FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Announcing

The EcoFaith Summit of the Upper Midwest

Saturday, April 5, 2025

First Lutheran Church, Duluth, Minnesota

Earth’s Cries, Earth’s Call:

Becoming Midwives of Hope for the Healing of Creation

The EcoFaith Summit of the Upper Midwest will take place in Duluth on Saturday, April 5, at First Lutheran Church, and on-line. Doors open for check-in and table viewing at 8:30a.m. The Summit begins with the morning plenary at 9:30a.m. and concludes with a reception at 4:00p.m. Chef’s Marketplace of Cloquet is providing lunch. For more information and to register: https://www.ecofaithnetwork.org/ecofaith-summit-2025.

This annual one-day event, now in its ninth year, brings people of faith and conscience together to cross-pollinate a movement of earthkeeping across communities, congregations, campuses, and camps. The Summit features guest speakers, worship, action-oriented engagement sessions, exhibits, and time for networking.

The theme for 2025 is Earth’s Cries, Earth’s Call: Becoming Midwives of Hope for the Healing of Creation. The Summit draws its theme from a little known biblical story at the beginning of the book of Exodus, where midwives to enslaved Hebrew people, Shiphrah and Puah, begin the famous story of deliverance by delivering babies in defiance of the Pharaoh. Summit planning chairperson, the Rev. Kristin Foster writes, “By refusing to be intimidated and defeated by a tyrant, they saved lives.  They became midwives of hope to the suffering Hebrews and to all who encounter their story. These midwives are the models we need right now. This is what this year’s EcoFaith Summit is about. When Creation is crying, when lives are being harmed, when life itself is imperiled, we cannot capitulate to despair or try to act alone. Creation is calling us to become midwives of hope”.

This year’s Summit invites participants to “hear God’s call through the cries of Creation; name the powers destroying Creation and holding us captive; stand with Creation through bold community action; and help give birth to creative resistance for the healing of Creation”. 

The keynote speaker is renowned theological ethicist, Dr. Cynthia Moe-Lobeda, founding Director of the Center for Climate Justice and Faith (Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary), and author most recently of Building a Moral Economy: Pathways for People of Courage. The featured presenter, Dr. Kelly Sherman-Conroy, a member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, is native theologian, storyteller, poet, pastor, and educator, blending Lakota spirituality with Christian teachings.

Worship will include the premier performance of an original composition by Paul Jacobson, “The Canticle of Shiphrah and Puah”.  Music during the day will feature popular Duluth based folksinger Sarah Thomen, and a trio by Navajo composer Conner Chee.

Participants can attend two one-hour breakout sessions, called “birthing stations”. In-person participants can choose from a wide variety of topics, from joining the pollinator plot movement to protecting our waters for future generations, from growing courage at camp to moving toward a renewable economy. Livestream participants can join the sessions led by Summit speakers Dr. Cynthia Moe-Lobeda and Dr. Kelly Sherman-Conroy.

The EcoFaith Summit is presented jointly by the Northeastern Minnesota Synod, the Northwest Synod of Wisconsin, and the Saint Paul Area Synod in partnership with environmental and ecumenical organizations, seminaries, ELCA colleges and camps, and synods in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan.

Summit planning chairperson, the Rev. Kristin Foster puts it this way: “When you come to the EcoFaith Summit on April 5, you will know that you are not alone. Together we will find moral courage for becoming midwives of hope for the healing of Creation.”

The EcoFaith Summit of the Upper Midwest is open to the public. The deadline for in-person registration is Sunday, March 30. For more information and to register: https://www.ecofaithnetwork.org/ecofaith-summit-2025