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Caring for Creation Conference April 3-6, 2008
Jeff Barrie: Founder of Kilowatt Ours, filmmaker and social entrepreneur, Jeff Barrie has spent the last 14 years producing more than a dozen award-winning environmental documentaries, including the most recent, "Kilowatt Ours: A Plan to Re-Energize America." A 1993 graduate of UCLA’s Environmental Studies program, Barrie has led successful efforts to reform transportation policies in Tennessee, developed recycling campaigns in Southern California, and built a broad coalition of wilderness advocates across America. Barrie’s current Kilowatt Ours Initiative aims to improve the energy efficiency of the Southeastern states. Barrie was recently awarded a 2007 Tennessee Arts Fellowship, a lifetime achievement award, by the Tennessee Arts Commission, and the 2007 Conservation Educator of the Year by the Tennessee Wildlife Federation. Presentation: New Documentary Screening of national version of Kilowatt Ours: Empowering Hope Dr. Clay Ballantine: Featured on Kilowatt Ours, Dr. Clay Ballantine is an internal medicine hospitalist physician in Asheville, NC. Dr. Ballantine has studied extensively about the health and economic effects of air pollution exposure. He authored the clean air resolution that was adopted unanimously by the North Carolina Medical Society, and worked extensively to help secure passage of the North Carolina Clean Smokestacks Act. He has presented information about air pollution and health at the local, state, regional and national level, including testimony before the United States Senate’s Sub-committee on Public Health. Workshop: The Health Effects of Air Pollution Bishop Kenneth Carder: Before being elected to the Episcopal office of Bishop, he served churches in the Holston Conference. His last appointment in Holston was at First United Methodist Church, Oak Ridge, TN. While serving here he organized a symposium of Bishops and the scientists at the Oak Ridge Laboratories on peaceful use of atomic energy. He served as the Episcopal leader for the Tennessee and Memphis Conferences and Mississippi Conference before his retirement. He is currently on the faculty of the Duke University Divinity School. Sunday Morning Worship preacher: Consider the Lilies of the Field and the Birds of the Air Dr. Richard Fireman: Retired physician; Editor, www.sustainablewnc.org/ Western Region Director, NC Interfaith Power & Light a program of the NC Council of Churches. Workshop Title: Peace on Earth – Peace with Earth Explore the new meaning of justice and peace that the 21st Century reveals and requires and how we are called to reinvent our religious faith in times when violence towards each other and the earth is putting the foundations of life as we know it in fundamental jeopardy. The Reverend MS. Karen Greenwaldt: Karen Greenwaldt currently serves as General Secretary of The General Board of Discipleship. Prior to assuming this position, she served as Associate General Secretary, Administrator and Team Leader of the Discipleship Ministries Unit, The General Board of Discipleship. She joined the General Board of Discipleship staff in 1981 to serve as Director of Church Leader Development and as the Director of Education and Ministries with Young Adults and Single Adults. Karen has authored Singles Care One for Another, For Everything There is a Season, and Organizing in the Small Membership Church. In addition, she has a long list of published articles related to the vision and mission of the church. She preaches, delivers plenary addresses, leads small group conversations, and consults with church leaders around the world. Karen is a bead and fabric artist specializing in making one-of-a-kind dolls, art quilts, beaded boxes, flowers and jewelry. An avid reader and gardener, Karen enjoys engaging in conversation with young adults who do not associate in organized religious experiences. She is married to Russell Harris, a full-time studio potter. The Reverend Mr. Russell Harris: A Chicago, IL native, Russell’s career has included being a UMC pastor, serving churches in Tennessee and Ohio; working as an antique dealer, specializing in American antique pottery; and now working as a full-time studio art potter. He is the official potter for the Southeast Jurisdiction's Lake Junaluska Assembly. He teaches pottery and ceramic classes at Mid-South Ceramics. He has taught pottery classes at the Appalachian Center for Crafts and at Vanderbilt University. His pottery is shown nationally and is held in many private collections. Presentation: Shaped by the Spirit. The presentation will be done by both Russ and Karen. Dr. Mike Hartsell: A practicing physician in Greenville, TN., Dr. Hartsell practices living with locally grown foods. He has a large garden and dries foods for later use. He did a presentation on a foods program in Middle Tennessee last year. Workshop: Demonstration of food drying with samples to taste. John Hill: John S. Hill serves as Director for Economic and Environmental Justice at the General Board of Church and Society - the international public policy, social justice and advocacy agency of The United Methodist Church. A native of Florida, John received his bachelor's degree from the University of Virginia. He is an advocate with 15 years of experience in Washington, DC. Prior to joining the Board in 2002, he worked on Capitol Hill as a legislative aide and later served as the Director of Legislative Affairs for a lobbying and consulting firm in DC. John currently serves as the Co-chair of the National Council of Churches’ Eco-Justice Working Group and the Washington Inter-religious Staff Community’s Energy and Ecology Working Group. In addition, John serves on the board of Interfaith Worker Justice and the National