Rooted and Grounded Conference on Land and Christian Discipleship
The next Rooted and Grounded Conference will take place Sept. 18鈥�20, 2025, on the bg真人 campus (with some components available online). The theme will be 鈥淜inship with All Creation: Pursuing Relationship, Justice and Community.鈥� Watch here for more information.
Theme | Pathways through Climate Doom: Resistance and Resilience
Rooted and Grounded was held Thursday, Sept. 28鈥擲aturday, Sept. 30, 2023
Read about the 2023 conference: Rooted and Grounded speakers focus on resistance and resilience in the face of climate doom
Building on the five conferences held since 2014, Rooted & Grounded 2023 examined theological, biblical and pastoral care responses to climate doom. Rather than being stuck in despair, how do people of faith find ways to combine active engagement and deeply rooted hope?
All parts of the conference were available to in-person participants, and some elements (all keynote sessions, worship times, and one paper/workshop option in each of the 5 time slots) were available to participants joining online.
The conference began at 4:30 p.m. EDT on Thursday and ended at noon EDT on Saturday. Participants could also register to join optional immersion experiences on Thursday afternoon.
All participants were welcome to stay Saturday afternoon and evening for additional meetings of , a grassroots gathering of Roman Catholics and Mennonites.
For more information, email rootedandgrounded@ambs.edu.
Keynote speakers
- , a Potawatomi Christian author and speaker, will provide the Thursday evening keynote and a Friday morning workshop on 鈥淩esistance.鈥�
- Leah Thomas, PhD, Assistant Professor of Pastoral Care at bg真人, will provide a Friday afternoon workshop on 鈥淩esilience.鈥�
- Jackie Wyse-Rhodes, PhD, Associate Professor of Hebrew Bible at bg真人, will provide the Friday evening keynote on 鈥淪eeking Hope when the Path is Crooked: The Bible and Climate Change.鈥�
Papers and workshops
Paper presentations
- Bennet Brabson, 鈥淭he Fine Arts: A Powerful Expression of our Response to Climate Change鈥�
- Thomas Crotty, 鈥淟eading Our Way: Climate Apocalypse, Acceptance, Resilience, Hope Unseen鈥�
- Isaiah Friesen, 鈥淓ncountering Jesus, Joining Jubilee鈥�
- Joseph Harder, 鈥淭owards a Mennonite Eco-Hymnody鈥�
- Carl Helrich, “Hope in the face of a wicked problem”
- Sheri Hostetler and Sarah Augustine, 鈥淪o That We and Our Children May Live鈥�
- Avery Davis Lamb, “Climate Hospitality: Making Room in the Anthropocene”
- Douglas Kaufman, 鈥淕rounding Hope in Climate Doom鈥�
- S. Roy Kaufman, 鈥淭he Role of Agriculture and Agrarian Cultures in Addressing Climate Change鈥�
- Joanne M. Moyer, 鈥淢ennonites Responding to Climate Change鈥�
- Anika Reynar, 鈥淢ennonites, Maya, and Genetically Modified Seeds鈥�
- Michelle A. Stinson, 鈥淩eflections on the Psalters鈥� Three-Point Turn towards Agrarian Hope鈥�
- Mary H. Schertz, 鈥淢aybe the Stars Did: A Path through Climate Doom鈥�
Workshops
- Nicole Bauman, 鈥淐onflict as Generative: Empathy as a Tool鈥�
- Trevor Bechtel, 鈥淔armed Animal Welfare: The National Discussion鈥�
- Jay Bergen, 鈥淒iscerning Our Place in the Ecosystem of Change鈥�
- Malinda Elizabeth Berry, 鈥淭here is a Balm in Gilead鈥�
- Laura Funk, 鈥淏uilding Resilience through Spiritual Self-Care Practices鈥�
- Sharon Brugger Norton, 鈥�7-day Wild Church Eco-activism: an Artful Response鈥�
- Michelle Sherman, Hazel Franco, and Savio Franco, 鈥淭he Two Hands of Nonviolence鈥�
- Jonathon Schramm and Merry Lea: 鈥淧aying Close Attention鈥�
- Sarah Werner, 鈥淩adical Sabbath: Rest, Rootedness, and Resistance to Consumerism鈥�
- Tim Wiebe-Neufeld, 鈥淐reation is Waiting: How Do We Live into God鈥檚 Hopeful Future?鈥�
Registration information and costs
鈥� In-person registration, included three meals: $125 (student cost: $60)
If three or more undergraduate students registered from the same college or university to attend in person, their registration is free.
