025: The Priest of the Woods and the Fullness of the Earth with Stephen Blackmer

“But Jesus often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer.”

– Luke 5:16

Stephen Blackmer is founding executive director of Kairos Earth and chaplain of Church of the Woods. Steve comes to this with 30 years of conservation experience, having founded and built conservation organizations including the Five Rivers Conservation Trust, Northern Forest Alliance and Northern Forest Center. A midlife shift led him to Yale Divinity School and ordination as a priest in the Episcopal Church, carrying the question in his heart and mind: “How can being a priest deepen my work to conserve the Earth? What does the Christian tradition have to offer to this work? How can the Christian tradition be re-understood and re-imagined in a time of need? How can the conservation movement recover its understanding of the Earth as holy ground?” (adapted from kairosearth.org)

In this episode, Stephen shares his journey from forest ecologist to priest, the inner stirrings that called him, and the inception of starting a church whose sanctuary is 106 acres in the wild woods and wetlands near Canterbury, New Hampshire.  You can learn more about Stephen’s work at kairosearth.org.

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EPISODE SHOW NOTES

Resources Mentioned

• ”The Priest in the Trees” Harper’s Article on Stephen Blackmer and the Church of the Woods
• Tao Te Ching
• The Bible
• Wild Church Network
• The Church of the Woods
• kairosearth.org

People

• Jesus
• Moses
• Noah
• St. Paul

Drinks Pairings

• Smoky Lapsang Souchong Tea (Hu-kwa brand)
• Old Brown Dog (Dark Brown Ale) by Smuttynose Brewery

Highlights

1m45s When you hear the word “contemplative”, how does that moniker relate to you or your work, if at all?

8m Can you share about your path from conservationist to priest?

28m38s What do you think Christianity can regain by returning to its more wilderness based roots especially during planetary climate change?

39m The earth itself as theotokos (the God-bearer)

41m02s Can you tell me about the inception of the idea for Church of the Woods and what it offers its community?

50m25s We like to pair each conversation with a drink, what drink would choose to pair with this conversation?

Photo credit: Death To Stock Photo