Photo provided Author Robin Wall Kimmerer will present the keynote address for Faith in Place’s 10th annual Environment & Spirituality Summit.
Faith in Place’s 10th annual Environment & Spirituality Summit, formerly known as the Green Team Summit, will be taking place across four educational sessions on Sept. 29 and Sept. 30. The final session will virtually welcome author Robin Wall Kimmerer for a keynote address on Sept. 30.
The first three sessions will take place online and will feature Rev. Randy Woodley, Dr. Carolyn Finney and Lyanda Lynn Haupt. Registration for these sessions can be found at aes-summit.org.
The final session will take place on from 6 to 9 p.m. Sept. 30, where Kimmerer will appear via livestream for her keynote address. A watch party for this address will be hosted by Columbus Interfaith, and will be held at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Columbus, IN, 7850 W. Goeller Blvd.
An author, scientist and Citizen Potawatomi Nation member, Kimmerer is well known for writing the book “Braiding Sweetgrass” and its follow up “The Serviceberry – The Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World.” This second book teaches one on how to orient their life around graditude, reciprocity and community based on the lessons of the natural world.
“She’s a wonderful scholar, activist, writer, very inspiring. Her text is very accessible to a wide community of folks who are wanting to live in greater harmony with the Earth, to be better stewards of the planet and we hope that it can bring a lot of people into greater commitment to this idea of caring for the Earth,” Columbus Interfaith Executive Director and UUCCI minister Nic Cable said.
The theme of this year’s summit is “Strong and Supported,” which Faith in Place development officer and Columbus Interfaith member Eric Riddle said really plays into Kimmerer’s second book. Each session will focus on ways that people can give and receive healing to the Earth as well as ways to create a healthier and more just world.
“We really want to emphasize the importance of circular economies, of seeing ourselves as connected to the natural world and as a humanity that helps all of creation thrive through our support of ecological systems…,” Riddle said.
About 30 in-person watch parties will take place on Sept. 30 across Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin, or Faith in Place’s main service territory, Riddle said. Prior to the watch party, a vegetarian pitch in dinner will be held at 6 p.m., with the live stream starting at 7:30 p.m.
A discussion in Unitarian Universalist’s sanctuary will then take place after the live stream. Riddle said they will also be inviting their guests to more Interfaith events that will be occurring throughout the rest of the year.
“… this is open to anyone. (We) certainly, you know, have a strong Christian attendance, but there’s also members of the Hindu Temple that come from the Islamic Center, people who have a Buddhist spiritual belief system,” Riddle said. “So we’re really just trying to continue that work that’s been going on for a long time.”
From the summit, Cable hopes people walk away with new friendships, connections and commitment to living more consciously and being better stewards for the Earth. He said environmental justice concerns everyone, and in bringing people of different religious backgrounds together, attendees can learn from each other’s religious teachings and perspectives.
“So I think naturally, the gift that having an intentional interfaith group gather for this summit is to be reminded that we are all in this together and that not one religion has all the answers or has all the solutions,” Cable said. “And so we can and need to learn and listen with and from each other so that we can move forward together.”
