Can you hear the whole Earth crying, crying out for all to hear?

Can you hear its creatures calling, wounded, suff’ring, filled with fear?

Called by God to serve as midwives, called when evil threatens death,

by God’s grace our hands we offer to deliver life and breath.

Additional stanza, composed by Paul Jacobson

 Can You Feel the Seasons Turning? All Creation Sings, 1065

Worship, Music and Dance

EcoFaith Summit of the Upper Midwest, 2025

Shiphrah, Puah, and Pharaoh: These characters from Exodus 1 color our worship, music, dance and visual art at the 2025 EcoFaith Summit for the Upper Midwest. The two midwives at the  beginning of Exodus have become our model for courage  and calling to be instruments of life. They entreat us to listen to Earth’s cries, to hear Earth’s call to each of us, and to act faithfully and courageously as midwives of healing and hope for God’s Creation.

Worship, music, and lately, dance, are a vital part of the annual  EcoFaith Summit. At this year’s Summit, we live into the story of the two Egyptian midwives who deliver life rather than death. We will share in worship experiences that open our hearts to their story, lead us deeper into understanding and celebrating their story through music, singing, dance, reading, collaborative storytelling, and prayer and send us on our way encouraged and enlightened, reflecting the courage of Shiphrah and Puah.

The EcoFaith Summit gatherings have afforded perfect occasions for introducing new hymns from

All Creation Sings, an amazing source of new hymnody.  Opening worship gathers us in singing the hymn Can You Feel the Seasons Turning (ACS 1065), with a new stanza added to Mary Louise Bringle’s powerful text, a stanza that invokes this year’s theme:

Can you hear the whole Earth crying, crying out for all to hear?

Can you hear its creatures calling, wounded, suff’ring, filled with fear?

Called by God to serve as midwives, called when evil threatens death,

by God’s grace our hands we offer to deliver life and breath.            (Paul Jacobson)

The opening worship centers on two reflections exploring the midwives’ story, presented by Dr. Diane Jacobson and the Rev. Dr. Kelly Sherman Conroy.

Since the 2020 Summit, during pandemic and quarantine, a tradition of writing new hymn texts and musical settings has become an EcoFaith Summit tradition. This year’s midday worship is framed by a newly composed Canticle for Shiphrah and Puah by Paul Jacobson (perhaps the first canticle commemorating those heroes?). The canticle begins and ends with an injunction to “Listen!” to the cries and calls of a Creation in labor pains. The canticle, together with a Toccata for Shiphrah and Puah, are accompanied by dance performed by Kalie Jeremiason of Duluth.

Sending Worship at the close of the Summit begins with Trio for Oboe, Bassoon, and Organ written by Navajo composer Connor Chee. The service includes a sharing of six-word stories written by congregational small groups in the Summit Worship, followed by a litany written by Pr. Dianne Loufman invoking the creativity, courage, healing, and faithfulness of our two midwives, Shiphrah and Puah.

We treasure the opportunities to gather with you to worship the God of our miraculous but wounded Creation, which is crying and calling to us to listen and act for its healing.