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Featured Sessions
Equipping Renewal Activists for Life in Turbulent Times
Christine and Tom Sine
In this session, Christine and Tom will share some of the daunting challenges facing the planet and our poorest neighbors from 2012-2022. They will also share some of the innovative ways a new generation is engaging those challenges. Discover how Renewal activists can join these innovators by creating new ways to be a difference and make a difference in turbulent times.
Why Are We Here? Humans in God’s Plan for Creation
Dr. J. Richard Middleton
Our human calling is to be God’s “image” in the world, manifesting God’s presence in the temple of creation by the full range of our cultural activities, as we tend and develop the earth wisely. While sin has distorted earthly life and blocked God’s full presence from being manifest in the world, we have the promise that Christ’s redemption will culminate in a new creation filled with God’s glory.
Sensual Creation
Peter Illyn
For the past 300 years, Western Christianity has viewed the creation in increasingly utilitarian and mechanistic terms. As such, we have lost the sense of wonder and call to nurture the earth. We have lost ideas of kinship with nature and in bringing all of the senses into our worship of the Creator. This message explores how the church has lost its way and how we can find our way back to faithfulness and wisdom.
Environmental Justice and Its Impact on Society
Judith A. Anderson
This interactive workshop will address the principles of environmental justice from different perspectives. The session will initiate a conversation on the holistic impact EJ has on individuals, communities and the global landscape.
Nurturing Epiphanies
Dr. Michael Ferber and Tyler Amy
This session will involve theological and personal reflections on the gravity of today’s ecological crises from intellectual, emotional, and spiritual perspectives. Students will consider a commitment to long-term creation care.
Workshops
Using Your Story for Change
Taylor Kirkland
Stories are how people make sense of themselves and their worlds. They are also a vital component of social and environmental movements. Founder and director of the Radical Roots Project, Taylor Kirkland will share through audio, photograph and word the stories of individuals working toward creative change in the southern Appalachians, and guide an interactive discussion on your personal story, how it influences your perspective and how it can be effectively communicated to build solidarity on our campuses and in our communities.
What You Need to Know About Why Projects Succeed and Fail
Brittany Bennett and Curtis Witek
How does an idea transform into a deep-rooted program? Do you have an idea that will expand creation care on your campus—maybe a new community garden, a recycling program, or a chapel idea? Learn about the assets that make creation care initiatives succeed and what barriers may prevent progress. During this workshop, former SLT members will discuss the research findings reported in Renewal’s Green Awakenings Report 2011: Identifying Assets and Barriers to Creation Care on Christian Campuses.
Cafeteria to Career: How to Live Sustainably as a College Student
Brian Webb
In this participatory workshop participants will examine the topic of living sustainably as a college student. Special emphasis will be given to such practical areas as dorm life, eating, transportation, career preparation, entertainment, consumer choices, and Sabbath living. Students will be equipped to depart with a 12-month plan for sustainable living.
How Your Club Can Kick Butt
Ben Lowe
Looking for practical skills to help you change your campus? This workshop will train student leaders to be both effective and (more importantly) faithful campus organizers. It will focus on key principles derived by integrating the best practices of community organizing with biblical values and the example of Jesus Christ. Specific skills such as developing a planning calendar and other tactics/tips/resources will be included, and time will be devoted towards discussion and Q&A.
Getting Your Campus Garden Off the Ground
Dan Webster
The motto at Messiah College’s Grantham Community Garden is a George Bernard Shaw quote: “The best place to find God is in a garden. You can dig for him there.” But before you dig, Dan Webster will review The Ten Commandments of Starting a Campus Garden, which will identify the tools needed to begin the good work of tilling soil.
Becoming a Change Agent—For Life
Mark Cerbone
For those of us motivated by Christian faith, being a Biblically-grounded change agent (the old, revered term was “reformer”) should be viewed as a normal part of being a follower of Jesus. Working for good is not optional nor something one does only when “young.” Learn about Biblically-informed, real-life ideas, principles and methods for bringing positive change.
Other Events
FRESH The Movie
FRESH celebrates the farmers, thinkers and business people across America who are re-inventing our food system. Each has witnessed the rapid transformation of our agriculture into an industrial model, and confronted the consequences: food contamination, environmental pollution, depletion of natural resources, and morbid obesity. Forging healthier, sustainable alternatives, they offer a practical vision for a future of our food and our planet.
Student Presentations
This is your time to shine! In this session students have the opportunity to share with their peers about current or recent sustainability projects they have been working towards.
Coal from Start to Finish
Walter Simpson, Laura Dagley, Peter Illyn
Coal is an integral part of every day life whether we know it or not. This panel discussion will give an overview of the many implications behind coal mining, burning, and storing. The session will describe what is happening when we turn on a light switch, how we can be responsible with how much coal we use and the way we use it, and how being a Christian has something to do with it.
Houghton College Green Tour
Ginny Routhe
Learn about Houghton’s efforts to be sustainable. This tour will showcase the campus’ compost tumblers, green houses, and Our Common Ground sustainability center.
Open Mic Night
Share your stories, poems, or other excerpts having to do with creation care. Work can be original or from another admired writer.
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