Farm Worker Ministry and as a lay leader of his church, Foundry United Methodist Church in Washington, DC. Presentation: The Power of Purchasing Mapping Your Ecology Footprint: Learn how to determine how ecologically friendly you and your life are and how to ask the same questions about your church. Dr. Katy Hinman: Executive Director of Georgia Interfaith Power and Light since 2004. She holds a doctorate in Ecology and Evolution and a Master of Divinity from Candler School of Theology at Emory University. She is a candidate for ordination in the North Georgia Conference. Workshop: Ways of Involving Congregations In Caring For Creation: Tips and clues to getting churches involved in Earth care. The Reverend Dr. Boyd Holliday: A native of Western North Carolina, Boyd attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Religion major), Duke Divinity School (M.Div. and Th.M), and University of North Carolina at Greensboro (Doctor of Education). He currently serves in High Point at West End Ministries and Rankin Memorial United Methodist Church. West End Ministries is an ecumenical community organization in one of the poorest neighborhoods of High Point. Workshop: Earth Care and Christian Spirituality: Focus very simply on what spirituality means to people who are suffering the consequences of globalization, global warming, and political chaos, and what it means for us, the rich, to be in solidarity with them. Mr. Stephen King: Director Solid Waste Management for Haywood County, NC. Stephen holds Bachelor and Master degrees in environmental science. Before coming to Haywood County, he worked in the City of Greensboro and Macon County in their recycle program and was Education Coordinator and Operations Manager for FCR, a private sector company managing recyclables. Workshop: Minimizing Use and Disposal of Toxic Materials in Home and Church an opportunity to discover less harmful ways of using clean materials and ways of disposing of toxic items at home and church. Ron Moser: Ron served the USDA, Farmers Home Administration for 18 years. In his last position as District Director, he was responsible for the Agency’s rural development programs in the 13 western counties of North Carolina. He supervised the county and district office staff and was responsible for packaging federally funded loans and grants for community facilities and public housing. Projects included construction of public schools, water and sewer systems for local governments, hospitals and nursing homes, low-income housing apartment complexes and equipment purchases and new facilities for volunteer fire departments. He has extensive training and experience in appraising real estate, writing environmental assessments and property management and sales. Ron was one of the founders of Haywood Waterways Association (HWA) and has served on the Board of Directors and as Treasurer. He currently serves as the HWA Director. He served 3 years on the Haywood County Planning Board. Workshop: Non-point Source Pollution, Its Sources and Abatement: Non-point source pollution is a major threat to water quality and often difficult to quantify and control. This workshop will discuss the sources, impacts and some practical methods of reducing non-point source pollution. Local efforts in Haywood County, NC will be showcased. The Reverend Mr. Bill Nickle: Bill’s goal in life is to promote the importance of environmental education and Earth literacy. He is a graduate of Emory and Henry College and Duke Divinity School. He served as Director/Manager of Wesley Woods summer camp in Townsend, TN and expanded the summer camp programs to a year-round environmental education program serving students from all socio-economic backgrounds, rural to inner city, inter-denominational, terminally ill, physically challenged, kindergarten to seniors. In 1990 he founded, Narrow Ridge, a center for sustainable living and Earth education in Grainger County, TN. Among several areas, he developed a resource and teaching facility housed on 120 acres with five buildings demonstrating appropriate technologies such as passive solar design, photovoltaics, composting toilets and straw bale construction. He serves as charter member of the National Advisory Board of the Environmental Ethics Institute, Miami, FL; teaches environmental education for public and private schools, and Elderhostel environmental programs. He founded Knoxville Interfaith Ecology group and initiated three community land trust developments totaling 400 acres with 30 families who live surrounding the teaching facility. Workshop A: Council of Beings: Participants will engage in a series of processes that weave together three important themes: mourning, remembering and speaking for the perspective of other life forms. Deep ecology remains a concept without power to transform our own awareness unless we allow ourselves to feel. The workshop provides a safe place to give voice to what we know is happening to our planet and to acknowledge the pain and begin to come to terms with it, to mourn our separation and our loss. When we stop repressing the pain, a sense of belonging and interconnectedness emerges. We will participate in exercises which assist the remembering of our roots in nature. We will engage in sensitizing activities shifting us away from our usual cerebral mode in order that we might tap into our deepest feelings and knowledge of our four and one half billion year journey. The Council culminates in shedding our human identity and speaking from the perspective of another life form or being chosen by that other being. A mask will be created and we will come together in a council of “other beings” to express what humans have done to us and what they can learn from us. Workshop B: Inexpensive Solar Solutions For Home Or Church: