Convocation 2024

In a world that prioritizes the big, the fast, the growing, the dominant, what if our best hope resides in the small, the humble, the slow, the local, the faithful — the refugia?  

As the earth’s temperatures warm and sea levels rise — as extreme storms and flooding and changing ecosystems disrupt our lives and cause devastating losses to the places we love — we seek spaces, both physical and spiritual, where we can fortify our resilience and connect with communities of healing and hope. In a climate-changed world, we are drawn toward places where life persists, where hope is nurtured, where courage, gratitude, and wonder are ever-present.

These are the spaces Debra Rienstra celebrates in her book Refugia Faith: Seeking Hidden Shelters, Ordinary Wonders, and the Healing of the Earth. Drawing upon the biological concept of refugia — little pockets of safety where life persists in times of disaster, and from which new life can emerge — she suggests that this is a moment when people of faith are called to be people of spiritual refugia. “How can we find and nurture these refugia in the earth, our human cultural systems, and our spiritual lives?” she asks. “And how can we apply all our love and creativity to this task as never before?”

Over the course of two days — Thursday and Friday, September 26 and 27 — we gatherede to learn and explore, to nurture a sense of community, and to seek respite and renewal. Guided by the wisdom of our sacred texts, nourished by spiritual practice, and committed to paths of honesty and vulnerability, together we explored what it means to live, love, and lead in a climate-changed world.

Convocation 2024 included music, poetry, and ritual; plenary sessions and small-group conversation; opportunities to engage with nature; and contemplative practice. We are grateful for those who could join us!

Alongside our in-person gathering in Hallowell, Maine, we were offering a robust Online Companions track, featuring a livestream of all plenary sessions and several unique online sessions designed to nurture community and facilitate meaningful engagement with the content of Convocation 2024. From wherever you are located geographically, we warmly welcomed you to engage fully in Convocation 2024 through this Online Companions track.

Held annually, continuously since 1905, Convocation is a legacy program of Bangor Theological Seminary, predecessor to The BTS Center. We are delighted to carry on this tradition, 119 years in the making, drawing upon the enduring wisdom of the generations of leaders who have come before us while exploring today’s most urgent and compelling issues.