Refugia, Restoration, and Resilience: A Christian Leaders for Creation Justice Retreat
June 10-11, 2025 | Registration begins at 9:00am June 10th with an evening event at 6:30pm | Concludes June 11 at 5pm
Avila Center for Community Leadership | 711 Mason Rd, Durham, NC 27712 

Register Here

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​In recent years, North Carolina has seen the devastation that can come from extreme weather events. In those places, it is time for some of us to be about the work of providing refugia, mobilizing our resources to provide spaces of both physical and spiritual oasis for those seeking shelter from the world that surrounds them. 

For others of us , the heartbreak of seeing the dire impacts on our community have motivated us to be about the work of restoration. We not only believe that we can rebuild what we’ve lost but that we can learn our lessons and rebuild in ways that are stronger and smarter. 

We all  know that more climate events will come and so all of us must do the work of  resilience. Knowing that there are proven methods that can help communities weather the storms, we must fortify our structures and our spirits for what we know is inevitable.

Join Creation Justice Ministries and the Anabaptist Climate Collaborative as we host Refugia, Restoration, and Resilience: A Christian Leaders for Creation Justice retreat. This gathering for local leaders will be held at the beautiful Avila Center for Community Leadership for this two days of learning, networking, and mobilizing. This “day school” model invites local leaders to come together for conversation, learning, and connection with God’s Creation. We will conclude our time with a special evening event at the Museum of Life and Science in Durham including happy hour, dinner, a presentation on heat resilience and an opportunity to explore the museum. 

Logistics

Location

What is the timeline?
This program runs from June 10-11, 2025. Registration begins at 9:00am on Tuesday with an evening event at 6:30pm. The retreat concludes Wednesday at at 5pm.

How much does it cost?
Day Participants: Free
​Housing is available at the retreat center for those coming from a distance. The cost for a single room is $70 and for a double room is $120.  However, this is on a first come first serve basis, as housing is limited.
**This pricing covers all expenses except travel**

This gathering for local leaders will be held at the Avila Center for Community Leadership in Durham, NC.

Speakers and Presenters

Dr. Jerusha Matsen Neal, Assistant Professor of Homiletics at Duke Divinity School

Professor Neal’s scholarly work examines the action of the Spirit on the performative borders of body and culture. Her research interests focus on postcolonial preaching, climate stewardship, preaching and gender, and a theology of the Spirit in sermon performance. Her most recent book, The Overshadowed Preacher: Mary, the Spirit, and the Labor of Proclamation (Wm. B. Eerdmans), asks the sticky question of what is meant when preaching is described as “anointed.” It challenges preachers to leave behind false shadows and be overshadowed by the Spirit of God. It received a 2020 Christianity Today Jesus Creed Book Award for the Preaching Life. Neal is an ordained American Baptist minister with broad ecumenical experience, most recently serving as a Global Ministries missionary to the Fiji Islands through the United Methodist Church. During her years in Fiji, she served as Dean of Studies at Davuilevu Theological College, the oldest theological seminary in that nation. ​

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Dr. Ellen F. Davis, Distinguished Professor of Bible and Practical Theology at Duke Divinity School

The author of twelve books and many articles, her research interests focus on how biblical interpretation bears on the life of faith communities and their response to urgent public issues, particularly the ecological crisis and interfaith relations. Scripture, Culture, and Agriculture: An Agrarian Reading of the Bible (Cambridge University Press, 2009), integrates biblical studies with a critique of industrial agriculture and food production. Biblical Prophecy: Perspectives for Christian Theology, Discipleship and Ministry (Westminster John Knox, 2014), explores the prophetic role and word across both Testaments of the Christian Bible. Her most recent books are Preaching the Luminous Word (Eerdmans, 2016), a collection of her sermons and essays, and Opening Israel’s Scriptures (Oxford, 2019), a comprehensive theological reading of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament. Light within Light: Psalms and the Arts of Insight, co-written with Makoto Fujimura and Shai Held, is forthcoming from Baylor University Press in 2026.
A lay Episcopalian, she has long been active as a theological consultant within the Anglican Communion. Her current work explores the arts as modes of scriptural interpretation.

