Earth Day Conference: Stewards of the Earth
2018 Manning Lecture at Iowa Wesleyan University
Mount Pleasant, Iowa: April 17, 2018 - The Clifford and Maxine Manning Annual Speaker Series brings a distinguished speaker in religion to Iowa Wesleyan University each year. The 2018 Manning Lecture: “Eco-Librium: A new Stewardship of Creation” will commence Sunday, April 22nd at 1:30 pm in University Chapel on Iowa Wesleyan University's campus.
Keynote speaker, Father Robert “Bud” Grant is a professor of theology at St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa. Professor Grant teaches environmental ethics, serves on local and state environmental committees, writes an environmental theology column for The Catholic Messenger, and has been recognized with awards for his environmental education service. Fr. Grant is interested in social justice and environmental issues, particularly in underprivileged including India, Bangladesh, Africa, Pine Ridge, and inner city Chicago. He led the creation of an on-campus prairie at St. Ambrose University.
The 2018 Manning Lecture will address issues of environmental justice and our role as stewards of creation, particularly in southeast Iowa and begins at 1:30 pm in University Chapel.
Following the keynote address, experts from the Southeast Iowa region will present workshops related to environmental stewardship. Topics will include: Organic Farming by Francis Thicke (Radiance Dairy); Protecting the Pollinators by Lisa Louck (DNR); Composting in your Backyard by Jean Thomson (Master Gardener); Climate Change and Climate Justice by Sarah Paulos (Iowa Interfaith Power and Light); Stewardship and the Bible by Rev. Deborah Stowers (First United Methodist); Recycling (IW Biology students); Improving Water Quality in Iowa by Diane Rosenberg (Iowa Alliance for Responsible Agricutlure); and Reducing Your Ecological Footprint by Bert Miller (teacher and environmentalist). The final workshop will be presented on location at the Miller property and feature passive solar, active solar, wind turbines, geothermal heating and cooling, root cellars, gardening, orchards, small scale green houses, bee-keeping, and raising chickens and fish. Each participant may attend two workshops and may be found by visiting iw.edu/earth-day.
The work of artist Judy Bales will be on exhibit in the University Chapel Auditorium. The work is a grouping of pieces created from recycled and salvaged plastic food containers and suspended in the tradition of Japanese aesthetics called datsuzoku. One source describes it this way: “The principle of datsuzoku signifies a break from daily routine or habit, a certain freedom from the commonplace. It involves a feeling of transcending the ordinary and conventional. The result of datsuzoku is pleasant surprise and unexpected amazement. Datsuzoku signifies a certain reprieve from convention. When a well-worn pattern is broken, creativity and resourcefulness emerge.”
For more information, contact Dr. Joy Lapp, joy.lapp@iw.edu, or 319-385-6403. This event is free and open to the public
