June 30, 2023


Dear friends,


Last week, The BTS Center, in partnership with the Center for Spirituality in Nature, hosted a retreat for eighteen national leaders in faith-based climate work. The Climate Advocacy and the Sacred Wild Retreat, held over three days at Medomak Retreat Center in Washington, Maine, was an opportunity for rest, renewal, and connection for leaders at the front lines of climate justice work.


One of the great joys of this time together was the opportunity for companionship — in work that can feel lonely or isolating at times, these days of meals shared, walks in community through the woods, and time spent chatting around a campfire were deeply appreciated. Companionship and community are essential to our capacity to meet the challenges of this time.


Whether online or in person, The BTS Center is committed to offering opportunities for companionship in this climate-changed world. This summer, we hope you'll join us for the next two sessions of our first Summer Fiction Book Club — an opportunity to gather online and discuss works of fiction that speak to the climate crisis in different ways. We also have several special in-person opportunities upcoming, the first of which is another installment of our Wonder and Wander Farm Series at Tir na nOg Farm in Pownal, Maine coming up in August.


And finally, we're so excited for Convocation 2023, taking place in person this year at Maple Hill Inn and Conference Center in Hallowell, Maine. We hope you'll join us for two days of talks, meals, contemplative practice, music, and — yes! — companionship. The rate for Convocation registration will go up after TOMORROW, July 1st! So register now for the very best rate!


We look forward to seeing you at one or many of our programs this summer and fall!


With best wishes,

The BTS Center Team

Join us for these Upcoming Programs!


Summer Fiction Book Club

  • Thursdays: July 20 and August 24
  • 11.00am - 12.15pm (Eastern) • Online
  • Book for July 20: How Beautiful We Were by Imbolo Mbue
  • Book for August 24: The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson
  • One novel each month — read before and come to discuss!


Wonder and Wander at Tir na nOg Farm

  • Saturday, August 5 and Friday, October 27 • 9.30am - 4pm (Eastern)
  • In person at Tir na nOg Farm in Pownal, Maine


Convocation 2023: Register by TOMORROW for the best rate!

  • Thursday & Friday, September 28 & 29
  • In person at Maple Hill Inn and Conference Center (Hallowell, Maine)
  • Confirmed speakers include Victoria Loorz, author of Church of the Wild: How Nature Invites Us Into the Sacred; and John Bear Mitchell, citizen of the Penobscot Nation from Indian Island in Maine, musician, storyteller, and lecturer in Wabanaki Studies and Multicultural Studies at the University of Maine.
  • Our Convocation musician is Rev. Liz Fulmer, a queer pastor, recording artist, and musical storyteller serving Grandview Church in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

What we're reading, listening to, and pondering:




  • We're listening to a multitude of summer birdsong here in Maine — and we're using the Merlin app to identify what we're hearing.


  • We're delighting in the connections we have and continue to build with each of you, near and far, online and in person.

Participants and leaders of the Climate Advocacy and the Sacred Wild Retreat, held June 20-23, 2023 at Medomak Retreat Center in Washington, ME.

The BTS Center | 207.774.5212 | info@thebtscenter.org | www.thebtscenter.org

 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.
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