Fall 2019 – Regional Ministers Training: A Community Response to Climate Change 

A Community Response to Climate Change Program

December 4- December 5, 2019 

Claremont School of Theology at Willamette University Salem, OR 

Putnam University Center Willamette University 900 State St. Salem, OR 97301 

Shepard House Willamette University 820 Mill Street Salem Oregon 97301 

 

Wednesday December 4th 

10:00 AM Registration and Housing Check-In 11:45 AM Location: Putnam University Center, 3rd Flood 

11:45 AM Opening and Welcome – A Theology of Interconnectedness 12:30 PM Location: Alumni Lounge, Putnam Center, 3rd Floor 

Presenters: Andrew Schwartz, Jan Elfers, Jill Leaness, and Michael Ellick 

12:30 PM Lunch and Table Activity 1:30 PM Location: Alumni Lounge, Putnam Center, 3rd Floor 

Eat Lunch and get to know your tablemates while answering questions about who you are and what brought you here. 

1:30 PM Reflect and Share: Connecting the Dots 2:30 PM Location: Alumni Lounge, Putnam Center, 3rd Floor 

Climate change is often seen as a separate and solely environmental problem that should be left to the scientists and environmentalists to solve. In this workshop we will connect some of the wide-reaching impacts of the climate crisis with other sectors, and provide examples of different actions that are being taken to address the issues. 

Presenters: Jill Leaness and Rebeca Cipollitti 

2:30 PM Break

2:45 PM Reflect and Share: Identifying the Problems 4:00 PM Location: Alumni Lounge, Putnam Center, 3rd Floor 

What climate impacts is your community experiencing? What have you witnessed in your own backyard? We will take this time to explore how climate change is impacting those in the room and the communities they serve. 

Presenters: Jill Leaness and Rebeca Cipollitti 

4:00 PM Break 

4:15 PM Listen and Learn: Bridging the Divide 5:30 PM Location: Alumni Lounge, Putnam Center, 3rd Floor 

An opportunity to reflect on what happened with HB 2020 and develop next steps. In this block, we will have a series of presentations to layout what happened in 2019 and what can be expected in 2020. Following the presentations and Q&A, we will break into small groups for more focused conversations 

Presenters: Jan Elfers and Britt Conroy 

5:45 PM Dinner 

7:00 PM Location: Goudy Commons (reserved dining room) 

7:30 PM Optional Get Together 9:00 PM Location: Willamette University Tree Lighting Festival and/or Grand Hotel 

 

Thursday, December 5, 2019 

8:00 AM Breakfast 9:00 AM Location: Goudy Commons or Catered Shepard House 

9:00 AM Morning Meditation and Theological Reflection 9:30 AM Location: Alumni Lounge, Putnam Center, 3rd Floor 

9:30 AM Listen and Learn: Felt Impacts From Frontline Communities 10:45 AM Location: Putnam Center 

Throughout Oregon communities are feeling the impacts of Climate Change. This panel will feature voices from around the state to share stories of how climate change is reshaping their communities, and the actions they are taking to address the issues. 

Speakers 

Oriana Magenra Climate and Energy Policy Coordinator, Verde Pastor E.D Mondainé – President, Portland NAACP Jeremy Five Crows – Public Affairs Specialist, Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission Rev. Linda Jaramillo – Board Chair, Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon 

10:45 AM Break 10:55 AM 

10:55 AM Connect and Communicate: Storytelling and Theology Workshops 12:00 PM Location: Alumni Lounge, Putnam Center, 3rd Floor and Other Room 

This sessions offers two breakout sessions designed to help us tell our own climate stories and the other to help us deepen our knowledge on eco-theology. 

Two sessions of 30 minutes each to allow participants to attend both sessions. 

Session One: 10:55 am – 11:25 am Session Two: 11:30 am – 12:00 pm 

Room Session Facilitator 

Alumni Room 

Storytelling Workshop Jill Leaness and Rebeca Cipollitti, 

Climate Reality Project 

Autzen Room 

Towards and Ecological Philip Civilization 

Clayton and Wm. Andrew Schwartz, Claremont School of Theology 

12:00 PM Lunch 1:00 PM Location: Catered Lunch Alumni Lounge, Putnam Center, 3rd Floor 

1:00 PM Plan and Act: Identifying Solutions 2:00 PM Location: Alumni Lounge, Putnam Center, 3rd Floor and Other Room 

In this session, we will break into discussion groups to explore a variety of paths to help promote meaningful change in our communities and across the state, based on the problems we identified Wednesday afternoon. 

Presenters: Jill Leaness and Andrew Schwartz 

2:00 PM Plan and Act: Pathways for Change – Report Backs and Next Steps 3:30 PM Location: Alumni Lounge, Putnam Center, 3rd Floor and Other Room 

For our final activity, we will break into regional groups to brainstorm actions that can work in our home communities, what won’t, and outlining what we’ll need to be effective. 

3:30 PM Closing Prayer and Depart