Conversation Circles: Earth and Climate Chaplaincy


Meet the Participants

Jason M. Brown

Jason M. Brown was born and raised in Southern California and studied anthropology and international development as an undergraduate at Brigham Young University. He earned joint master’s degrees in forestry and theology from Yale. He completed his PhD in 2017 from the Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability (IRES) at the University of British Columbia where his dissertation explored the sense of place of contemporary Catholic monks in the American West. As a Lecturer at Simon Fraser University Jason teaches courses in comparative religion and ecological humanities for the department of Global Humanities and occasionally environmental ethics for the School of Resource and Environmental Management.  

Website: www.holyscapes.org
IG: @holyscapes

Rachel Myslivy - she/they  

Rachel Myslivy works as the Climate Justice Organizer on the Side With Love Organizing Strategy Team at the Unitarian Universalist Association where she organizes UUs to realize a world without fossil fuels, where clean energy is a human right, and all communities thrive.  Rachel is continuously called to center love and justice in our climate actions and they bring this mission to life in their work at the UUA, as a Climate Chaplain, Good Grief Network Facilitator, and Organizational Development Consultant committed to cultivating our capacity to nourish relationships.  Rachel has a Master's Degree in Religious Studies and Environmental Studies, a Climate and Health Certification from the Yale School of Public Health, and extensive training in systems thinking and approaches.  As a human, Rachel is drawn to water, mosses, fungi, rocks, seeds, and all of nature.  She's a knitter, spinner, sewist, baker, painter, seed sharer, melodeon player, and yoga practitioner.  Rachel is a proud grandparent and caretaker of two rescue cats, one dog, and close to one hundred houseplants. 

Rev. Puanani Lalakea

My name is Puanani Lalakea and I live in Hawaii. I am the mother of four adult children and one of three daughters. About three years ago I moved back in with my mother as it is no longer safe for her to live alone. 

Prior to moving in with my mother, my career was in social services, with a focus on addressing the ways violence negatively impacts our lives. 

As a spiritual care provider and advocate, I have provided trauma informed care to survivors of gender-based violence, veterans, children and adults who have received a terminal diagnosis, and others who are facing challenges that negatively impact their lives.  

My move back home initiated a “career” pivot as I began to manage the lands that have been in the care of my family for generations. The violence that has been perpetrated upon the ‘āina (the land) – both in the forms of benign neglect and active assault, has been devastating. In reestablishing my pilina (relationship) with the ‘āina, I realized that all of my training up to that moment was to prepare me to become a chaplain to the ‘āina and her people.

Rev. Rob Mark

Rob (he/him/his) serves as Lead Pastor of Church of the Covenant (cotcbos.org) in the heart of what is now known as downtown Boston, in the ancestral lands and waters of the Massachusett People. With degrees in Divinity and Geology, Rob is passionate about spirituality, people, equity and climate jubilee-justice. 

Having grown up in the Quinobequin (settler's renamed: Charles) River watershed, and lived and worked in Illinois, DC, New Hampshire and South Africa, Rob has a Masters of Divinity from Boston University School of Theology, and is ordained in the Presbyterian Church (USA). Prior to his current position, Rob worked in congregational, university chaplain, non-profit housing justice and outdoor ministry settings. Rob volunteers to coordinate the ecumenical Eco-Stewards Program that helps inspire young leaders in their 20s who are passionate about faith and the environment. 

Rob is passionate about Spirit, the earth and the poor, and has a special deep love of the liberation-laden Celtic Christian theologies that see God's image deep within not just each other, but within all that has life--every person, every peak, every penguin, every pine cone. When not at Covenant, you can likely find Rob and spouse loving the wild ride of stewarding the gift of their child.

Wendy Janzen

Hi! Wendy Janzen here. I am Eco-Minister for Mennonite Church Eastern Canada, serving congregations and equipping them to respond to the multiple ecological crises we face from a faith perspective. I am also pastor and founder of Burning Bush Forest Church – a small faith community that gathers outdoors for worship all year round. We have been doing so for eight years now, deepening our connection with the land, water and creatures in the park where we gather. I was also involved in co-founding the Wild Church Network, which is where I met Steve Blackmer. I have a small spiritual direction practice as well. In all of these forums, eco-anxiety/grief are part of the context of my ministry. 

I am married to a college chaplain and psychotherapist, and we have two teenage sons. A lovely cat is also part of our family. We live in the Grand River Watershed of southern Ontario, in the city of Kitchener, traditional territory of the Haudenosaunee, Anishinabek, and Chononton peoples. I enjoy hiking, cross-country skiing, and camping, as well as engaging in acts of co-creation with my hands – through gardening, cooking, crocheting, and watercolor painting.

Kim Warman

I was born in SE Pennsylvania and imprinted on where my grandparents lived - in the Poconos and on the Jersey shore. Raised United Methodist, but a long time Unitarian Universalist, I have lived in Texas, Montreal, Chicago. While working on my M Div I spent my internship with a congregation in Connecticut exploring a theme of “Earth Ministries” which included sermons, a Climate Cafe and work with the Youth Group. I graduated from Meadville Lombard Theological School in 2022, and now live in Milwaukee, WI, where I am a Chaplain with Advocate Aurora Health. Currently, I am discerning how to provide support to people as awareness increases around climate crisis, biodiversity collapse, environmental depletion. I hope to be co-presenting a sermon this summer on Earth and Grief with a professor who teaches in Environmental Sciences. I have an ‘undeveloped’ Facebook Page, Early Mourning, which I’ve considered a possible place to emotionally explore some of these themes: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2323019424680260