Getting started with GreenFaith

Last week we held the kick-off "webinar" for the GreenFaith program. A combination of a phone conference call and shared presentation software - there is provision for text chat and things like that as well, but we did not use that much for this first meeting.

Most of the time we spent introducing ourselves. There are 24 fellows (if I counted correctly) this year. The great majority (all but 3, I think) are from various Christian traditions with Catholics and Episcopalians seeming to be particularly well represented. The others are (one of each) Buddhist, Jewish and Muslim. A lot of ordained ministers or pastors (as well as one rabbi), as well as others who had been faithful in service or nonprofit roles for many years - someone like me, coming into this from a quite different career path, is the exception. Several have felt the need to pursue this path for a while,  and retirement or life changes have made this possible  for them. 18 are women and 6 are men. I very much look forward to getting to know this group over the coming year and to learning from all that they have to share.

One of our early assignments will be to get started on an "eco-theological writing project".  The goals is that a GF Fellow will

• deepen their understanding of their relationship with the earth
• deepen their understanding of the teachings, resources, and roadblocks from their tradition in relation to the environment
• strengthen their ability to express themselves publicly as a religious-environmental leader

I wonder what my writing project will be.