June 4, 2024

Dear friends,

Last week and into this week, The BTS Center team has been doing some work around our digital spaces as part of a website refresh (stay tuned!). During this process, we've had the opportunity to be in a posture of exploration, seeing the work we do with new perspectives and thinking about our ecosystem of all the people and organizations who make this work so vibrant. Our conversations have been infused with appreciation for all that we get to explore with you, our incredible community.

As spring turns to summer, we bask in the beauty of coastal Maine while also holding close the anguish of the world. We delight in what is life-giving and mourn that we are sometimes complicit in systems of violence and suffering. We continue to explore how best to do our work in the world and our personal and organizational calls as we work alongside each of you in co-creating this community.

This summer, we are excited to offer the second year of our Summer Fiction Book Club. Take a look at our selections, read on your own time, and join us for some fantastic conversations with guests and staff. And even though summer is just starting, we're already anticipating an amazing Convocation experience come September — registration is now live for both in person Convocation and the Online Companions Track. We hope you'll join us for this rich time together!

We are thrilled that the application for our 2024-2025 EcoPreacher Cohort is now live. We hope you'll consider joining us for this year-long, online cohort of monthly gatherings for learning, companionship, and exploration, offered in partnership with Lexington Theological Seminary and Creation Justice Ministries.

And there is still time for the young people in your life to register for Climate Justice Camp, a new and unique offering at Pilgrim Lodge on beautiful Lake Cobbosseecontee in West Gardiner, Maine in late July. Please let any high-schoolers (or high school parents) in your circles know about this special opportunity for fellowship, community, and fun!

We wish you all the blessings of spring!

With best wishes,

Join us for these Upcoming Online Programs:

Summer Fiction Book Club

• Tuesdays: June 25 • July 23 • August 27 • 12.00 - 1.15pm (Eastern) • Online
• Read the novel beforehand and then come for a discussion and conversation with a facilitator and guest conversationalist
• Come to one, two, or all three sessions!

Lament with Earth

• Wednesday, June 12 • 7.30 - 8.30pm (Eastern) • Online
• A gathering for lament, ritual, and community
• In collaboration with The Many and co-hosted with Radical Joy for Hard Times

EcoPreacher Cohort

• A year-long cohort beginning in September 2024, offered in partnership with Lexington Theological Seminary and Creation Justice Ministries
• Once-monthly meetings taking place online
• Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis and are due by August 19

Join Us for these Upcoming In-Person Programs:

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

Convocation 2024: Hope in Small Places: Becoming a People of Refugia Faith

• Thursday & Friday, September 26-27, 2024
• In Person at Maple Hill Farm Inn in Hallowell, Maine — or Online Companions Track
• With Keynote Speaker Debra Rienstra, Opening Preacher Rev. Mariama White-Hammond, and Musician Joshua Long
• Registration is now open!

Opportunities and Offerings from Our Partners:

Summer Book Study: Earth & Soul

• Offered by our friends at the Center for Spirituality in Nature
• Exploring the Indie Book Award winning book Earth & Soul: Reconnecting Amid Climate Chaos by Leah Rampy
• June 13 & 20 • 7.00pm (Eastern)

Certificate in Climate Justice and Faith

• Offered by the Center for Climate Justice and Faith at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary
• A cohort-based, online trans-continental curriculum which empowers participants to cultivate moral, spiritual, and practical power for leadership in the work of climate justice in communities of faith and in collaboration with others
• Applications are due by June 17, 2024 for the upcoming cohort

Summer Reads Series

• Offered by our friends at Creation Justice Ministries
• Read a non-fiction book and then join an online discussion

Craigville Theological Colliquy

• July 8–12, 2024 • Craigville Retreat Center, Cape Cod, MA
• An ecumenical gathering of pastors, teachers, seminarians, and lay leaders
• 2024 Theme: Ecotheology: Christian Responses to the Global Climate Crisis
• Our own Executive Director, Rev. Dr. Allen Ewing-Merrill, is the keynote speaker!

All episodes of Season Two of Climate Changed, The BTS Center's podcast, are now available for listening! Listen to Climate Changed wherever you get podcasts or 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.

Season Three will be premiering in September — we are looking forward to bringing you another vibrant season with exceptional conversations and more inspiring content!

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

• We're reading Climate Church, Climate World: How People of Faith Must Work for Change by Jim Antal

• We're listening to "Christiana Figueres: Ecological Hope, and Spiritual Evolution" on the On Being podcast

• We're wondering: What places, internal or external, are you exploring this summer?

A final word for your reflection:

“In a repurposed church, the first question people will ask about climate change will not be: How will it affect me? Instead it will be something like: How can I help my neighbors to

thrive? How can I build a more resilient community? What changes can I make in my life so that generations to come are more likely to inherit a habitable world?”

— Jim Antal, Climate Church, Climate World: How People of Faith Must Work for Change

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

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