Spiritual Leadership for a Climate-Changed World

Spring 2022
A Joint Course Offering from The BTS Center and the Maine School of Ministry

Enrollment closed. Please contact aram@thebtscenter.org if you would like to be informed about future offerings of this course.

“I used to think the top environmental problems were biodiversity loss, ecosystem collapse and climate change. I thought that with 30 years of good science we could address those problems. But I was wrong. The top environmental problems are selfishness, greed and apathy... and to deal with those we need a spiritual and cultural transformation...” — James “Gus” Speth

Climate change is no longer the science community’s prediction for the future — we are now living in a climate-changed world. This reality raises provocative questions, challenges, and responsibilities, especially for people whose worldview has been formed by a Western perspective, and in particular for spiritual leaders. We were pleased to offer this course in partnership with the Maine School of Ministry as an opportunity for spiritual leaders in the Global North to engage those questions, navigate those challenges, and embrace those responsibilities in their particular contexts. 

Over the course of four months, students engaged assigned readings and other multimedia resources, form and share personal reflections, participated in four day-long facilitated sessions featuring guest presenters, and complete a final project. This course was designed for self-directed students whose learning needs are related to their professional roles as ministers — ordained and non-ordained, clergy and laypersons, leaders of traditional religious communities and other communities of practice. 

Our present reality is a tumultuous reality. While we may not be able to smooth out the complications, this course will provide accompaniment and a community of mutual learning to form and inform how leaders might embody their vocation of spiritual leadership for a climate-changed world. 

Instructor: Aram Mitchell 

Review the course syllabus.