News
In lieu of publishing an autumn issue of Upwelling, our print newsletter, we are pleased to offer this special article featuring our programs centered on spiritual care.
The BTS Center Offers Spiritual Care for a Climate-Changed World
Over the past several years, The BTS Center has been engaged in the work of co-creating programming which offers spiritual care in a variety of ways. From Conversation Circles for chaplains deep in the work of holding space for others, to spiritual accompaniment circles for those seeking contemplative grounding and discernment, to programs for expressing climate grief through ritual, each of our offerings acknowledges the truth that without spaces for spiritual care, spiritual leadership for this climate-changed world is unsustainable.
Embracing a Posture of Climate Citizenship on Election Day and Beyond
The BTS Center Featured in a Piece on Eco-Chaplaincy Published by Sojourners
Read the article here.
Twelve New England Churches selected to participate in Claiming Your Call Retreat
Teams from twelve New England congregations will take part in an upcoming retreat and community of practice, entitled “Claiming Your Call for a Climate-Changed World,” organized and hosted collaboratively by The BTS Center, Creation Justice Ministries, and Anabaptist Climate Collaborative.
Fully funded by The BTS Center, “Claiming Your Call for a Climate-Changed World” will begin with a three-day retreat, June 20-22, 2024, at the Schoodic Institute in Acadia National Park, Maine, where congregational teams will share deep conversation with theologians, scientists, and indigenous scholars about how climate change will impact the communities where they live and what a spiritually-grounded, justice-seeking response could look like for their churches. At the conclusion of the retreat, teams will integrate what they’ve learned by participating in Vocational Discernment groups and undertaking a “small experiment with radical intent” in the context of a supportive community of practice. Read More
Rev. Dr. Carolyn Sharp Appointed as Homiletician In Residence for "Compelling Preaching for a Climate-Changed World" Grant Project
The project is being funded by a $1.25 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. as part of their Compelling Preaching Initiative. LTS is partnering with The BTS Center and Creation Justice Ministries on the initiative, which aims to equip preachers with training, resources, support networks, and research for addressing the urgency of the climate crisis and other environmental issues. The purpose of the initiative is to foster and support preaching that better inspires, encourages, and guides people to come to know and love God and to live out their Christian faith more fully. Read More
Our 2024 Report to the Community Is Here
When you have a little time, we invite you to find a comfortable spot (ideally outside!), grab a cup of coffee or tea or another favorite beverage, and flip through the pages of this Report. Read it cover to cover! Find your place within the ever-expanding community that we are convening. And receive our gratitude for all the ways you are helping to inform and shape this work that we are undertaking together.
Lilly Endowment Inc. Awards $1.25 Million Grant, “Compelling Preaching for a Climate-Changed World”
We celebrate that Lexington Theological Seminary (LTS) has received a $1.25 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. for their project, “Compelling Preaching for a Climate-Changed World.” LTS will partner with The BTS Center and Creation Justice Ministries on the initiative that aims to equip preachers with training, resources, support networks, and research for addressing the urgency of the climate crisis and other environmental issues.
The effort is being funded through Lilly Endowment’s Compelling Preaching Initiative. The aim of the initiative is to foster and support preaching that better inspires, encourages, and guides people to come to know and love God and to live out their Christian faith more fully.
Research Collaborative Report Published
Join the One Home One Future campaign
The BTS Center is a proud partner organization in the One Home One Future campaign, a seven-year multi-faith campaign encouraging visible and collective creation care and climate action.
Standing with Lewiston, Maine
Our 2023 Report to the Community Is Here
A Word of Gratitude
Rabbi Erica Asch has been a member of our Board of Trustees since 2019, and she concludes her service in order to step into a new role as President of the Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR). Erica is the fourth woman and the youngest person ever to lead the 130-year-old professional organization of over 2,200 Reform rabbis who serve more than two million Jews worldwide. Rabbi Asch continues to serve as the rabbi of Temple Beth El in Augusta, Maine, and as the Senior Program Associate at the Center for Small Town Jewish Life.
Dr. Natasha DeJarnett joined our Board of Trustees in 2021. In November 2022 she began a one-year position at the White House, bringing the expertise that she holds around climate change and public health to the Biden-Harris Administration. She has taken a year leave of absence from her faculty position at University of Louisville, Division of Environmental Medicine, and is now serving as Deputy Director for Environmental Justice Data and Evaluation, a position with the Council on Environmental Quality within the Executive Office of the President.
Upwelling
Welcome to Upwelling, The BTS Center’s occasional print newsletter. We are delighted to connect with you in this way, and we hope that when you are finished reading, you might pass your copy along to someone else who might be interested.
