March 7, 2024

Dear friends,

As we've welcomed March here in Maine, we're finding ourselves grateful for more hours of daylight and the turn toward spring. This week has taken us from cold sunshine to warm windy rain, with the weather flitting between seasons on a day-to-day (or hour-to-hour) basis. The transitions this time of year brings feel like thresholds — openings into a new season and new programs, and perhaps even invitations to new ways of seeing and being in the world.

This threshold time is rich with opportunities to join us for one or more of our upcoming programs. Next week, we'll host a Podcast Listening and Sharing Circle — an informal opportunity for diving into some of the conversations we've had this season and connecting with other listeners. And we're very excited to be hosting a film discussion on the new documentary Inundation District — a powerful and timely look at the impacts of climate-change-driven sea level rise in Boston. Join us for a lively conversation with the director and special guests!

This summer, we are offering an exciting opportunity for congregations in New England — our Claiming Your Call for a Climate-Changed World retreat, which will take place at the Schoodic Institute in beautiful Winter Harbor, Maine. Applications are now open, and we encourage teams from New England congregations to apply to take part in this deep dive into science, theology, and indigenous wisdom over the course of three days.

We hope to see you at one of our programs in these late winter and early spring days!

With best wishes,

Join us for these Upcoming Programs:

Podcast Listening and Sharing Circle

• Wednesday, March 13 • 12.00 - 1.00pm (Eastern) • Online
• A gathering with podcast hosts Nicole Diroff and Ben Yosua-Davis, with producer Peterson Toscano, to discuss clips from Season Two of Climate Changed.

Inundation District: A Film Discussion

• Tuesday, March 19 • 7.00 - 8.00pm (Eastern) • Online
• A discussion with director David Abel and guests Rev. Mariama White-Hammond and Rev. Rob Mark
• Registrants will receive a link to view the film ahead of the discussion

Group Spiritual Direction Circles

• 8-month cohorts starting in March and April
• Several circles to choose from — various days, times, and facilitators
• Gathering monthly in groups of six over Zoom, each two-hour session is centered on a prompt related to climate change, liminality, or uncertainty

Claiming Your Call for a Climate-Changed World

• A three-day retreat and community of practice for New England congregations
• Thursday, June 20 – Saturday, June 22 • Schoodic Institute, Winter Harbor, ME
• Participation by application; retreat expenses covered by The BTS Center
• In collaboration with Creation Justice Ministries and the Anabaptist Climate Collaborative

Climate Justice Camp at Pilgrim Lodge

• Sunday to Saturday • July 21 - 27, 2024
• At Pilgrim Lodge, a ministry of the Maine Conference, United Church of Christ, on beautiful Lake Cobbosseecontee in West Gardiner, Maine
• For campers entering grades 9-12 and new high school graduates

TONIGHT | Plastic Jesus in the Pews:

A Webinar from our friends at Creation Justice Ministries

Everywhere we look in our culture you will find plastic. One place where you will not find plastic, however, is in the Bible. Join us for this webinar to learn about the plastics crisis and prepare your congregation for Earth Day 2024. In this session, our friends from Creation Justice Ministries will provide insights into the state of plastics worldwide, offering a theological and scriptural perspective to guide our reflections. Immerse yourself in original music crafted to inspire, and gain practical advice from denominational leaders on seamlessly integrating discussions about plastic into your congregation's activities.

This webinar will provide an introduction to Creation Justice Ministries' 2024 Earth Day Sunday resource: “Plastic Jesus: Real Faith in a Synthetic World.” This resource is designed to help congregations think more deeply about the ways that plastics impact our lives and God's creation. It is also intended to equip people of faith to take actions to address this epidemic in faithful and practical ways.

Click here for more information and to register.

All episodes of Season Two of Climate Changed, The BTS Center's podcast, are now available for listening! Head over to our Podbean page to listen to all of the episodes from both Season One and Season Two! On our webpage, you'll find links to all the episodes as well as descriptions, full transcriptions, and specially developed discussion guides which you can use in your congregation or community setting.

This weekend, one of our episodes will be featured on Spirit in Action Radio! Thirty-four independent radio stations throughout the country (see the listing here) will broadcast a compelling episode of Climate Changed. Please tune in, and if you do, let us know what you think! We are grateful to be featured!

And we hope you'll join us for our Podcast Listening and Sharing Circle on Wednesday, March 13 — a great opportunity to engage in conversation around this season's episodes and topics.

What We're Reading, Listening To, and Wondering:

• We're reading Toward a Holy Ecology: Reading the Song of Songs in the Age of Climate Crisis by Rabbi Ellen Bernstein

• We're listening to the Threshold Podcast

• We're wondering: what thresholds are you encountering in your life right now?

A final word for your reflection:

In the radiance of dark, there is process:  

the unfolding of mystery,  

things words cannot articulate, 

a threshold to freedom the mind cannot comprehend.  

But the body feels, 

the heart knows:  

This is liminality.  

The threshold of transition, 

from death to life, from evening to morn,  

from gestation to giving birth. 

The unknown is a part of it all.

— Felicia Murrell

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

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