Reflections from The Bible to the Frontlines – Stony Point Retreat Center, August 2019

 Lutherans Restoring Creation partnered with Presbyterians for Earth Care for their bi-annual conference at Stony Point Retreat Center in NY August 6-9, 2019 where over a hundred earth-keepers gathered.  Below are some of the remarkable reflections during our time together processing how to take some of the Bible’s directives to bring us to the frontline. Using the World Cafe Method, participants conversed around the three following verses and considered how the Word could help them (and their faith community) progress from movement to action.

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. ” John 15: 5

“Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.”
Psalm 119:105

 For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us.
Romans 12: 4-6

Here are images of our time together at Stony Point Retreat Center:

From Floyd M. Schoenhals

John 15:5 ” I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.”

From Jennifer Heneghan

Isaiah 55:12 For you shall go out in joy, and be led back in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall burst into song, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

St. Peter's Lutheran in Marble Falls, Texas

For Oliver, my furry companion

Atonement Lutheran Church - Overland Park, KS

From Kerri Clark

Luther Springs, Camp Shalom, and Camp Lutherlyn

From Debra Alexander

My farming family and my beautiful surroundings in Austin, TX give me an appreciation for God's Creation.

From Alana Coble

Matthew 6:26-29 “Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single cubit to your life’s span? And why are you anxious about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory did not clothe himself like one of these.”

In honor of Deacon Laura Heller, Chair of the Delaware/Maryland Synod Creation Care Team

from Brad Schlegel

From Marla Stahl

My beautiful, green, community, abundant with wildlife

From Nancy Lund

1 John 4:7-8 Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love.

From Lawrence Ryan

In honor of the High Peaks region of the White Mountain National Park, N. Conway, New Hampshire

From Lawrence Ryan

From Michael & Karen Burmester

Psalm 65:5-7 By awesome deeds you answer us with deliverance, O God of our salvation; you are the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas. By your strength you established the mountains; you are girded with might.

From Joan Bohls

Psalm 65:5 By awesome deeds you answer us with deliverance, O God of our salvation; you are the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas.

In honor of the Redwoods of John Muir Woods

From Sandra Raymond

Heaven is under our feet and over our heads...always.

Green Team in Missouri Planting Apple Trees to Share with Those in Need!

For those who advocate & steward well for the Earth!

From The Greene Family

In honor of Kris McDowell

With love for the North Shore of Minnesota!

From Emily Ebert

Psalm 104:14 You cause the grass to grow for the cattle, and plants for people to use, to bring forth food from the earth, and wine to gladden the human heart, oil to make the face shine, and bread to strengthen the human heart.

From Sheryl Mehrhoff

Thanks to the people of Creation Keepers Ministry at St. Andrew’s Lutheran, Columbia, MO

From Diane Armbrust

In Thanks for Holden Village

From David Crosson

Psalm 1:3 They are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither. In all that they do, they prosper.

From Kim Winchell

David Rhoads!
Your stories, your wisdom, your dedication, your friendship.

From Walter Kilgus

In honor of My Father, Christian Kilgus

From Carl Teinert

North Rim Grand Canyon and
Big Bend National Parks

From Diane Bridi

For my Grandchildren

From anonymous

In Honor of Pastor Jim Friedrich

From Marilyn Matevia

In gratitude for our life-giving rivers and lakes

All the beautiful birds of the air!

Matthew 6:26-29 “Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single cubit to your life’s span? And why are you anxious about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory did not clothe himself like one of these.”

From Jim Davidson

- In honor of Zulu Davidson -
May we treasure all our elder creatures!

From Rev. Peg Schultz-Akerson

In honor of Jane Affonso, co-chair with me of the Southwest CA Synod Green Faith Team.

From Jane Affonso - in gratitude for Wendell Berry's Poetry

In gratitude for all those who feed us

Psalm 104:14-21 You cause the grass to grow for the cattle, and plants for people to use, to bring forth food from the earth, and wine to gladden the human heart, oil to make the face shine, and bread to strengthen the human heart.

From Susan Borcherding

In Honor of Dad & Mike

From Kim Winchell

Phoebe Morad
For all of your dedication, friendship, and hard work. :)!

From Sue Woodling

Psalm 1:3 They are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither. In all that they do, they prosper.

From Russ Senti

Phoebe Morad for her awesome job as Executive Director of Lutherans Restoring Creation!

From Dennis Groce

Thanks to all the passion from the North West Pennsylvania Synod Green Team!

Blessings from the ocean

Genesis 1:20-23 And God said, “Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the dome of the sky.” So God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, of every kind, with which the waters swarm, and every winged bird of every kind. And God saw that it was good. God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.

From Phyllis Cox

In honor of Kim Winchell

From Emily Ebert

Isaiah 40:12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and marked off the heavens with a span, enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance?

In honor of
Pastor Dan, Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Fairfax, Va

From Margaret Schoewe

In thanks to Barbara Rossing & David Rhoads

In Honor of Jeff Schlesinger

From Robert Larsen

Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Port Angeles, WA

From Ann Roberts

In honor of Nathan Brueschiff

In Honor of Alexa C. Sulak

From Linda Neumann

In Honor of Ken and Betty Moyer

From Rev. Carmen Retzlaff

In Honor of Rio Hondo, Valdez NM

From Kim Winchell (who marches for "all my sisters, all the children and the EARTH, mother of us all".

For kindred spirits in The Great Work.

From Alycia Ashburn

In Remembrance of Nathaniel Andrew

From Mary Kvamme

In Honor of Alena Lamireto

From Lauren Schwenke

I visited World's End State Park (PA) often as a child and it has become a special place for my own children. It is our inspiration and a reminder of God's many gifts.

From Becky Newberry

In thanks for Luther Heights Bible Camp

From Paul Benz

In appreciation of
Joy Pearl, Liam David, Elliott Trent

Bridging us together

In Gratitude for the United States

From Danette & Paul Braun

Our grandchildren

From Mary Beth

Spicewood Springs in Austin, TX

From a prayerful commuter in Texas

My drive to the office down a winding road, over low water crossings, under a canopy of trees, through meadows sprinkled with flowers, and past a small waterfall that runs after rains

From Nicole Ferry

Each and every sunrise and sunset reminds me to Care for God's Creation.

anonymous

The arboretum and botanical gardens in Ann Arbor, MI and my parents' home.

From Julia Piontek

In honor of Delbert Koelper

From Paulette Grotrian

Lake Michigan

From Kerri Clark

Camp Lutherlyn in Prospect, PA

From Gary Branae

For nature in general

From Henry Huntington

From Mary Mylroie

For Sara Bernard-Hoverstad

From Pat Almonrode

In honor/memory of
Roland & Macon Almonrode, and Cindy Long

 

Peace for the Earth: From the Bible to the Frontlines