WILD AND FREE: The Role of Nature Access in Spiritiual Formation
All-Inclusive retreat with lodging: $400
Commuter rate: $275
REGISTRATION
Call or email Shalom Hill Farm
507-831-2232 | shfdirector@gmail.com
RETREAT OVERVIEW
With the tap of a screen the majority of our country’s children, youth, and young adults have extraordinary access – to information, diverse perspectives, and opportunity. But, emergent research indicates the young among us are also chronically enclosed. Confined by overscheduled lives, “safe” uni-purpose toys and playgrounds, screenbased relationships, and hovering parents, youth under the age of 25 spend 50-65% less time experiencing the natural world than previous generations. Most are neither wild nor free. In these sessions Dr. Kiara Jorgenson asks participants to examine the spiritual ramifications of such enclosures and consider how traditions within Christianity might address them. She also highlights the science behind the benefits of sustained nature access and helps us practically apply these findings to contexts of worship, education, and children/youth programming in rural, suburban and urban settings. While the retreat’s focus is upon the young, participants learn experientially on the beautiful grounds of Shalom Hill and will leave with insights on place-based spiritual formation for children and adults alike.
FACILITATOR BIO
Dr. Kiara Jorgenson
A theologian with children & youth pastoral experience, Kiara earned degrees from St. Olaf College, Denver Seminary, and Luther Seminary. She serves as Associate
Professor in the Environmental Studies and Religion Departments at St. Olaf College,
where she teaches courses on ecotheologies, climate justice ethics, and place-based spiritualities. Kiara is the author of Ecology of Vocation: Recasting Calling in a New Planetary Era (Fortress/Lexington, 2020), co-editor of Ecotheology: A Christian
Conversation (Eerdmans, 2020) and is a regular contributor to Lutheran periodicals
such as Word & World, Lutheran Quarterly, and Dialog. Kiara’s current research
focuses upon nature, wonder, and the spiritual questing of children in a tech-saturated world. She lives on the prairie near Nerstrand's Big Woods with her spouse, young daughters, and an assortment of furry friends and enjoys historical fiction, gardening, running, yoga, photography, and fabric arts.
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