EcoPreacher Cohort
EcoPreacher Cohort
2025-2026 Cohort begins in September 2025
Monthly meetings online via Zoom
Compelling Preaching for a Climate-Changed World is a collaborative project of Lexington Theological Seminary, The BTS Center, and Creation Justice Ministries that is made possible by a grant from Lilly Endowment Inc.
The application period for this program has ended. Contact Nicole Diroff at nicole@thebtscenter.org with any questions.
Program fee: $200
- Payment plan options and need-based financial assistance will be available.
- A limited number of spaces are available for seminary students to participate without a registration fee.
Following on from several successful EcoPreacher Cohorts, and with the desire to support, educate, and engage preachers in the integration of climate consciousness into their preaching, The BTS Center, Creation Justice Ministries, and Lexington Theological Seminary are collaborating to offer this year-long cohort of learning, companionship, and exploration that will begin in September 2025.
Learn more about our EcoPreacher long-term initiative.
Our Intentions for This Cohort
- To help preachers develop and hone the skill of eco-preaching so that they might proclaim the gospel more effectively and faithfully in a climate-changed world
- To help preachers learn and experiment with forms of communication that convey the Christian message and speak to the climate crisis in both traditional and non-traditional venues and platforms
- To equip pastors to be able to address issues of environmental justice and environmental racism from their particular pulpit, regardless of context
- To nurture pastoral awareness of climate anxiety and dread, as well as ecological grief, so that preachers may speak with compassion and insight, acknowledging the ever-growing mental health implications of the climate crisis
- To enable preachers and their congregations to increasingly understand climate change as a justice issue and a spiritual crisis that requires creative, faith-rooted action informed by their Christian vocation
- To create a covenanted space for preachers to learn and reflect together as they regularly preach in a climate-changed world
- To create diverse, respectful, identity-forming ecumenical groups that welcome preachers from many ministry settings
- To increase engagement with the EcoPreacher 1-2-3 resources being offered through the Interfaith Center for Sustainable Development, the Green Lectionary Podcast, and other eco-preaching and eco-liturgical resources
- To assess and communicate the impacts of eco-preaching and develop detailed descriptions of the congregational contexts of eco-preachers by engaging in quantitative and qualitative research
2025-2026 EcoPreacher Cohort Schedule
Thursdays monthly from September 2025 — June 2026
1:00-2:30 p.m. (Eastern)
September 18, 2025
October 23, 2025
November 20, 2025
December 11, 2025
January 22, 2026
February 26, 2026
March 19, 2026
April 16, 2026
May 21, 2026
June 11, 2026
Research note: EcoPreacher Cohort members and members of the congregations they serve will take part in periodic individual and congregational surveys. Select members will also be invited to take part in research-focused interviews and focus group conversations. These surveys and conversations will assess the ways in which participation in the EcoPreacher Cohort is making a tangible difference in the work and lives of its participants and will inform future cohorts as well as influence developments in homiletics and theological education more broadly.
Questions about the EcoPreacher Cohort? Contact BTS Center Program Director, Rev. Nicole Diroff, at nicole@thebtscenter.org.
Meet Our Facilitators
Rev. Nicole Diroff
Derrick Weston
Meet Our Collaborators
Rev. Dr. Xavier Johnson
Rev. Leah D. Schade, Ph.D.
Meet Our Presenters
Rev. Dr. Heber M. Brown
Dr. Natasha DeJarnett
Rev. Dr. Xavier Johnson
Carlos Javier Martinez
Debra Rienstra, Ph.D.
Kimberly Wagner
Meet Our Partners
The mission of Lexington Theological Seminary is to prepare faithful leaders for the church of Jesus Christ and, thus, to strengthen the church’s participation in God’s mission for the world. Lexington Theological Seminary seeks to be a servant of the church preparing men and women for ministry in congregations through:
- innovative instruction
- flexible curriculum
- congregational experience
- compassionate engagement with the needs of society
The Seminary offers an online program that is competency-based, congregation-centered and developmental in its commitment to prepare people for leadership in congregational ministry. As an integral part of the church, the seminary serves the church as a theological resource and as a center of continuing education for clergy and lay leaders.
Creation Justice Ministries’ mission is to educate, equip and mobilize communions and denominations, congregations, and individuals to protect, restore, and rightly share God’s creation. Creation Justice Ministries’ membership includes Baptist, Historically Black, Orthodox, Peace, and mainline Protestant traditions. With a particular concern for people who are most vulnerable and marginalized, Creation Justice Ministries provides collaborative opportunities to build ecumenical community, guides people of faith and faith communities towards eco-justice transformations, and raises a collective witness in the public arena echoing Christ’s call for just relationships among all of creation.
