How do we care for our common home?
Sacred Land: Food and Farming, the first program in JustFaith Ministries’ Eco-Justic Series, explores our connection with the land and our responsibility for it.
Sacred Land: Food and Farming explores our connection with the land and our responsibility for it.
Together, small groups learn how food and farming practices affect the climate crisis, marginalized communities, and their own health and spiritual wellbeing. Participants explore practical ways to support, advocate for, and implement sustainable food and farming practices in the communities and the institutions of which they’re a part — whether it’s their workplace, congregation, apartment complex, or neighborhood. Each participant works toward a plan of action: for example, this could be starting a composting program with their next-door neighbors, building a community garden with their congregation, or advocating for local and national policies that support sustainable food and farming practices.
Each program in the eco-justice series includes eight 2-hour sessions, an immersion experience, and an optional get-to-know-you session. The eight regular sessions include prayer, dialogue, active listening, weekly spiritual practices, and relationship-building. The immersion experiences connect participants with people and organizations working on eco-justice issues; this real-world experience guides groups in discerning how they can put their learning into action.
You can stop after your first eco-justice program, or you can offer all three programs. You do not need to take the eco-justice programs in order.
Goals for Sacred Land: Food and Farming include:
To celebrate our sacred connection to the land and the nourishment it provides and learn about how food and farming practices affect marginalized communities and the climate crisis
To learn from the wisdom and experience of Native American communities and discern how we can stand in solidarity Native American leaders working for justice.
To develop tools for supporting sustainable food and farming practices in order to build healthy communities and a healthy planet.
Sacred Land: Food and Farming consists of 8 2-hour sessions, an immersion experience, and an optional get-to-know-you session.
Recommended group size is 8-14.Framework & Session Topics
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Optional: Getting to Know You Session
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Session 1: From Individualism to Interconnectedness
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Session 2: Whose Land?
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Session 3: Soil and Seeds
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Session 4: Farmed Animals
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Session 5: Buy Local!
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Session 6: “Big Ag” and Public Policy
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Immersion Experience into the Local Community
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Session 7: Urban Gardening 101
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Session 8: Taking Action
Sessions include:
Prayer and reflection
Discussion of reading
Videos & group activities
Spiritual practices
Integration of faith
Want to know more?
An overview, sample session, and program booklet are available for free download.
What you'll need for this program
There are two books used in Sacred Land: Food and Farming, both available through the JustFaith Ministries bookstore. The program also uses Laudato Si which can be found at the vatican.va.
Need help inviting people to your small group?
This program promotion kit contains sample social media posts, bulletin announcements, email invitations, and more.
We believe strongly in making our programs inclusive and available to everyone
There are two registration options:
Option 1: Participants in the group pay their own registration fees: Participants pay individually based on a sliding fee scale of $35, $55, or $75/person. (There is no charge for up to two facilitators.) A minimum of 8 participants is strongly recommended. Scholarships are available for individuals.
Option 2: A church/organization pays the registration fee for all participants: When the group is set up, a church or organization will automatically be billed a flat rate of $280, covering up to 8 participants. For groups with more than 8 participants, the organization will be invoiced an additional $35 for each extra participant when the group begins.
The registration fee includes:
- Comprehensive materials for each session
- Facilitation scripts, guidance, and training resources
- Retreat and immersion guidance
- Adaptations for virtual groups
- Direct access to program staff for support
Books are an additional cost and available for purchase in the bookstore.
To ensure our programs are not cost-prohibitive for anyone, all programs are offered on a sliding fee scale ranging from $35-$75.
We ask you to choose the registration fee tier that best aligns with your current financial situation. Paying on the higher end allows us to keep the program affordable for all.
If the $35 tier is difficult for you, please consider the program anyway. We ask that you decide what amount you can contribute as a commitment to the program, and send us an email at info@justfaith.org to learn about partial scholarship opportunities for the remainder amount.
What our program participants are saying
As inhabitants of our beautiful planet, we have lost that important and sacred connection to the earth as it houses and sustains us. I love how these sessions help to reawaken that connection and bring a greater awareness to the issues around the land we rely on for food, the air that we breathe, and the water that sustains all life. Not only do they create a greater awareness of the effects of climate change, they also encourage spiritual growth and challenge our complacency. By bringing to light the deeply connected justice issues around climate change such as migration, poverty, food insecurity and health concerns of those living on the margins, participants are challenged to explore their own responses and advocate for more sustainable ways of living both locally and globally. This is a great series and I would encourage everyone to participate!
We live in a society that has forgotten its sacred connection to the Earth. As the climate crisis advances we must actively discern our responsibility not only to this planet, but to the marginalized communities disproportionately affected by it. I was so inspired to see JustFaith Ministries tackle this timely subject in Sacred Land: Food and Farming. The program challenges not only your personal accountability, but explores ways you can advocate for sustainable practices that impact the community around you.
Sacred Land Overview, Sample Session, and Program Booklet
To get access to this program's overview, sample session and program booklet, complete the form below and you will receive an email with the downloadable materials.
Sacred Land Promotion Kit
To get access to this program's promotional materials, complete the form below and you will receive an email with the downloads.