In the Company of Stewards meetings hearken back to how a company of pioneers would circle their wagons for the night and gather together for uplifting and constructive conversation. These meetings are held on Zoom, facilitated by a host, and recorded for publication on the Latter-day Saint Earth Stewardship. Register at: https://ldsearthstewardship.org/in-the-company-of-stewards/
Join us at the annual LDSES Fall Forum on Saturday, Dec. 2 at 4 pm at the Sweet Branch of the Salt Lake City Library (455 E Ninth Ave, Salt Lake City, UT 84103). Please RSVP here: https://forms.gle/R2kTHHDfJGNjfQqA9 The theme of this year’s forum is “Stewardship in Practice: Next Steps in Taking Care of the Earth”. Panelists from LDSES will discuss what stewardship means. Now that we know it’s a gospel principle, where do we go from here? How do we follow this principle in our everyday lives? This discussion will be moderated by author, professor, and environmental advocate George Handley. Panelists include Shelly Parkin, Lucy Harper, Chip Oscarson, and Teresa Gomez. Light refreshments to follow. This event is in-person, but a recording will be available on YouTube later.
In this short but deeply powerful book, the bestselling historian of religion Karen Armstrong re-sacralizes nature for modern times. Drawing on her vast knowledge of the world’s religious traditions, she vividly describes nature’s central place in spirituality across the centuries. In bringing this age-old wisdom to life, Armstrong shows modern readers how to rediscover nature’s potency and form a connection to something greater than ourselves. ABOUT THE BOOK GROUP HOST: Tom Cain has been practicing law for 43 years, for 27 of which he taught at John F. Kennedy College of Law, a local SF Bay Area law school. From 2000 – 2017, he was the founder and Program Director for The Congress of Neutrals, a non-profit, recruiting and training mediators for the Superior Court, State of California. Tom is married to Kazume Cain, who was raised on a farm in Japan. They have two daughters, one who is also a lawyer, and the other who is his law office manager. They have been active in the Berkeley Ward for 28 years, except for three years when he served as a Bishop in Oakland. His current calling is as the Ward Sustainability Chief.
Rally to Save Our Great Salt Lake on Saturday, January 20th at 3 pm on the south steps of the Utah State Capitol. Many community service organizations will be supporting this event, sponsored by Save Our Great Salt Lake. @saveourgsl
Come “let your light shine” (Matthew 5:16) for Great Salt Lake during the 2024 Utah State Legislative Session! On Tuesday, January 23rd from 5 to 6 PM, LDSES will be keepers of the Great Salt Lake Vigil at the Capitol 2024, to celebrate and amplify awareness of our love for the Great Salt Lake. We will meet on the east steps of the Utah State Capitol at 5:00 PM and carry brine shrimp puppets (see pictured above), flocks of birds, and other lake species around the Capitol, walking clockwise until 6:00 PM. For those of you who have an LDSES bandana, be sure to wear it. This event is appropriate for adults and children. We encourage adults to bring kids and grandkids. We need many hearts and hands! Sign up here if you can support our group on January 23. Other groups will be hosting vigils daily throughout the legislative session, which ends on March 1st. If you are unable to participate in our January 23 vigil, we encourage you to support other 1-hour vigils that will be happening every morning and evening during January and February. Also, LDSES will be keepers of the February 14 vigil so watch your email for more on that as well. We will be glad to be with you on the steps!
On Wednesday, February 14th LDSES will be keepers of the Great Salt Lake Vigil at the Capitol 2024, to celebrate and amplify awareness of our love for the Great Salt Lake. We will be delivering a “Thank you for your work to save The Great Salt Lake!” valentines (shown above) to every House and Senate member, as well as to Governor Cox’s office. 4:30 PM: We’ll meet on the East steps of the Utah State Capitol and hand-deliver Valentines to Governor Cox’s office 5:00 – 6:00 PM We’ll meet on the east steps of the Utah State Capitol to carry brine shrimp puppets, flocks of birds, and other lake species around the Capitol, walking clockwise until 6:00 PM. For those of you with an LDSES bandana, be sure to wear it! Sign up here. This event is appropriate for adults and children. We encourage adults to bring kids and grandkids. We need many hearts and hands! Be sure to Like and Share our Instagram and Facebook Posts for this event.
