A Year of Creation:
How nature’s seasons and Christian feasts cultivate creation consciousness
Saturday, February 8, 2025
Anderson University Center, PLU
For the majority of people in our congregations, Sunday worship is the primary if only time in which they participate in faith formation. As communities committed to cherishing and protecting God’s creation, our Sunday worship throughout the year offers opportunities to highlight our baptismal promise to care for the earth and its many creatures.
In this conference, participants will explore the ways in which congregations can celebrate nature’s seasons and Christian feasts that orient us toward care for the earth. Here we take seriously what has often been overlooked in our history: the power of worship to form creation consciousness, the first step leading to action and advocacy.
The conference will take place on Saturday, February 8, 2025, in the Anderson University Center at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington. We eagerly look forward to enlightening and engaging plenary presentations, dynamic and eye-opening workshops, and good conversation about our common commitment to restore creation in the Pacific Northwest.
Participants need to register online for the conference. At registration, participants pay the fee of $30 which includes morning coffee with PLU’s world-famous scones, a lunch buffet of vegetarian salads, and all conference materials.
SCHEDULE
Saturday Morning
8:30 – Registration in the Scandinavian Cultural Center (SCC), on the lower level of the Anderson University Center (AUC)
9:00 – Morning Prayer in the Scandinavian Cultural Center
Reflection on Morning Prayer
9:50 – Coffee and treats in the SCC: Registration continues
10:10 – Brief introduction to the day
First plenary session with Dr. Benjamin Stewart on keeping nature’s seasons
Conversation with Dr. Stewart
Dr. Stewart’s presentation will be recorded for viewing after the conference.
11:15 – Three concurrent workshops take place in the morning:
1. A creation focus for the seasons of the year: Samuel Torvend
2. Singing creation throughout the year: Sheila Bristow and Shari Shull
3. Biomimicry with nature’s seasons and Christian feasts: Jen Rude
Afternoon
12:15 – Lunch in the SCC
1:15 – Three workshops repeated
1. A creation focus for the seasons of the year: Samuel Torvend
2. Singing creation throughout the year: Sheila Bristow and Shari Shull
3. Biomimicry with nature’s seasons and Christian feasts: Jen Rude
2:15 – Second plenary session with Dr. Ruth Meyers on Christians feasts and the creation
Conversation with Dr. Meyers
Dr. Meyers’ presentation will be recorded for viewing after the conference.
3:30 – Farewell Prayer
Parking
Parking for the conference is available on the street and in the PLU parking lot between 122nd Street South and 123rd Street South.
PRESENTERS
Sheila Bristow is a composer, church musician, and collaborative keyboardist in Tacoma, Washington. She serves as Music Director and Organist at St. Barnabas Episcopal Church, Bainbridge Island, and is keyboardist for Harmonia Orchestra & Chorus. She is also an Affiliate Artist at Pacific Lutheran University, where she accompanies vocal competitions and masterclasses. Among her many compositions is Winter Solstice for choir, clarinet, harp, and vibraphone (premiered in March 2024 ).
The Rev. Ruth Meyers began teaching liturgy at the Church Divinity School of the Pacific (CDSP) in 2009. At CDSP, she served as dean of academic affairs from 2012 until 2023. A past president of North American Academy of Liturgy, she is a member of the Council of Associated Parishes for Liturgy and Mission and has served as chair of the Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music of the Episcopal Church. She is the author of Missional Worship, Worshipful Mission: Gathering As God’s People, Going Out in God’s Name (2014).
The Rev. Jen Rude was named the University Pastor at Pacific Lutheran University in August, 2016. Before coming to PLU, Jen served as the program director for Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries, a national support and advocacy organization for LGBTQ pastors and seminarians. As University Pastor, Jen leads worship on the university campus, creates programs on religious and spiritual diversity, and serves on the board of the Wild Hope Center for Vocation.
Shari Shull serves as organist, choir director, and director of music ministry at Agnus Dei Lutheran Church in Gig Harbor. She is an active member of the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians, former dean of the Tacoma Chapter of the American Guild of Organists, and served as director of the Pipe Organ Encounter Technical program for the AGO. As an organ recitalist, she has been heard on Pipedreams program of National Public Radio and in organ concerts on the East Coast and in Washington.
The Rev. Benjamin Stewart serves as Distinguished Affiliate Faculty at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, former Gordon A. Braatz Associate Professor of Worship at LSTC, and as Pastor to Emmanuel Lutheran Church, Two Harbors, Minnesota. A recent migrant to Duluth, Ben is a member of the North American Academy of Liturgy and contributes to its Ecology and Liturgy Seminar. He is author of A Watered Garden: Christian Worship and Earth’s Ecology (2011).
The Rev. Samuel Torvend is a priest of the Episcopal Diocese of Olympia, University Chair in Lutheran Studies emeritus at PLU, and Faculty Fellow in Humanities. He serves on the council of Associated Parishes for Liturgy and Mission, and is an active participant in the Ecology and Liturgy seminar of the North American Academy of Liturgy. He is the author of Monastic Ecological Wisdom: A Living Tradition (2023) and the forthcoming Jesus in Nature: A Monastic Christology (2025).
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