May 22, 2023


Dear friends,


Spring is coming into its fullness here in Maine, with apple blossoms and lilacs filling the air with their fragrance and bees and butterflies moving among the clover and other wildflowers in yards observing "No Mow May." We've had unusually high winds and heavy rainstorms, yet there is also a deep beauty to how life is stirring and unfolding.


So much of what we experience as ecological beings is particular to place — to the specific ecosystems and watersheds which we call home. In Maine, that means a later spring than in many other locations, but we appreciate it so profoundly when it arrives.


The BTS Center, too, is leaning into the particular. You may have noticed that we are offering more programming oriented to specific interests, from our recent programming for spiritual directors to our chaplaincy circles and our Spiritual Ecology for Spiritual Leaders gathering for early-career spiritual leaders, happening later this summer. As we continue to explore spiritual and ecological imagination in particular contexts, we hope these offerings will resonate with many of you.


Of course, we continue to offer public programming that is open to all — our next Lament with Earth will take place on June 22nd, and our Let's Talk! Conversations that Matter series continues on June 1st with Rev. Dr. Andi Lloyd and Rev. Andy Nagy-Benson. And we hope you will join us for Convocation 2023 in late September — in person this year!


Wherever your particular home or location is, we wish you a beautiful spring into summer.


With best wishes,

The BTS Center Team

Join us for these Upcoming Programs!


Let's Talk! Conversations that Matter with Rev. Dr. Andi Lloyd

and Rev. Andy Nagy-Benson

  • Thursday, June 1 • 12.15 - 1.00pm (Eastern) • Online
  • In conversation with The BTS Center's Executive Director, Rev. Dr. Allen Ewing-Merrill, discussing their recently published book Letters from the Ecotone: Ecology, Theology, and Climate Change


Lament with Earth

  • Thursday, June 22 • 7.30 - 8.30pm (Eastern) • Online
  • Original music, poetry, rituals, images, scripture, and video to reflect different seasons of loss through the liturgical year


Spiritual Ecology for Spiritual Leaders Gathering

  • August 27-30, 2023
  • a four-day gathering for early-career leaders from diverse backgrounds, in person in Portland, Maine
  • Interest forms are due by May 25, 2023


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, ME


Convocation 2023: Save the Date!

  • 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

What we're reading and attending:





And check out the video below for a conversation between Dr. Keisha E. McKenzie and Rev. Matt Deen delving into this August's Spiritual Ecology for Spiritual Leaders gathering!

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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