Climate Changed
A Podcast from The BTS Center
The BTS Center's new podcast, Climate Changed offers intimate interviews and conversations around some of the most pressing questions about faith, life, and climate change. Hosted by Ben Yosua-Davis, Director of Applied Research, and Nicole Diroff, Program Director, and produced by Peterson Toscano, the podcast features acclaimed guests, all exploring what spiritual leadership looks and feels like in a climate-changed world. New episodes will premier monthly. You can click here to find Climate Changed on your favorite listening platform – subscribe now so you can listen to new episodes as soon as they are available!
Report to the Community 2022
With gratitude for all the ways you support, encourage, and enliven the work of The BTS Center, we are pleased to share with you a PDF version of our Report to the Community — our first ever publication like this, at least in recent memory, and a true labor of love. We hope you will take some time to flip through its pages, to scan its colorful images, to read its stories, and to find your place within the ever-expanding community that we are convening.
The BTS Center Welcomes New Communications Manager, Rev. Ash Temin
Allen Ewing-Merrill talks with Jennifer Hutchins of the Maine Association of Nonprofits
From What Is to What If Micro-Grants Awarded!
Announcing Convocation 2021
Kay Ahmed steps into a new role as Operations Manager
A message to alumni of Bangor Theological Seminary
Introducing our new LEADERSHIP COMMONS
One Year Later
Rabbi Erica Asch named president-elect of the Central Conference of American Rabbis
1/1/21 - We celebrate with Rabbi Erica Asch, a member of our Board of Trustees, who has been named president-elect of the Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR). She will become the fourth woman and the youngest person ever to lead the 130-year-old professional organization of over 2200 Reform rabbis who serve more than 2 million Jews worldwide.
Creativity, Compassion, and the Coronavirus
3/16/20 - In this time of social distancing, fear, and great uncertainty, faith communities are more important than ever, but let's be honest: this current Coronavirus crisis stresses and stretches faith leaders in unique ways. The BTS Center is teaming up with the podcast Reports from the Spiritual Frontier to release a podcast series, some online meet-ups, and other resources to support and equip faith leaders for this particular moment.
Nicole Diroff and Ben Yosua-Davis Join The BTS Center Team
1/23/20 - We are pleased to welcome Nicole Diroff and Ben Yosua-Davis to The BTS Center Team. Serving in the roles of Program Coordinator and Program Advisor, respectively, Nicole and Ben are working with our Executive Director, Allen Ewing-Merrill, to help design and coordinate Convocation 2020, as well as to envision and plan for future programming. We look forward to sharing more details soon!
The BTS Center Sponsors the 2020 Season of "Reports From the Spiritual Frontier" podcast
1/23/20 - We are pleased to partner with Ben Yosua-Davis, Host of the podcast "Reports From the Spiritual Frontier" as a Sponsor for their 2020 season. Now in its fifth season, Reports provides an in-depth look at the day to day lives of innovative spiritual practitioners, as they cultivate new forms of community on the religious margins of our country.
Gratitude for Elizabeth Drescher
11/18/19 - As we shared in the November issue of Bearings, Elizabeth Drescher, friend and consulting scholar with The BTS Center from its earliest days, has recently put down her editor’s pen, wrapping up this project which has been her labor of love for the past five-plus years. We can’t let this moment pass without offering words of deep gratitude and praise for her skillful and spirited work as the primary steward of this publication, month after month, season after season.
The Rev. Allen Ewing-Merrill to become next Executive Director
4/29/19 - The BTS Center Board of Trustees announces the selection of The Rev. Allen Ewing-Merrill as its new Executive Director, following a national search. He will begin his work with the Center on July 1, succeeding The Rev. Dr. Robert Grove-Markwood who will retire at the end of June.
The Rev. Dr. Robert Grove-Markwood is retiring June 2019
11/13/18 — The Board of Trustees of The BTS Center announces the retirement of our Executive Director, The Reverend Dr. Robert Grove-Markwood, effective June 2019, which will conclude eight years of leading Bangor Seminary and its transition to The BTS Center. The Board will more fully celebrate Bob’s leadership closer to his retirement date. For now, we are extremely grateful to him for his dedication to and passion for the work of The BTS Center.
Dr. Pamela Shellberg is moving to new role in Wisconsin
10/29/18 — After four years on the staff of The BTS Center as Scholar-in-Residence, Dr. Pamela Shellberg is leaving at the end of November for a new position in Madison, Wisconsin. Pam is looking ahead to being the Director of Life-Long Faith Formation at Bethel Lutheran Church – as well as looking forward to a return to Madison which was her home in the 1980s and 90s.
