Image Courtesy of Bob Haverluck, “When God was Flesh and Wild: Stories in Defence of the Earth” (2017 , Liturgical Press).

Join us for a panel discussion on Ecological Grief and Exploring Hope in partnership with Canadian Mennonite University on Wednesday April 28th at 7 pm, (CST) via zoom.

The climate crisis is a pressing matter. As we are witnesses to the many ways the Earth has been exploited and damaged, how do we hold space for the sorrow, anger, and guilt we may feel? Ecological grief is one of the ways of acknowledging and mourning the land, people, plants, and animals which we have lost to climate change. Lament is a powerful communal act that helps us acknowledge sorrow and leads us away from despair. Ultimately, lament is a profoundly hopeful act that provides us with a way forward, knowing that change is possible through new ways of being and faith in the God of Creation. Through taking the time to mourn the earth, we step forward in hope and action towards restoration and new life, for the land and for ourselves as human beings.

Inspired by an Independent Study on Ecological Grief at Canadian Mennonite University, Kari Miller, A Rocha Manitoba’s Environmental Education Coordinator, will host a discussion exploring our grief and hope for creation amidst the climate crisis.

Speakers include:

• Marta Bunnett Wiebe – Peace and Advocacy Coordinator with MCC Manitoba, farmer, and editor of the new book Germinating Conversations; Stories from a Sustained Rural-Urban Dialogue on Food, Faith, and the Land
• Bob Haverluck – local artist, theologian, and ecological activist who uses storytelling and art to engage issues of violence against the earth and her creatures.
• Zoe Matties – Program Manager for A Rocha Manitoba, and co-founder of Wild Church Winnipeg an emerging community of worship.
• Josiah Neufeld – a local journalist and fiction writer who has spent much time thinking and acting upon the global climate crisis.

This event is free. Please register below and the zoom link will be sent the day prior to the event. 

Recommended Resources

Between the Embers and the Stars; A Philosophical Inquiry on the Moral Sense of Nature. Erazim Kohak. (University of Chicago Press, 1984)

Braiding Sweetgrass; Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants. Robin Wall Kimmerer. (Milkweed Editions, 2013).

Gardens; An Essay on the Human Condition. Robert Pogue Harrison. (University of Chicago Press, 2008). 

Germinating Conversations; Stories from a Sustained Rural-Urban Dialogue on Food, Faith, and the Land. Edited by Marta Bunnett Wiebe. (A Rocha Canada, Canada Foodgrains Bank, Canadian Mennonite University, and Mennonite Central Committee, 2021). 

From Nature to Creation; A Christian Vision for Understanding and Loving our World. Norman Wirzba. Edited by James Smith. (Baker Academic, 2015). 

Mourning Nature; Hope at the Heart of Ecological Grief. Edited by Ashlee Cunsolo and Karen Landman. (McGill Queen’s University, 2017). 

Words for a Dying World; Stories of Grief and Courage from the Global Church. Edited by Hannah Malcolm. (SCM Press, 2020).