Earth, Our Common Home
October 2025 Retreat
Ann Hall
Due in large part to a generous grant from the Associated Parishes for Liturgy and Mission (APLM) of the American Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada for projects on “Worship in a Time of Climate Crisis," the Council for Ecological Discipleship hosted Earth: Our Common Home, A RESTorative Retreat from October 16-18, 2025.
Retreatants from California and as far away as Nebraska and Georgia were led by the Rev. Payton Hoegh, Program Director of the Center for Spirituality in Nature and Fr. Vincent Pizzuto, Vicar of St. Columba’s Inverness, and members of the Council, on a journey from climate grief to imaginative hope.
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Quoting Terry Tempest Williams: "Rather than anchoring our hope beyond the struggle, always projecting ahead, perhaps locating joy within the struggle through our full presence can be our essential gesture at this moment in time. To feel the pain of now and not look away. To act not with the hope of moving forward, always forward, but to see the wisdom of stepping sideways as we create a different space, a more conscious space…"
The Rev. Payton began by guiding participants through an exploration of individual and collective grief and fear around the climate crisis. In a ritual sharing of sacred objects brought from home, each of us shared how our object was deeply intertwined with both love and grief for something specific and unique to our own lives. The hope was that this object might also inform our steps towards hope and imagination. This time of vulnerable sharing bonded our group as a community and instilled a level of trust that was comforting and encouraging. Our objects remained on the altar for the duration of the retreat.
We spent much of the retreat outdoors meditating and worshipping, including enjoying a gorgeous fall afternoon of mindful nature attunement on Drake’s Beach in the National Park. The largely deserted beach, except for a crowd of black gulls and terns, focused our attention, including on the many sand dollars uncovered by the waves.
During the retreat, we included movement in the “Elm Dance” as practiced by Joanna Macy from her “Work that Reconnects”. We engaged in simple but rich practices, including Creatio Divina on our observations of the natural world, and crafted nature-inspired Haikus.
These practices helped us to explore creation's beauty and companionship and opened us to movement from pain to possibility. The retreat concluded with a shared homily and an outdoor Eucharist at the Celtic Cross, presided over by Fr. Vincent and the Rev. Payton. The wider St. Columba’s worship community also had the privilege to meet and talk with the Rev. Payton, as he participated in the next day’s Sunday liturgy and preached a moving sermon. You can listen to the recording of his sermon here.
The Rev. Payton wrote to the Council members at the conclusion of the retreat: “It was such a joy to journey with you all during our time of retreat. I hope that you feel renewed, inspired, and equipped to dream of new possibilities of love and thriving for Earth, our common home."
Yes, with God’s help.
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Cross in the cliff at Drake’s Beach, during our “wander”-- photo by Nicole Walters. “God shows up everywhere when we stop to look at the small things.”