This morning, I woke up to a beautiful morning here in Maine, with words from our Lament with Earth event last week ringing in my head: I am not alone. We are not alone. These lines, sung and spoken by the wonderful artists of The Many, were a deep reminder that we are united in this earth community, in our sorrows and our joys, and that we have rich veins of connection from which to draw energy for our work.

These words feel particularly resonant today, as the first day of the COP26 Summit gets underway in Glasgow, Scotland. Over the next two weeks, leaders from across the globe and from many realms – political, scientific, faith, and community organizations – will gather to seek to address the stunning speed at which the impacts of climate change are progressing. There is so much sobering news, and so much for us to lament. Though there is much imagination around possibilities for a healthy, whole earth and the flourishing of all beings, I know that these world gatherings can feel like an exercise in what if, followed quickly by so many bureaucratic hurdles. Our hopes are raised, only to be repeatedly disappointed.

And yet, as people of faith, we long for healing for the whole earth community. There are two things which are accompanying me in this longing – the robust response of faith communities to the COP26 Summit and the work of The BTS Center and organizations like it. Over the coming two weeks, we’ll seek to share some of the work being done behind the scenes at COP26 as a way of engaging beyond just the headlines. I’d also encourage you to share with us – through Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or just by sending us an email – how you’re feeling about the COP26 gathering and what you’re doing to keep yourself grounded in these days.

I also hope you will be inspired by the work of The BTS Center’s Research Collaborative, highlighted below, and draw inspiration from this year’s Convocation, the resources from which are linked in this newsletter. And finally, I hope you will join us for some of our programming this autumn, including Stillpoint (starting this week!), our next Lament with Earth event on December 9, and a public conversation with Words for a Dying World editor Hannah Malcolm and contributor Anupama Ranawana on December 16.

Rev. Ash Temin

Communications Manager, The BTS Center

This past weekend we officially launched our long-awaited and much-anticipated Research Collaborative, a program that has been in formation for nearly a year. With this project, we are convening a multi-sector group of leaders from organizations across northern New England who together will explore the question, “How would organizations act differently today if they embodied an ecological imagination?”

On Friday and Saturday, the cohort gathered for their opening retreat — part 1 on Friday afternoon via Zoom, and part 2, originally scheduled to be in person, outdoors, but relocated to Zoom due to rainy, cold weather. These sessions, facilitated by The BTS Center's Program Director, Rev. Nicole Diroff, and one of our Research Collaborative Consultant Advisors, Amara Ifeji, included time for individual and organizational introductions; opportunities to share hopes, intentions, and burning questions as organizations and as individuals; and reflection on what it means to cultivate an ecological imagination that might transform existing paradigms of organizational life in response to an era of climate devastation.

Participating organizations include Hour Exchange Portland, Waterville Creates, Boston Food Forest Coalition, Maine Prisoner Advocacy Coalition, Montreal City Mission, Ashwood Waldorf School, and St. Joseph's College of Maine — and since this is intended to be a co-learning community, The BTS Center is participating fully as the eighth organization in the cohort.

Reflecting on the opening retreat, The BTS Center's Director of Applied Research, Ben Yosua-Davis, says, "We are blessed with an extraordinarily thoughtful, engaged, and open-hearted group of leaders who are willing to engage with the often-messy process of imagining new ways of being for themselves and the communities they lead. I am thankful that I will get to document this incredible learning process over the next year."

Learn more about the Research Collaborative here.

The participants' page is still available here, and we encourage you to make use of it. Here are a few highlights:

If you attended Convocation 2021, you'll remember some really sacred moments as our Convocation music leader, Pax Ressler, shared their original song, "The Soil," commissioned by The BTS Center especially for this year's Convocation — "We Are God's Soil: Spiritual Leadership in a Climate-Changed World." 

Several of you have asked for sheet music, and with special thanks to Pax, now it's available — and not only sheet music, but a lead sheet, a lyrics sheet, and an mp3 recording — all free for download here.

Several other Convocation songs written by Pax Ressler, including "Use Me", "Before Me Is Peace", and "I Will Wade", are available at this link on Pax's website — donations appreciated. 

 Our mission is to catalyze spiritual imagination with enduring wisdom for transformative faith leadership. We offer theologically grounded programs of continuing education and spiritual formation, including workshops and retreats, learning cohorts, public conversations, and projects of applied research.