Join your LDSES peers to enjoy the winter wonders of nature on this ranger-led snowshoe hike! We’ll meet up at the Spruces Campground in Big Cottonwood Canyon on Saturday February 24 at 6:00 PM. You will need to provide your own snowshoe equipment as it is not available at the campground. If you need to rent, snowshow equipment can be rented at the University of Utah Outdoor Program or AJ Motion Sports for $11-$15 per day. Email slc@ldsearthstewardship.org if you have questions.
Our economic system is based on perpetual expansion, which is devastating the living world. There is only one solution that will lead to meaningful and immediate change: degrowth. If we want to have a shot at surviving the Anthropocene, we need to restore the balance. We need to change how we see the world and our place within it, shifting from a philosophy of domination and extraction to one that’s rooted in reciprocity with our planet’s ecology. You can register for this Zoom session here. In addition to our Zoom discussion, readers can share thoughts in our Goodreads group! ABOUT THE BOOK GROUP HOST: Marie is a retired clinical psychologist who loves having more time for friends, great-grandchildren, and the various projects she delayed until now. She loves travel and was fortunate to spend 2016-2017 in Gulu, Uganda building a mental health program for an NGO.
The Stegner Center’s 29th annual symposium will focus on the challenge of transitioning to a carbon neutral energy system and related sustainability, environmental, and human health concerns. The symposium will address practical questions, like facility siting, supply chain adequacy, and permitting reform, as well as concerns about environmental justice, public participation and transparency, and implementing meaningful strategies to avoid, reduce and minimize impacts to communities and ecological resources. LDS Earth volunteers will support our table at this event. LDSES table volunteers will get free admission to both days of the event. For information on volunteering, contact us at slc@ldsearchstewardship.org.
Here’s a great Family Night opportunity. The Great Salt Lake Interfaith Action Coalition and Congregation Kol Ami have invited LDSES to attend a free screening of the award-winning 22-minute film “Whales of the High Desert.” If you are not familiar with the film, that started with the director looking to study the myth of whales in the Great Salt Lake, here is a nice story from the KSL News and a RadioWest podcast on the film. Register for this event here. Following the showing, the director of the film will be available for questions and discussion. Join us!!!
LDSES will be promoting this Earth Day learning event, led by the ThinkAgain FaithAgain foundation. Come hear from a veteran steward of Utah water sustainability on his extensive work for the environment. Details on the location and registration for this event here. You can attend in-person or via Zoom. Over history, including more recent local history, some rivers have dried up or been so over-used they no longer reach the ocean. We will explore the consequences not just to the environment but to humans when this happens. When we think of Earth Day, we often think of air and ocean pollution, growing garbage pits, recycling, the damage from mineral extraction, the harm done by our industrial food complex, etc. But we too often forget the lifeblood of most civilizations throughout all time—fresh water from rivers. The last several years Utahans have had a wake-up call with our shrinking Great Salt Lake. But those below Lake Powel and Mead are in peril of losing power as well as having enough water to drink for a growing population. And this our just our species’ concerns. What of all the others being affected? Richard will help us explore ways we can all use water more equitably for the benefit of all. Rich Ingebretsen is the founder of the Glen Canyon Institute and is also the vice chair of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance. He founded Wilderness Medicine of Utah to teach back-country medicine and is the owner of River Bound Adventures an education river trip company. Rich graduated from the University of Utah with a master’s in physics and a PhD in Physics Education. He received an MD degree from the University of Utah School of Medicine in 1993. He completed a residency in internal medicine and a fellowship in emergency medicine in Salt Lake City. He is now a clinical instructor of medicine at the University of Utah School of Medicine and a professor in the Department of Physics. He is an attending emergency room physician and practices internal medicine. He is the program director of the wilderness program at the University of Utah School of Medicine and is the medical director of Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue. He was the Associate Dean for Student Affairs for the College of Science in 2014 and 2015.
Join us for an interfaith forum celebrating Earth Day, featuring leaders from Salt Lake area LDS, Jewish, Muslim, and Catholic congregations. More details to come. The Creation Care Coalition is comprised of volunteers from Latter-day Saint Earth Stewardship, Mormon Environmental Stewardship Alliance, Citizens Climate Lobby LDS Action Team, and Mormon Women for Ethical Government.