A release from Illinois and Wisconsin District
We’re looking forward to our special district creation care event next Saturday, April 27, 10 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. at Highland Avenue Church of the Brethren in Elgin, Ill. We hope you can join us! There is no charge for this event, and all are welcome.
It will include a keynote address, mini-workshop breakout sessions, a book/resource table from Brethren Press, and light refreshments. In addition to the in-person event, a virtual option will also be available (see links below).
David Radcliff of the New Community Project will be the keynote presenter, speaking on the theme “One Earth, One Chance.” The New Community Project is a nonprofit with Brethren connections that works in the areas of environmental sustainability and social justice issues.
Following the opening keynote presentation from 10-11 a.m., half-hour workshops will be offered:
11:10-11:40 a.m.
Option 1: “Continuing the Conversation” Q&A with David Radcliff.
Option 2: “Eco-Discipleship and Compassion Fatigue” led by Randall Westfall, manager of the district’s Camp Emmaus, and Jonathan Stauffer of Polo (Ill.) Church of the Brethren. We all have experienced compassion fatigue as it relates to our care for creation practices. In this session we’ll explore how biblical kinship with Christ and Creation holds the key for reframing our understanding of the current environmental crisis.
11:45 a.m.-12:15 p.m.
Option 1: “Growing a Green Team,” with the Highland Avenue congregation’s own Green Team. How can your congregation respond to creation care issues and take meaningful action? The team will share some of their ideas and the approaches they’ve been taking.
Option 2: “Eco-Blueprint Praxes for Healing” with Westfall and Stauffer. In this session, we’ll follow up with practices that move us deeper into the four stages of creation connection. Each of these regenerative practices/disciplines will restore us to our original design in God’s Eco-Blueprint and revive the spirit in the face of compassion fatigue.
To attend virtually:
Attend the feature presentation and the “Option 1” workshops on the Highland Avenue Church’s YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/@highlandavenuechurch783.
Attend the “Option 2” workshops via Zoom at https://zoom.us/j/98512983181?pwd=MWMzc01BVjBNZWVtQnc3QkU4Wldjdz09
Meeting ID: 985 1298 3181
Passcode: 827302
Dial by your location: +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago), +1 309 205 3325 US
— Andrea Garnett, administrative assistant for the Church of the Brethren’s Illinois and Wisconsin District, provided this release.
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