Contrary to current belief, you don’t have to be a millionaire to use the sun to heat your home, cut down on your hot water bill and provide your electricity. Nor do you have to be a master carpenter or electrician to construct these systems in order to make your home/church more environmentally friendly and less of a contributor to global warming. Participants will examine tried and proven simple, inexpensive solar solutions to hear air and water. Basic passive solar design for home construction will be discussed as well as information concerning the cost of equipment for small home solar electric systems. Joe Sam Queen: Mr. Queen, currently a NC State Senator, is a sixth-generation resident of Haywood County, NC, and a United Methodist. Farmer, architect, businessman, father, and husband, Joe Sam was voted the Most Effective Freshman Democrat in the NC Senate in 2002. A member of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, he is a huge advocate for the environment, the arts, medicine, education, and cultural history of the NC Mountains. Workshop: How to Advocate With Your Legislator on Environmental and Stewardship of Creation Interest. How to get your local representative to listen to your concerns regarding what can be done to improve the environment quality of your local area. Glenda Strauss-Keyes: Glenda worked in the Philippines from 1973 through 1990 where in her last six years, she worked with indigenous people living at the edge of a rapidly disappearing rainforest. From 1991-2001, she was co-director of the Catholic Diocese of Knoxville’s Justice-Peace-Integrity of Creation office, and then director from 2001 until early 2006. She is currently with Tennessee Interfaith Power and Light. Her undergraduate studies were completed at Loyola University where she participated in various seminars, workshops, conferences, and private study which included time with Fr. Thomas Berry. Glenda lives with her husband, Marcus on a land trust connected with Narrow Ridge Earth Literacy Center, Washburn, TN. Presentation: The Universe Story: Its relevance for faith communities. Using the works of Thomas Berry, Glenda will share how his ideas relate to faith communities. Maren Symonds: Maren spent more than 20 years as a corporate strategist before hearing the "call" to a new vocational identity. She serves on the Board of a social venture fund and sounds the call to environmental stewardship in churches and community groups. Ms. Symonds has an MBA from Stanford and an MDiv from Duke. Presentation: From Farm to Table: Provides an overview of food production in America and the consequences for the health of God's good creation. The session offers strategies for change by engaging scripture with agrarian eyes. The Reverend Mr. Pat Watkins: Pat is an ordained elder in the VA Conference of the United Methodist Church. He and his wife, Denise Honeycutt, served as missionaries in Nigeria with the United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries. He is currently under appointment to the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy as the Environmental Policy Coordinator and has been recently named Staff Director for Virginia Interfaith Power and Light. Pat is in the process of completing a Masters Degree in Environmental Science with an emphasis on Theology. He is a member of the United Methodist Women’s Division Green Team for the denomination. Pat tries to live out his passion for God’s creation by living his life in such a way as to make a smaller footprint on God’s earth. He is an avid organic, perma-culture gardener. His passion is to raise the awareness, particularly among people of faith, that there is a connection between faith and taking care of God’s creation. Workshop: A Biblical/Theological Foundation for Creation Care: This interactive workshop will examine several Biblical texts from a relationship perspective; a relationship with God, with each other, and with Earth. In addition theological statements from John Wesley and from the United Methodist Book of Discipline will be examined to give a uniquely United Methodist perspective. The goal of the workshop is to empower the participants to be able to make a connection between their own personal faith and their responsibility to care for God's creation, and to be able to articulate that connection with Biblical and theological evidence in order to help others make a similar connection in their lives and congregations. Mrs. Jane Young: A graduate of UNCG and a former teacher, Jane lives at Lake Junaluska. An author and a poet, she has written a book on settling estates in NC and has had her poetry published in several publications. Her second book, "Sensing the Sacred: Quiet Space Designs and Guides, co-written by Gerrie Grimsely, will be published in the fall of 2008. In addition to her writing, Jane dances in liturgical dance groups and sings with a woman's organization that donates all its profits to benefit women in need. Workshop: Sensing the Sacred in the Everyday: Offers guidance for those interested in developing quiet spaces for retreats, conferences, churches or most any setting. Participants will find it helpful to have experienced one or more of the three quiet spaces- “Objects of Nature”, “Water,” Breath, Wind, Spirit” available at this experience. Other Leadership:
Also sharing this event will be Ms. Darlene Jacobs, Director of Native American Ministries in the Southeastern Jurisdiction, The Reverend Dr. Carl Arrington, Director Of African-American Ministries in the Southeastern Jurisdiction and The Reverend Mr. David Ortigoza, Director of Hispanic/Latino Ministries in the Southeaster Jurisdiction. Also, a host of Junaluska residents who volunteer to help with this experience.
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