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Dr. Wylin Wilson, Associate Professor of Theological Ethics at Duke Divinity School

Dr. Wilson's work lies at the intersection of religion, gender, and bioethics. Her academic interests also include rural bioethics and Black church studies. Prior to joining Duke Divinity School in 2020, she was a teaching faculty member at the Harvard Medical School Center for Bioethics and a senior fellow at the Center for the Study of World Religions at Harvard Divinity School. She has also served as visiting lecturer and research associate at the Harvard Divinity School Women’s Studies in Religion Program. Professor Wilson is the former associate director of Education at the Tuskegee University National Center for Bioethics in Research and Health Care, and former faculty member in the College of Agriculture, Environment, and Nutrition Sciences at Tuskegee University, Tuskegee, Alabama. Professor Wilson served on the Mount Auburn Hospital Ethics Committee in Cambridge, Mass., the advisory board for the Rural Child Hunger Summit, and as volunteer spiritual care giver for Somerville-Cambridge Elder Services in Somerville, Mass. She is a member of the American Academy of Religion’s Bioethics and Religion Program Unit Steering Committee. Among her publications is her book, Economic Ethics and the Black Church.

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Dr. Rebecca Vidra, Senior Lecturer of Marine Conservation and Ethics

My roots are in places of deep need for healing and restoration, not just of the ecosystems but of the communities as well. Since that time, I have taught thousands of real undergraduate students about environmental science and conservation, restoration and ethics. I have mentored hundreds of graduate students in their journey to become environmental leaders, and and consulted with over 150 executives to develop effective communications plans. Overall, I am a generalist by nature, and a synthesizer by experience. I integrate ideas, perspectives, and resources into compelling stories for my students and colleagues. I lead with stories - my own and others - to create community and to promote a sense of belonging. I prize collective action over individualism, and as such, I'm not a great self-promoter. I consider that a strength.

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Dr. Nicolette Cagle, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Science and Policy
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I am a dedicated naturalist, ecologist, and environmental educator with a passion for writing. As a Senior Lecturer in the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University, my courses emphasize natural history and environmental education & communication. I am also the Associate Dean of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for the Nicholas School of the Environment and the former Director of NSOE Undergraduate Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (check out “How to Create  a Culturally Inclusive Syllabus & Course“), Director of the Environmental Science Summer Program at Duke, and founding and former Director of the NSOE Communications Studio. ​

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Rev. Doug Kaufmann, Pastor and Environmental Activist

Rev. Kaufman began as executive director of Anabaptist Climate Collaborative July 2023, after having served as director of pastoral ecology since 2018. Doug first became passionate about creation care during his 23 years as a pastor at Benton Mennonite Church, Goshen, IN. In their pursuit of watershed discipleship, they began a green group, organized river cleanups, installed solar panels, added recycling, and became a Green Patchwork congregation with Mennonite Creation Care Network. The congregational vision includes “pursuing God’s peace at the river.” As Doug pursued a Th.M. in theology and ecology at the University of Toronto, he was invited to become director of pastoral ecology at ACC’s predecessor. In this role he developed pastoral retreats on climate change, and has engaged the broader Anabaptist community, ecumenical churches, and interfaith groups. There he advocates for pastoral approaches to climate change that includes pastoral care, worship, practical and political action. He studied at Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary, Elkhart, IN, Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, CA, and Goshen College. He is also trained as an Indiana Master Naturalist. He previously served as a conference minister with the Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Conference. Oh, and during COVID, he converted his backyard from a church parking lot to a native rain garden, lawn, and vegetable garden.

This retreat is hosted by:

​Special thanks to our sponsors: