A PROFESSIONAL COMMUNITY OF DEEPER LEARNING
Climate Chaplaincy
study forum
Something new is taking root at the edges of chaplaincy and the climate crisis — a vocation still mapping its contours. The Climate Chaplaincy Study Forum is a gathering place for those engaged in the tender and necessary work of accompanying people in a world that is changing faster than we know how to process and engage.
Tuesdays 4:00 – 5:15pm ET | 1:00 – 2:15pm PT
September 15, 2026 • October 13, 2026 • November 17, 2026
January 12, 2027 • February 9, 2027 • March 9, 2027
April 13, 2027 • May 11, 2027 • June 8, 2027
Hosted by The BTS Center‘s Climate Conscious Chaplaincy Initiative
Co-facilitated by Rabbi Ora Nitkin-Kaner & Nisha Shah
What to Expect
The Climate Chaplaincy Study Forum meets throughout the year in spacious 75-minute sessions.
Between gatherings, participants read a single article, essay, or chapter. They then engage in the rarer practice of sitting with that selection, placing it in conversation with their existing wisdom and that of their peers.
The forum is guided by a deep commitment to whose knowledge counts and whose voices have been left out — drawing from interdisciplinary, global, and decolonized sources that make room for the full breadth of human spiritual experience. We trust this community will add depth and dimension to your vocational pursuit.
We encourage you to bring your professional and personal experiences to enrich this community of academic exploration. Sign up for the Study Forum community and come when you’re able.
Facilitators
Rabbi Ora Nitkin-Kaner is a climate change chaplain, educator, and innovative spiritual leader. As the founder of Exploring Apocalypse — a trauma-informed climate chaplaincy practice — she helps individuals and communities across faith traditions explore the spiritual disruptions, invitations, and reorientations of climate change.
Rabbi Ora sees curiosity as an important spiritual posture for living in a time of climate crisis. Her work moves folks from reactivity into responsiveness, and from self-abandonment into vulnerability-inspired care. Prior to her role as a climate change chaplain, Rabbi Ora served as a spiritual leader and pastoral caregiver in prisons, hospitals, and congregations across the United States. A poet, liturgist, and meditation teacher, she holds a BA and MA from the University of Toronto, as well as rabbinic ordination and an MA from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College.
Nisha Arcadia Shah, MDiv, MPH, RDN is a scholar-activist, public health and lifestyle medicine professional, dietitian, and an eco/social movement and lay Buddhist chaplain. She is a PhD candidate in transformative studies, specializing in contemplative health and lifestyle research.
Nisha works on projects and programs supporting contemplative public health, ecological, literary, global wellness, and social change initiatives. She is part of the teaching community in higher education and with non-profit organizations, along with being a long-time book conversation facilitator for various community and private organizations.
Personally, she is a land walker, backyard farmer, voracious reader, yogini, nature lover, and global citizen.
More climate chaplaincy resources
To learn more about climate chaplaincy, visit our Climate Chaplaincy Resources page.
More research
The BTS Center is proud to be a robust producer and collaborator in research focused on ecological kinship and spiritual leadership development. For more of our research, visit our Applied Research and EcoPreacher Initiative pages.
Program Co-Sponsor
The Chaplaincy Innovation Lab sparks practical innovations that enable chaplains to nurture the spirits of those they serve and reduce human suffering.