NEWPORT, R.I. — The wind sang the sound of prayer.
“And God said it was good…” a small group gathered in a circle on the edge of South Easton Pond said together.
With an “Amen,” the day-long watershed walk, which was a pilgrimage and an environmental lecture, came to an end.
Emily Egginton Skehan, who organized Saturday’s event, called it “wild worship.”
Skehan, a scientist and Episcopalian, is the project manager for the Aquidneck Island Diocese Resilience Pilot Project. The project is a local initiative funded by the National Episcopal Church’s Creation and Environmental Racism Task Force, which seeks to connect today’s climate issues with Anglican religious teachings. Stewardship and Care of Creation — The duty to care for all of God’s creation, including other people, creatures, and the earth.
In addition to hosting the May 4 Watershed Walk, Skehan organized a coastal pilgrimage last fall and held several lectures on the intersection of religion and the environment at churches across the island.
Skehan, who grew up an Anglican and trained as a scientist, said the combination of the two always made sense to her, in part because of the appreciation her parents and priest have always shown her for the environment. He said he is doing so.
“Especially when you study environmental science, everything is connected,” she said.
Norman MacLeod, a former Anglican priest who provided the theological elements of Parish Talks and Water Pilgrimage, agreed.
“We take for granted that much of Jesus’ teaching took place outdoors,” he says.
MacLeod similarly connects respect for the environment and God to his work as a pastor.
When asked about how religion relates to drinking water protection advocacy, McLeod half-jokingly replied, “Maybe I could start preaching about the importance of watersheds.”
For MacLeod, a watershed is “a type of neighbor,” and so the teaching “love thy neighbor as thyself” should protect a watershed, but in his opinion it often does not. .
“We are shaped by water, but we don’t think about water,” he said.
All seven reservoirs on Aquidneck Island that provide drinking water to residents are damaged, according to the state Department of Environmental Management and the Environmental Protection Agency. Before the island can be safely supplied with water, it must undergo extensive and expensive treatment.
Practices large and small can help protect water sources, such as limiting the use of fertilizers, installing rain gardens, and supporting land conservation to limit development that could pollute rivers and reservoirs. Masu. All water sources are connected.
Mr Skehan said the purpose of the walk was to discuss how “we have virtually destroyed the water we have”, while providing information on how to preserve “a wonderful gift that is so fragile”. He said it was something he had to do.
She invited Alex Tuman, director of conservation for the Aquidneck Land Trust, to explain the role conservation plays in protecting the island’s waters, while McLeod and other parish members spoke about poetry and We filled in the blanks with prayers, discussions about teachings, etc. Sunday morning at church,” McLeod said.
Throughout a sunny and windy Saturday, the group traveled around the island in a van, stopping at key sites in the watershed, including components of water treatment plants, natural bodies of water connected to water supplies, and those water sources themselves.
For MacLeod and Skehan, merging the worlds of religion and science is easy, but involving other members of the spiritual community can be more difficult, they said.
Mr MacLeod has been told that some parishioners avoid coming to his sermons because they don’t believe climate change is real.
“Some people may not feel called to engage in this way,” Skehan said. “We’re starting small,” she added.
Several of those who took part in Saturday’s walk and tour spoke at the end about the beauty and importance of the natural world around the island that they had never noticed before.
“And then I felt a presence stirring me with joy and exalted thoughts, a sublime feeling of something deeper,” said one parishioner, Jere Wells, at the end of the walk, inspired by William Wordsworth’s I read poetry.
“The community we are creating is vibrant,” Skehan said.
