Earthkeepers: A Circlewood Podcast on Creation Care and Spirituality

Send us a voice note

In this episode Forrest talks with Dr. Randy Woodley who, with his wife Edith, leads Eloheh Indigenous Center for Earth Justice. They’ll be talking about that work, and about Randy’s recent book, Indigenous Theology and the Western World View: A Decolonized Approach to Christian Doctrine.  Randy challenges mainstream Western churches to embrace and be changed by diverse perspectives; indigenous theology in particular challenges people to redefine the role of humankind as co-sustainers—not masters—of creation.

Guest: Dr. Randy Woodley, Professor of Faith and Culture, Portland Seminary; Cofounder, Eloheh Indigenous Center for Earth Justice and Eloheh Farm & Seeds
Author, Indigenous Theology and the Western Worldview: A Decolonized Approach to Christian Doctrine, Becoming Rooted: One Hundred Days of Reconnecting with Sacred Earth

Mentions:
Previous interviews with Dr. Woodley: Ep. 15 - Indigenizing Our Worldviews, Ep. 43 – Becoming Rooted
Boarding schools/stolen generation of Indigenous children: articles from University
of Nebraska-Lincoln and High Country News
Hayward Lectures, Dr. Woodley’s series
Scripture reference: Genesis 2:15
Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women USA 

Keywords: indigenous, theology, culture, decolonizing, indigenizing, western, worldview, colonial, equity, equality, agriculture, education, learning, center, faith, healing, land, church, climate change, stability, chaos, change, unity, diversity, story, creation, nature, earth, justice 

Find us on our website: Earthkeepers
Support the Earthkeepers podcast
Check out the Ecological Disciple 

Send us a voice note

As we move towards solstice, and look ahead to holy days and seasonal celebrations, do you find yourself feeling disconnected sometimes from the usual songs and ceremonies? What about your personal spiritual practices? The truth is, there are times when our meditations, prayers, and even journaling feel a bit worn out, and at times we find ourselves just going through the motions. 

In this episode Forrest talks with Dr. Christine Aroney Sine, about how we can move beyond some of the habits and practices that are prescribed for us by religion and culture. In our conversation, she offers guidance for creating new forms and practices that can bring vitality to our spiritual lives, and she offers inspiration for designing new ways to gather communities around meaningful themes, symbols, and rituals.

Guest: Dr. Christine Aroney Sine
Co-founder, Circlewood; Founder, Godspacelight; Author, The
Gift of Wonder: Creative Practices for Delighting in God, Digging
Deeper: The Art of Contemplative Gardening

 Mentions:
Church calendar
Christine’s Pinterest page on spirituality, gardening, and creation care
Advent season: overview, Celtic tradition
Earthkeepers Episode 44: Mary Dejong
Scripture reference: John 1:4-5
Solstice: scientific and cultural background
Resources for a Blue Christmas service
Godspacelight Community Cookbook
Mental benefits of gardening and harvesting, soil bacteria and antidepressants, gardening and stress hormones
Mental health and cooking, cooking and emotional health
Godspacelight blog
Alternatives to traditional grass lawns  

Keywords: spirituality, liturgy, liturgical calendar, liturgical rebel, ritual, sacred, God, Christian, contemplation, garden,wonder, creative, joy, imagination, Holy Spirit, seasons, Advent, Celtic, solstice, Blue Christmas, community, food, hospitality, creation care, hope, nones and dones 

Find us on our website: Earthkeepers
Support the Earthkeepers podcast
Check out the Ecological Disciple 

Send us a voice note

Listeners to this podcast care a lot about caring for creation, and about working against the unfolding climate crisis. However, as worthy as those aspirations might be, many of us don’t have a clear sense of how our distinctive abilities and passions translate to climate action. And when we don’t have a sense of our unique role to play in solving climate issues, it makes it that much harder for us to be part of collective, community efforts to that end.

In this episode Forrest is in conversation with teamwork consultant Matt Schlegel. Matt is the author of the book Teamwork 9.0 and host of the show Leadership Path of Growth on YouTube. In his unique approach to earth care, he employs the Enneagram—a  system of nine personality types combining traditional wisdom with modern psychology. For many, the Enneagram is a powerful tool for understanding themselves and the people in their lives. For Matt Schlegel, it is a framework for accelerating progress on climate initiatives, and guiding communities through the steps of problem-solving towards resolution. 

Find us on our website: Earthkeepers
Support the Earthkeepers podcast
Check out the Ecological Disciple 

Send us a voice note

In this episode Forrest and James talk to Norman Wirzba, professor and author of a book called Agrarian Spirit: Cultivating Faith, Community, and the Land. In this book, Dr. Wirzba makes the case for a kind of spirituality that is grounded in deep awareness of creation. Among other things, this sort of humble, earthy spirituality that he encourages us to practice stands against the illusion of certainty and control that has made much of the church seem increasingly irrelevant these days—especially to younger generations.

Got a question for our upcoming Q&A episode? Go to https://www.circlewood.online/earthkeepers to leave a voicemail, or send an email to [email protected]

 Guest: Dr. Norman Wirzba – Duke Divinity School
o   Author of Agrarian Spirit: Cultivating Faith, Community, and the Land
o   Editor of The Art of the Commonplace: The Agrarian Essays of Wendell Berry 

Mentions:
Circlewood Village in development
The term “agrarian”
The interconnectedness of life on Earth
Earthkeepers’ interview – WhatYour Food Ate, with authors Montgomery and Biklé
Humans as soil, animated by the breath of God in Genesis 2:7
Earthkeepers’ interview – Farming Heals Us: Yeawa Asabi and Ray Williams of Black
Farmers Collective and Yes Farm
Injustice for migrant farmworkers
“Dark night of the soul”
God inviting mankind to work in the Garden of Eden in Genesis 2:4-17
God delighting in creation in Genesis 1:31 – 2:3
The fruits of the Spirit in Galatians 5:19-26 

 Keywords: agrarian, interconnection, microbiome, soil, body, political, economic, social, food, agriculture, coercive labor, environmental justice, social justice, spirituality, descent, humility, prayer, generosity, embodiment, mystery, hope 

Find us on our website: Earthkeepers
Support the Earthkeepers podcast
Check out the Ecological Disciple 

Send us a voice note

In this episode, Forrest cohosts with Victoria Loorz, author of the book Church of the Wild: How Nature Invites Us into the Sacred. Together they’ll be in conversation with Nina Simons, cofounder of Bioneers—an organization that amplifies the voices of innovators who are coming up with practical and visionary solutions for the world’s most pressing environmental and social challenges. We’ll be talking in great part about her book titled Nature, Culture, and the Sacred: A Woman Listens for Leadership. Among other things, this book makes a case for more cooperation, collaboration, and even community between all those who are working for the good of this planet that we share.

Find us on our website: Earthkeepers
Support the Earthkeepers podcast
Check out the Ecological Disciple 

Send us a voice note

In this episode Forrest talks with Jessica Zimmerle, Advocacy Director at Earth Ministry. Earth Ministry, part of the Interfaith Power & Light network in the US, aims to inspire and mobilize people of faith from diverse traditions, to advocate for strong environmental policies, and offer guidance to faith communities working toward environmental justice. Importantly, they work to create conversation and collaboration that doesn’t ignore cultural and ideological differences; instead, they place a high value on diversity that brings new perspective and broadens understanding.

Link to Forrest & Kayra’s video review of the Carbon Collective site.

Discount code for $50 of the Waymarkers course: WILDAUTUMNEARTHKEEPERS. Expires 10/01/22 

Guest: Jessica Zimmerle - Program & Outreach director for Earth Ministry/Washington Interfaith Power & Light
Interfaith Power & Light
Greening Congregations toolkit 

Mentions:
fracked gas facility threatening Puyallup land in Tacoma, Washington salmon &
orca are spiritual keystone species for Northwest tribes
Madagascar- biodiversity; worst economy in the world
Lummi Nation - healing totem pole journeys
proposed coal terminal on sacred Lummi Nation land - Cherry Point
Doctrine of Discovery; Wikipedia entry; UN preliminary report - 2010
Earthkeepers’ interview with Anne Bikle and David Montgomery
Earthkeepers' interviews with Mary DeJong--24 and 44
Earthkeepers' interview with Multifaith Network for Climate Justice
Jewish Shmita year - year of rest and economic reset
Evangelical Environmental Network
Green Muslims 
Hazon - Jewish Lab for Sustainability 
Creation Justice Ministries 
US Climate Action Network
Climate Action Network 

 Keywords: Interfaith, multifaith, ecumenical, climate justice, Northwest Native

Find us on our website: Earthkeepers
Support the Earthkeepers podcast
Check out the Ecological Disciple 

Send us a voice note

In this episode, Forrest talks with Dave Montgomery and Anne Biklé about their new book,  What Your Food Ate: How to Heal Our Land and Reclaim Our Health. The authors aim to raise our awareness of the community of life in the soil beneath our feet—or more importantly, the soil on the farms that grow our food. They make a compelling case for changing the ways that food is grown so that the life of the soil is respected and cared for . . . and so that the food produced by healthier soil makes us healthier in turn.

Guests:
David Montgomery - author and geologist at the University of Washington 
Anne Bikle - author and biologist & plant whisperer
Book:
WhatYour Food Ate: How to Heal Our Land and Reclaim Our Health
Dirt book trilogy - Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations; The Hidden Half of Nature; Growing a Revolution

Mentions:
regenerative farming practices
monoculture
tillage
mycorrhiza
the three sisters - squash, beans & corn
Farm Bill renewal in the US
Earthkeepers’ interview with Good Food Clubs
Wangari Maathai - Kenyan woman - tree planting project; Nobel Peace Prize
price of fertilizer skyrocketed in the last year 

Actions:  

• learn about your food - where was it grown, who grew it, how did they grow it? 
• in farming communities - educate about regenerative farming practices and their benefits public policy - vote for elected officials who share your views on the benefits of regenerative practices  
• find others who care about how our food is produced, and dream up ways to make a difference together!

