Learning from the land
Young adults are finding that caring for creation can be a gateway to encounters with God.
Putting their faith into action: These participants in the 2011 Eco-Stewards Program spent a week in southeastern Montana, exploring the connections between faith and environmental stewardship in the context of sustainable agriculture, healthy living and green building practices. Photo courtesy of the Eco-Stewards Program.
Christians have known for decades that being at camp and away from urban and suburban distractions opens up room for children, teens and adults to connect with God in ways that can transform lives. Yet camp programs often have treated the outdoor setting as a backdrop to those encounters rather than a direct revelation of God’s love and creativity.
Two groundbreaking programs for young adults set at Presbyterian campsites are exploring how the land itself can serve as a meaningful gateway to encounters with the Holy Spirit. Incorporating teachings from Christian spiritual disciplines, Scripture and environmental science, these programs are growing communities of young adults committed to caring for God’s creation. The programs are set up to engage young adults with both environmental stewardship and Christian faith.
At the center of Christian vocation
The Center for Nature and Christian Spirituality (CNCS), located at Westminster Woods in Northern California, offers an 11-month program in community living, spiritual discernment, theological exploration, and social, economic and environmental observation, culminating in action and leadership. Members of the first class in the program completed their work in August.
The Eco-Stewards Program, now in its fourth year, is a one-week intensive session with an optional summer internship located at various organic farms and Presbyterian camps and retreat centers across the country.
Learning from their elders: This year’s group of Eco-Stewards talked with Joe Bear Cloud on the Crow Reservation in Montana. Photo courtesy of the Eco-Stewards Program.
Nancy S. Wiens, one of the co-founders of CNCS, has worked with teens and young adults through the Youth Ministry and Spirituality Project at San Francisco Theological Seminary. Invited to consult with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s Young Adult Volunteers (YAV) Program, Wiens became aware that while the 16 YAV sites focused on providing important social services, none focused on ecological issues.
“I know a lot of young people who really care about the earth, who think that if they really care about the earth they have no place in the church,” Wiens says. “And I want to help them understand that earth care is at the center of our Christian vocation and that there actually are many Christians engaged in that kind of ministry.”
The Eco-Stewards Program grew out of a conversation begun by Rick Ufford-Chase, moderator of the 216th General Assembly (2004), Presbyterians for Earth Care (formerly Presbyterians Restoring Creation) and the Presbyterian Church Camp and Conference Association. Ufford-Chase made an effort to meet with young adults during his term and learned that many were passionate about putting their faith into action but were not finding a place for that passion in their congregations.
As Brian Frick, PC(USA) associate for camps and conference centers, remembers it, “His challenge to us was: How do we do something to reach young adults in a faithful way with something they are passionate about?”
Lessons in the garden
Four participants, called “apprentices,” started the first CNCS program at Westminster Woods last September, moving into a few spare corners on the redwood-forested campgrounds in western Sonoma County. One of them left a few months into the program to pursue another calling. But the other three—Sam Yates, Jessie Alexander and Lisa Carlson—attended classes on spirituality at San Francisco Theological Seminary and worked toward certification in permaculture (sustainable farming practices) and wilderness first aid. They engaged in a wilderness quest and learned to lead challenge courses featuring climbing, rappelling and other outdoor skills. They also developed skills in financial planning and community living.
The apprentices practiced their new skills at the seminary and at Westminster Woods, especially during the summer camp season. As one of their projects at the camp, they built a kitchen garden near the dining hall. They followed the permaculture process they had learned, which directed them to observe the space for a protracted period of time before beginning to build the garden. In doing this, they noticed the amount of sunlight and water arriving at the chosen site, which kinds of birds, insects and other wildlife visited the site, and the nature of the soil. They also noticed something important about the people who interacted with the space—the camp staff.
Looking with fresh eyes: As interns at church camps, young adults have suggested better ways of caring for the environment. Photo courtesy of the Eco-Stewards Program.