鈥� Online registration, no meals: $60 (online student cost: $20)
鈥� Keynote presentations only, in person or online: $10 each
Immersion experiences – FULL
These four options happened before the conference began. The cost was $50 (student cost: $20), which included a box lunch (picked up between 12:00 and 12:45 p.m.) and transportation. The groups left the bg真人 campus at 1:00 pm and returned in time for supper at 5:00 pm.
FULL – Protected Farmland, Forests, and an Educational Farm 鈥� Led by Jon Zirkle
This excursion, led by current bg真人 student Jon Zirkle took participants on visits to three private farms and forest sites in Elkhart and St. Joseph County, some of which have conservation easements placed on them with the help of land trust . A short tour was made at Bushelcraft Farm, an educational farm directed by Jon just three miles from bg真人. Participants talked with landowners about tending the land and how they chose to permanently protect land from future development as well as see and walk into fields and forests. The tour at Bushelcraft Farm showcased garden space tended by youth and community volunteers, cover crops and flowers growing, and young tree plantings for carbon sequestration and wildlife habitat. All locations were within 30 miles of bg真人. Limited to 6 participants unless someone was willing to take their own car.
FULL – Potawatomi-Miami Trail in Elkhart County 鈥� Led by Luke Gascho
A major transportation route of the Potawatomi and Miami People passed through the landscape of northern Indiana for centuries. This trail passes through land where bg真人 is now situated. The immersion experience included walking the approximate route through the bg真人 campus and surrounding area, acknowledging the impact and conflicts as settlers began using this trail, examining the processes used in identifying the trail, learning ways Indigenous people have been involved in the trail marking project, considering the ways marking this trail memorializes the Indigenous history and presence, and reflecting on how these learnings are part of reparative justice.
FULL – Potawatomi Trail of Death 鈥� Led by Barry Johnson
In 1838, over 850 Potawatomi were forced from their homes in northern Indiana and moved over 660 miles to eastern Kansas. Visit the site of Chief Menominee鈥檚 chapel, where the Potawatomi were rounded up for the journey, and a nearby statue of Menominee, who refused to sell his tribe鈥檚 land to the state. Visit three more sites along the route as you hear about the hardships of the journey. (one hour van ride each way) Limited to 20 people.
CANCELLED – Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center 鈥� Led by Merry Lea Staff
Merry Lea is a nature sanctuary and learning center owned by Goshen College, with almost 1200 acres of wetland, prairie, savanna, and sustainable agriculture. This tour included a visit to Rieth Village, a small-scale sustainable farm (a teaching and producing farm) and ecological restoration projects. (one hour van ride each way) Limited to 14 people.
More information
What to expect
The three days wove together worship, theology, biblical study and praxis. In addition to keynote presentations, papers and workshops, participants joined in several worship services.
Conference location
This year鈥檚 conference was offered in a hybrid format. Some elements were available only to in-person participants, and some were available to participants joining online.
The bg真人 campus, in Elkhart, Indiana, with areas of native grass and wildflowers, rain gardens, a prayer labyrinth, a community garden and a walking path, provides opportunities for learning, recreation and meditation. Sessions were held in the bg真人 Chapel of the Sermon on the Mount and in several classrooms. Meals were offered in the seminary dining hall.
Schedule
See the 2023 schedule here (subject to minor changes).
Bridgefolk Gathering
is an annual grassroots gathering of Roman Catholics and Mennonites. This year, their gathering included the Rooted and Grounded Conference and extend through Saturday evening. This was available online for participants at a distance. All who were interested were welcome to join them for worship, conversations, and a closing love feast. On the registration form, mark 鈥淏ridgefolk,鈥� and the $25 will cover both lunch and supper on Saturday for those coming in person, or AV staff for those joining online.
Co-sponsors
- of Goshen (Indiana) College
Contact us
For more information, email rootedandgrounded@ambs.edu.
Learn more about past gatherings
2023&苍产蝉辫;鈻�&苍产蝉辫;Rooted and Grounded speakers focus on resistance and resilience in the face of climate doom
2021&苍产蝉辫;鈻�&苍产蝉辫;Rooted and Grounded keynotes explore loss, connection and imagination
2018&苍产蝉辫;鈻�&苍产蝉辫;Rooted and Grounded speakers call for changed value systems, worldviews
2017&苍产蝉辫;鈻�&苍产蝉辫;Rooted and Grounded participants challenged to radical discipleship in caring for creation
2015&苍产蝉辫;鈻� Rooted and Grounded conference yields hope for the future
2014&苍产蝉辫;鈻� The Bible was central in Rooted and Grounded conference on land and discipleship