviews, and events that explore the connections between culture, ecology, and spirituality.
Use this link to read the prompts that will invite you to explore some nearby nature:
Pocketful of Paradox • by Aram Mitchell
Aram Mitchell is a Registered Maine Guide and Wilderness First Responder with a Master of Arts degree in Religious Studies from Chicago Theological Seminary. He serves as the Director of Partnerships and Formation at The BTS Center.
This video was made in collaboration with The BTS Center and Renewal in the Wilderness in the fall of 2020.
