Mepkin hosts second forum on Contemplative Ecology June 3
Jim Robinson will be the guest at the June session in a new series on contemplative ecology. This monthly series features virtual interviews with leaders in the field conducted by Sam C. King, educator, writer and contemplative ecologist.
June’s Guest Jim Robinson is a member of the Religious Studies Department at Iona University, where he serves as Associate Director of the Deignan Institute for Earth and Spirit.
These public is invited to join these sessions via Zoom at 7 p.m. the first Monday of each month.
There is no cost to participate. Click Here to sign up or email mepkinguestmaster@gmail.com for more information.
First, we learn to be kinder to the natural world around us. God gave humans a special place in his universal order, but the gift of the human intellect is to exercise our God-given dominion not as power to Lord it over creation, but rather to be stewards and lovers of that creation — of God’s glory written into each member and life process that belongs to the living community of creation all around us.
Kyle Berceau, Br. Roman Paul, in his essay “Ripe Reflections”
This forum was launched to honor Kyle Berceau, Br. Roman Paul. Kyle Berceau entered the monastic life at Mepkin Abbey in 2022, eventually taking the name Br. Roman Paul. He brought with him a heart for ecology and the environment. He successfully survived a liver transplant only to be diagnosed with incurable lung cancer. He died at 33 years of life experience on March 5, 2024.
In April of 2023, Br. Kyle shared his dream: “What would you think of brainstorming together some kind of environmental symposium for the future? I would love to see where your heart is in relation to this general idea. My heart is especially there in bringing exposure to a permaculture mindset here. Perhaps at some point having a bigger symposium for how we could establish ourselves as a leader in the process of environmental transformation.”
St. Francis Retreat Center at Mepkin Abbey has engaged Sam C. King to help our efforts to make Kyle’s dream a reality.
Sam C. King is an educator, writer, speaker, and contemplative ecologist. As Director of Integral Ecology for the Marist Brothers USA, he works with youth leaders across the country to promote hopeful collective action to address climate change, species loss, pollution, and environmental injustice. He also serves as Research Associate for the Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology, and Project Manager for the Emmy Award-winning Journey of the Universe film and multimedia project, curating a monthly newsletter and hosting a podcast where he speaks with scientists, artists, religious leaders, and environmentalists.
Sam earned a Master of Arts in Religion and Ecology from Yale Divinity School and served as a Teaching Fellow at the School of the Environment. He has also worked with Mary Evelyn Tucker and John Grim to create six online courses on the ecological wisdom of the world’s religions, available through Yale/Coursera.
An avid gardener, forager, and outdoorsman, Sam lives on ancestral Quinnipiac land in New Haven, CT.
Jim Robinson is a member of the Religious Studies Department at Iona University, where he serves as Associate Director of the Deignan Institute for Earth and Spirit.
Dr. Robinson teaches courses that invite students to reflect on the intersection of religion, ecology, and social justice. His academic work is rooted in the fields of Ecotheology and Religion and Ecology. In addition, he has devoted much of his work to engaging with the insights of Thomas Merton and Rosemary Radford Ruether.
He is actively involved in a number of lay Catholic communities committed to ecology and social justice, including Agape Community in Hardwick, MA, Benincasa Community in Guilford, CT, and Maryhouse Catholic Worker in NYC.
