Earth Harmony Study Group

Since 2017 the Earth Harmony book study group has met in Duluth. This book study group provides a model for how you might create a group of your own in your community, and a list of books you may want to read.

As the widespread and systemic problems of the ecological crisis increasingly call for adaptive changes in society, faith traditions play a vital role in helping shape human response. These sessions will explore a variety of spiritual perspectives that recognize our deep creaturely interrelatedness, lament our negative impact on the earth’s well-being, and highlight our vocation as stewards. A shared global consciousness emerging from diverse cultural experience invites local communities into hopeful reflection and collaboration.

This study group is supported by the Oreck-Alpern Interreligious Forum of the College of St. Scholastica. The initial plan was meeting monthly for 6 months, November 2017 – April 2018, a period of emphasis by the college on Earth Harmony. Original facilitators were Pr. David Carlson (Gloria Dei Lutheran) and Bill Mittlefehldt (Peace UCC). Readings included articles and selections from: 

• Ecology & Religion by Mary Evelyn Tucker & John Grim

• Blessed Unrest by Paul Hawken

• The Great Transition from Fossil Fuels by Lester Brown

• The Splendor of Creation (2005) by Rabbi Ellen Bernstein

• "From the Wilderness Prophetic Tradition to Watershed Discipleship" (2015) by Ched Myers

• Dark Money (2017) by Jane Mayer

• Transforming Community (2018) by Constance Gunderson  

• "Earth Stewardship and the Missio Dei: The Leadership of Integrating Congregations" in the Journal of Religious Leadership (2017) by David Carlson

• "9.5 Theses on Earth Stewardship" from Currents in Theology and Mission (2018) by David Carlson

• The Earth Path: Grounding Your Spirit in the Rhythms of Nature (2005) by Starhawk

• Climate of Hope (2017) by Michael Bloomberg & Carl Pope

• "Development, Ecology, and Women" (1988) by Vandana Shiva

• Kabbalah and Ecology: God's Image in the More-Than-Human World (2015) by Rabbi David Seidenberg

•  “A New Reformation: Lutherans and Byzantine Christians for Ecological Justice" (2017) by Chrysostom Frank

• Earth Honoring Faith (2013) by Larry Rasmussen

•  “Ecology of Incarnation: A Love Song" in Yale Divinity School alumni journal, by Kristin Foster

After the initial period, the group decided to continue, facilitated by Pr. David Carlson and assisted by Bret Pence (MN Interfaith Power & Light), meeting monthly and reading through whole books:

• Active Hope (2012) by Joanna Macy & Chris Johnstone

• In Search of the Good Life: The Ethics of Globalization (2004) by Rebecca Todd Peters

• Braiding Sweetgrass (2015) by Robin Wall Kimmerer

• Morality and the Environmental Crisis (2019) by Roger Gottlieb

• Falter (2019) by Bill McKibben

• Spiritual Ecology (2013) ed. by Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee

• On Fire: The (Burning) Case for a Green New Deal (2019) by Naomi Klein

• All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis (2020) ed. by Ayana Johnson and Katharine Wilkinson

• More from Less (2019) by Andrew McAfee

• Under A White Sky: The Nature of the Future (2021) by Elizabeth Kolbert

• Caring for Creation: The Evangelical's Guide to Climate Change and the Environment (2016) by Paul Douglas & Mitch Hescox

• Saving Us: A Climate Scientist's Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World (2021) by Katharine Hayhoe

• Regeneration: Ending the Climate Crisis in One Generation (2021) by Paul Hawken

• The Future We Choose: The Stubborn Optimist's Guide to the Climate Crisis (2021) by Christiana Figueres and Tom Rivett-Carnac

• Sacred Nature: Restoring Our Ancient Bond with the Natural World (2022) by Karen Armstrong

• The Archipelago of Hope: Wisdom and Resilience from the Edge of Climate Change (2018) by Gleb Raygorodetsky

• Freeing Energy (2021) by Bill Nussey

• The Climate Book (2023) edited by Greta Thunberg

• “Laudate Deum” papal exhortation by Pope Francis

• The Planet You Inherit: Letters to My Grandchildren When Uncertainty's A Sure Thing (2022) by Larry Rasmussen

• Black Earth Wisdom: Soulful Conversations with Black Environmentalists (2023), by Leah Penniman

• Resisting Structural Evil: Love as Ecological Economic Vocation (2013) by Cynthia Moe-Lobeda

• The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World (2024) by Robin Wall Kimmerer

• The Weight of Nature: How a Changing Climate Changes Our Brains (2024) by Clayton Page Aldern

• Climate Grief: From Coping to Resilience and Action (2023) by Shawna Weaver

• Here Comes the Sun (2025) by Bill McKibben

  
  

In November 2022, marking the 5^th anniversary of the group, David Carlson and Bret Pence participated in a radio interview on “The North” at KUMD, “Green Visions: Earth Harmony Study Group,” available at https://www.thenorth1033.org/environment-outdoors/2022-11-30/green-visions-earth-harmony-study-group 

As a group, we have met in person with representatives from The Nature Conservancy and AICHO (American Indian Community Housing Organization in Duluth).

We also did one session on children’s books related to Earth Harmony in which participants shared these titles:

• Paddle to the Sea, by Holling Clancy Holling

• Grandfather Buffalo, by Jim Arnosky

• Owl Moon, by Jane Yolen

• What Darwin Saw, published by Weathervane Books

• If You Come to Earth, by Sophie Blackwell

• The Lorax, by Dr Suess

• Saving the Planet, by Paul Douglas

• Zero Waste Kids, by Rob Greenfield and April Hepokoski

• Closing the Loop on Zero Waste, by April Hepokoski

• Braiding Sweetgrass (Youth edition), by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Revised 9/24/25