The apprentices became aware of their desire for a common space. “We noticed that different parts of the camp didn’t meet together but instead stayed in their own areas,” Carlson says. At the same time, she adds, “we noticed that they were interested in each other’s work; there was an interest in learning about each other.” The garden project began to bring the staff together.
“I remember the day it started to look like a garden, because we had flattened the ground and set up some posts for the deer fence,” Alexander says. “We put out some hay bales and left for lunch. We came back to find folks from the environmental education program already sitting out with their lunch plates and just hanging out together. We could see that community was starting to happen here.”
Sheila Denton, co-founder of CNCS and executive director of Westminster Woods, believes that the prayers, careful observations and physical commitment of the three apprentices have benefitted the camp. “I feel that the organization is responding differently to God’s prompting and to what God wants to see happening through the camp in the foreseeable future,” she says.
The apprentices have also deepened the faith component of the summer camp program. Carlson encouraged children to see nature itself as a revelation of God.
“I taught that we can understand what is true about God through the things that God has created,” she says. “I spent time in the garden with the kids. They got so excited about pulling fresh vegetables out of the garden, and I connected that to how God put the first people in the garden and charged them to take good care of the garden. It was their job to be in harmony with what God created.”
Care for neighbors and the environment
Planning a camp garden was also a project assigned to Andrew Foltz-Morrison, who interned at Krislund Camp in Madisonburg, Pa., as part of the Eco-Stewards Program.
Hearing God’s call: The Eco-Stewards Program has succeeded in building community among young adults and in nurturing their sense of vocation. Several participants have gone on to graduate from seminary. Others are pursuing advanced degrees in earth sciences. Photo courtesy of the Eco-Stewards Program.
“We’ve had an idea for a garden since I first came here two years ago,” says the camp’s program director, Art DeVos. “We want to reach out more to our neighbors. We’re going to use some of the food in our kitchen, but the rest we want to give away.”
DeVos asked Foltz-Morrison to develop a master plan for the garden, which will see its first round of planting next spring.
“Andrew put Scripture side by side with the instructions to show people this is why we’re doing this garden as well as how to do it,” DeVos says. For example, he included Revelation 22:2 as a reference to the healing effects of gardening.
“People look at camps and think we have it all together in terms of doing our part for the environment and caring for God’s creation, but in reality we need help too,” says DeVos. “I think every camp should have an Eco-Steward at least once. Andrew saw a lot of things we could do better. He was looking at all the little details with fresh eyes, which helped push us forward.”
Rob Mark, director of the Eco-Stewards Program and co-pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Waltham, Mass., sees a direct connection between caring for the environment and Christ’s call to care for our neighbor. “I have found in my own life a deepening of faith through caring for God’s creation and knowing that caring for landscapes is very much caring for and loving one another,” he says. “Understanding the direct connection between poverty and environmental degradation is important. When we neglect God’s creation, we are also very much neglecting those whom we are called to love and to serve. We care for where people live and how they live day to day.”
Mark believes the Eco-Stewards Program has succeeded in building community among young adults and nurturing their sense of vocation. “We want to equip young adults with both theological and biblical principles underlying environmental stewardship, give them some hands-on experience around greening, and then also help them discern their own call,” he explains. Several Eco-Stewards have gone on to graduate from seminary, others have become involved in volunteer and service organizations, and still others are pursuing advanced degrees in earth sciences.
Based on the experiences of Eco-Stewards and CNCS, Nancy Wiens of CNCS offers a bit of advice to congregations seeking deeper involvement with young adults. They should start by asking, “What is the Spirit already doing? Where is the Spirit already moving?” she says. “That is the way to follow.”
Anitra Kitts is a freelance writer in Santa Rosa, Calif., and a candidate for the ministry under the care of the Presbytery of the Redwoods.
“But the best part,” Yates says, “is when they say they like blessing more than receiving. They really understand the prayer of St. Francis that goes, ‘It is in giving that we receive.’ ”
—Anitra Kitts