Contemplation & Care for Creation Certificate Program
Are you yearning for the Christian faith and practice to fully support our kinship with nature?
Are you seeking a deeper, more theologically grounded understanding of how your Christian faith can inform and support the practice of creation care?
Do you hope to lead your congregation (both lay and ordained) into a more intimate connection with God and God’s creation?
Are you looking to grow spiritually by practicing nature contemplation?
Are you seeking a spiritually grounded, supportive community of people engaged in creation care?
Are you seeking training to lead environmentally informed offerings in Christian education or spiritual formation?
At the Center for Deep Green Faith, we believe that the root cause of the environmental crises we face is spiritual in nature. When we are estranged from God’s presence in the world around us and from nature, we harm the planet we call home. Therefore the Center draws on the age-old resources of orthodox Christianity for the spiritual connections to God’s creation that heal and renew both humanity and creation.
“The external deserts in the world are growing because the internal deserts have become so vast” - Benedict XVI
The Program
Join us in a year-long ecumenical program that shares the theology and spirituality of creation care. Learn to encounter the sacred in nature, interpret that experience, and reflect on its implications for your own life, your church, and society. Immerse yourself in the contemplation of nature in company with other participants, based on classical monastic spiritual formation. Study the integral relation of creation to the fundamental tenets of the Christian faith. Create a rule of life for yourself based on a right relationship with God and the glorious elements of God’s world.
This Contemplation and Care for Creation program starts in June of every year and ends in late April or May of the following year. It involves:
- Participation in the Center’s Living in an Icon spiritual formation program throughout the year. Click here to learn more!
- reading some of the best books and articles on eco-theology and social science related to creation care
- an initial 4 day virtual retreat
- 2-3 days spaced throughout the year of online instruction. Each day is well-spaced to minimize Zoom fatigue.
- a bi-monthly meeting to learn and practice new ways of prayer with God’s creation as our text or discussion of our reading
- a spring practicum
- a final 3 day retreat and wrap up
- Continued support from the Deep Green Faith team and program participants
In order to facilitate discussion and community building program enrollment is limited to 15 participants.
Learning Objectives
By the end of the program participants can expect to have:
- grown spiritually through the practice of natural contemplation
- grown closer both to God and to God’s creation
- grown in understanding of how the Christian faith intimately involves all of creation
- learned how to:
- lead an introductory event in natural contemplation
- lead an extended program in spiritual formation involving natural contemplation
- utilize other materials from the Center in their communities
- received suggestions for further reading and growth
- developed a rule of life
- developed supportive, ongoing relationships with like-minded people
Program Instructors
The primary instructors for the program include course director Robin Gottfried, Professor Emeritus of Economics and Founding Director (retired), Center for Religion and Environment, The University of the South; Jerry Cappel, Ph.D, Environmental Coordinator for Province IV of the Episcopal Church; and Mary Foster, MTS, Duke Divinity School and CCC graduate.
2024 Program Dates.
The Certificate program for 2024 begins with a month of reading on your own to prepare for the virtual retreat. The virtual retreat will be June 5-8, 2024. Sessions will be amply spaced to minimize Zoom fatigue.
The wrap up retreat will be scheduled based upon participants schedules in late April or early May. If all participants are able to attend in person, the wrap up will take place in beautiful Sewanee, Tennessee. Otherwise the event will be held virtually.
Program Costs and Application Process
Please apply for the program by May 1 to enable yourself to obtain the appropriate books and begin reading for the retreat. Tuition for the program is $1350 with a $500 deposit upon application. The final payment of $850 is due on May 20.
We are committed to helping all those interested in participating in the program to be able to do so regardless of financial circumstances. Please contact the program director for information on financial aid.
How To Apply
To register and make your initial deposit of $500 please click on the "Apply and Submit Deposit" button. To pay the remaining balance of $850 please click on the "Submit Balance" button.
For more information about the program and to inquire about financial aid please contact the program director, Robin Gottfried, at robin@deepgreenfaith.org.
Graduate Testimonials
In your prayerful consideration of this unique spiritual opportunity, it may help you to hear from others who have taken this course:
“I had to make sacrifices on many levels to open my schedule, my life to this class. This has been the singularly most healing experience of my adult life. This tiny piece of paradise here in Tennessee was inviting and safe and radically hospitable. I opened to the world around me in a way that has freed my spirit and grounded me in a mutually supportive journey that I could not have conjured in my wildest dreams. I experience the support of my fellow students and the faculty of the program in a way that is as healing as the practices. I pray we can move this way of being in the world into a wider circle of healing.”
Chan, Navajoland
“…this has been a powerful experience, among the most indelible I’ve had over the years.”
Richard, Alabama
"This year-long Certificate Program transformed my life and continues to do so. The grace I received and continue to receive daily as a result of the certificate program has helped me to experience a more full presence of God in everyone and in everything I encounter in creation."
Joey, Louisiana
“The program was a wonderful combination of head-learning and experiential heart-learning. I would highly recommend this program to anyone who is desiring to connect their concern for the environment with their faith, and share that connection with others.”
Janet, Colorado
Graduate Testimonials
In your prayerful consideration of this unique spiritual opportunity, it may help you to hear from others who have taken this course:
“I had to make sacrifices on many levels to open my schedule, my life to this class. This has been the singularly most healing experience of my adult life. This tiny piece of paradise here in Tennessee was inviting and safe and radically hospitable. I opened to the world around me in a way that has freed my spirit and grounded me in a mutually supportive journey that I could not have conjured in my wildest dreams. I experience the support of my fellow students and the faculty of the program in a way that is as healing as the practices. I pray we can move this way of being in the world into a wider circle of healing.”
Chan, Navajoland
“…this has been a powerful experience, among the most indelible I’ve had over the years.”
Richard, Alabama
"This year-long Certificate Program transformed my life and continues to do so. The grace I received and continue to receive daily as a result of the certificate program has helped me to experience a more full presence of God in everyone and in everything I encounter in creation."
Joey, Louisiana
“I think this is one of the most important things that I have ever done. … If you want a closer walk with God, a richer and fuller concept of living in concert with God’s Creation, a purer awareness of Jesus in the world around you, a better understanding of living a purposeful and meaningful life with the assistance of the Holy Spirit, you should take this class - it will change your life in ways you would never imagine."
Pat, Georgia