Rev. Matthew Fox – Ecology & Deep Ecumenism:

In the Image of God, the Cosmic Christ, and Buddha Nature

March 9-10, 2018 at the Havurah Synagogue in Ashland

The Havurah Synagogue is hosting a unique interfaith event featuring the renowned scholar and author Rev. Matthew Fox on March 9-10, 2018. The three-part event is called Ecology & and Deep Ecumenism: In the Image of God, the Cosmic Christ, and Buddha Nature. Register on line at https://bpt.me/3233117 or by calling 1-800-838-3006.  For general information call (541) 488-7716. Cost of the registration for the three events including Friday evening hospitality and Saturday luncheon is $85 for early registration before February 5, and $95 after that. Partial work trade opportunities are available.

The event is co-sponsored by R.E.D. Red Earth Descendants, Kagyu Sukha Choling Buddhist Center, Trinity Episcopal Church, Unity in Ashland, First Congregational United Church of Christ, Havurah Synagogue, and the Rogue Valley Manor Department of Spiritual Care and Wellbeing.

Matthew Fox is a renowned American theologian. Formally a Dominican priest his controversial ideas on what is known as Creation Spirituality, and the alignment of ecology with religion, caused his expulsion from the Catholic priesthood in 1993. He is now an Episcopal priest. He is the author of 35 books including the best-selling The Coming of the Cosmic Christ, Original Blessing, Creation Spirituality, and The Reinvention of Work. He teaches regularly at Fox Institute for Creation Spirituality in Boulder, CO. And that his latest book is Order of the Sacred Earth. Learn more about the order at www.orderofthesacredearth.org

The weekend of events will be divided in three parts, all taking place at the Havurah Synagogue in Ashland and requiring pre-registration. Friday evening 7:00 PM, Saturday morning at 10 AM, and Saturday evening at 7:30 PM. Rev. Fox led what he calls a Cosmic Mass in September, 2016 at the Ashland Historic Armory. Describing the theme of the upcoming event Rev. Fox says,

Clearly the earth as we know it, and our species along with many others are in dire straits. Global warming, species extinction, soil depletion, oceans rising and becoming more acidic, weather extremes, climate immigrants, increased wildfires and waters polluted – all this adds up to a near apocalyptic situation. Time is rapidly running out. What does a renewed spiritual awakening bring to the table? How can we draw on the best of our religious traditions to assist this waking up process?

The weekend of events will be the presentation of teachings on the link between ecology and religion, and how people of all faiths can recover a sense of the sacredness of the earth and her processes. Rev. Fox teaches that the religious archetype for the sacredness of creation can be found in the “Image of G-d” tradition in Judaism, the “Cosmic Christ” tradition of Christianity; and by the “Buddha Nature” teachings in Buddhism. Rev. Fox will teach about these archetypes during the weekend and in the process awaken participants to look for stories of the sacredness of nature in their own spiritual traditions.

Rabbi David Zaslow says, “Rev. Fox’s work is unique in the interfaith world. He expects those of us from particular faiths to stop settling with merely respecting each other’s traditions, but to ask each other ‘how can I help you? How can we pray and work together for the sake of our planet?’”

The weekend will culminate on Saturday evening with a special ecumenical panel highlighting the wisdom of local spiritual leaders: Dan Wahpepah from Red Earth Descendants, Rev. Norma Burton of Unity, Rev. Fr. Tony Hutchinson from Trinity Episcopal, Rabbi David Zaslow from the Havurah, Lama Yeshe Parke from the KSC Buddhist center, Rev. Christina Kukuk of the United Church of Christ, and Fr. Joel S. Garavaglia-Maiorano from the Rogue Valley Manor.

You can learn more about Creation Spirituality and the cutting edge theological work of Rev. Matthew Fox at his website at http://www.matthewfox.org. For more information about the weekend call (541) 488-7716.