Keywords: monoculture, industrial farming, Green Revolution, regenerative agriculture, regenerative farming, food cooperatives, soil fungus, organic, permaculture, soil ecology, no-till, young farmers, cover crop, crop rotation

Find us on our website: Earthkeepers
Support the Earthkeepers podcast
Check out the Ecological Disciple 

Send us a voice note

Carbon Costs: Understanding Offsetting with Brittany Michalski of Carbon Stewards

 In this episode, Forrest talks with Brittany Michalski of Climate Stewards, USA. The aim of Climate Stewards is to make the world a healthier, fairer place for all creation. They do this by helping individuals and communities to become more aware of the planet-warming carbon emissions that they produce in their day-to-day activities. They also provide opportunities for people to essentially "make up" for their harmful carbon emissions by putting money towards carbon reducing projects around the world--projects that improve the lives of communities in less developed countries around the world.

 Guest: Brittany Michalski - project coordinator for Climate Stewards USA
Climate Stewards 360carbon tool for churches & small businesses 
Climate Stewards' US carbon calculator
Climate Stewards' annual reports 

 Mentions:
A Rocha USA
A Rocha Ghana
Common loon songs
Earthkeepers' interview with Caroline Pomeroy- Climate Stewards UK 
bio sand water filters
fireless cookers
Master’s in International Community Development, Northwest University
book - Under the Sky We Make by Kimberly Nicholas, PhD
Kyle Mayaard-Schaap - Evangelical Environmental Network
book - Saving Us by Katherine Hayhoe, PhD
Earthkeepers interview with Katherine Hayhoe
Earthkeepers interview with The Multifaith Network for Climate Justice (in Bellingham, WA) 

Keywords: Carbon offsetting, greenwashing, carbon footprint, carbon emissions, carbon tax, A Rocha, Katharine Hayhoe, Interfaith Power and Light, tomato seeds

Find us on our website: Earthkeepers
Support the Earthkeepers podcast
Check out the Ecological Disciple 

Send us a voice note

In this episode I’ll be talking to Peter Fargo, co-founder of the Climate Vigil movement, and Isaac Wardell, co-founder of the Porter’s Gate arts collective.  We’ll discuss the collaborative project created by these two organizations--a new Christian worship album called Climate Vigil Songs. This album (which we’ll sample in this conversation) invites us to respond to climate change in ways that are meant to help us engage the challenges we face from spiritual perspectives, and even to understand creation care and earth advocacy as acts of worship.

Guests: 

• Peter Fargo - Climate Vigil Project
• Isaac Wardell - The Porter's Gate Worship Project
• Climate Vigil Songs album; (worship guide available via this link)
• Album press release
• Song: Good Lord Deliver Us
• Song: Jubilee
• Song: The Kingdom is Coming

Mentions:

• The top hottest years globally fall within last 12 years
• John Lewis- U.S. Congressional representative and civil rights activist
• Martin Luther King Jr. - U.S. minister & civil rights activist
• John Swinton - theologian in Aberdeen Scotland
• Song: All Creatures Lament
• Psalm 37

Keywords: Evangelical Church, climate denial, stewardship, Christian environmentalism, creation care, lament

Find us on our website: Earthkeepers
Support the Earthkeepers podcast
Check out the Ecological Disciple 

Send us a voice note

In this episode, Forrest sits down with Timothy Beal  to talk about his new book, When Time is Short: Finding Our Way in the Anthropocene. His work is unlike most books in the realm of environmental issues or earthcare, because it challenges readers to truly engage the possibility that irreversible  climate damage to the planet is already upon us, and only going to get worse—and that those changes might even lead to the end of the human species. His book provokes readers to have the courage to acknowledge that possibility, and to ask: How ought we to live our lives now, in light of that possible future?

Want the chance to get a copy of this book? Sign up for our mailing list at www.circlewood.online, and be sure to note that you are responding to the book offer.

 Guest:
Timothy Beal - professor of religious studies, Case Western Reserve University in Ohio, USA Book: When Time is Short: Finding Our Way in the Anthropocene 

 Mentions:
Holocene, Anthropocene - geologic eras
palliative care
Genesis one; two
dominionism - history in the US
latin root of religion
Walter Brueggeman
Definition of doxological 
Job - God talks to Job
reparations
Book: Braiding Sweetgrass
Mary Oliver quote: What will you do with your one, wild & precious life? 


Keywords: Anthropocene, doomer, climate adaptation, climate despair, extinction, Dominionism, climate justice

Find us on our website: Earthkeepers
Support the Earthkeepers podcast
Check out the Ecological Disciple