Workshops
Keynote Speaker
Norman Wirzba is an associate professor and chair of the philosophy department at Georgetown College.
He is married to Gretchen Ziegenhals and has four children (Emily, Anna, Benjamin, Luke), a dog Sasha, and a big yard and garden.
He is the author of The Paradise of God: Renewing Religion in an Ecological Age, and the editor of The Art of the Commonplace:
The Agrarian Essays of Wendell Berry. He likes to play the guitar, eat raspberries with ice cream, and build things with wood.
Workshops
Artists' Roundtable - Joel Zuidhof, Grant Elgersma
A discussion about what artists of faith need from one another and from their audiences.
Art of Farming - Jean Schlicklin Tyler, Godfrey Tyler, Sam Tyler, Joanie Tyler
For family participation, engage in a hands-on dialogue with the living land around us using the five senses, with the four seasons, all in one session.
We will discover the faces in the wood and touch the frame you create to look at things differently. We will taste the sweetness of the forest trees.
We will smell the bouquet of the produce grown from the Bio-dynamic Earth. We will listen to the music of the cow ringing through the land. With these
renewed senses we can see the Spirit move in the community of the land. You will take home your art framed and more aware of beauty all around you.
Canning to Kingdom Come - Diane Engelstad
Home canning is a simple and satisfying way to preserve your local harvest. Learn about safe methods, enjoy an old-fashioned communal canning experience,
and bring home a jar of Russet House salsa.
The Designed Object - Lee Fletcher
Every object is designed, intentionally or otherwise. Design is an objects language. The intent of this workshop is to explore that language, through
how objects come to be, and what we can glean from what we see in them to better inform our choices for the things with which we surround ourselves.
Ecotourism - Cindy Blount
Is ecotourism the environmental voyeurism of the politically correct or an alternative way to care for the earth? Hear about how ecotourism is
developing in environmentally sensitive parts of the world.
Fear and Faith in Organic/Local Food Systems - Garry Lean
An interactive presentation and discussion to explore the drivers, realties and subtleties of the local and organic food system.
What’s happening with the Canadian Organic Standards? How will Local Flavour Plus integrate local-organic-sustainable food production and
institutional food supplies? What do consumers need to know to make informed responsible food choices?
Food as Sacrament - Karla Kauffman
This workshop will explore what it means that our food gives its life so that we may live--that our staying alive depends on the sacrifice of other lives. What do Jesus' words "take, eat, this is my body" imply when we ponder that everything we eat has given its life for us? As Wendell Berry asks, are we worthy of our food? We will also explore what it means to "taste and see that the Lord is good."
Gardening in the Empire: Biblical Story and Practical Resistance - Sylvia Keesmaat
The Bible is full of stories of imperial attempts to control land and access to food. The first half of this workshop will explore some of those stories; the second half will be a walk through the Russet House gardens to discuss how various organic gardening practices (companion planting, insect control, rainwater collection) function as resistance to such imperial control.
Hallelujah, Babylon is Falling: Music, Culture, Justice and the Call to (Subversive) Orthodoxy - Rob Shearer
This interactive workshop will examine, through the lens of popular culture(s)--especially music, including U2, K-OS, Bruce Cockburn,
Kanye West, BlackEyed Peas, etc.--the call to subversive orthodox faith and action. We’ll ask the question of whether popular forms of
music (and marketing) can interact with an authentic faith, and the call to a justice-seeking life.
Homemaking in the Empire - Brian Walsh
A society that practices unsustainable economics is a society that renders its inhabitants ecologically, culturally and
spiritually homeless. In this workshop we will investigate themes of homemaking from biblical, economic, cultural and environmental perspectives.
Head in the Light, or Vanity Fair Doesn't Own You - Kate Kamphausen
A look at designing and wearing fashion in the light of God's love: how to design, using discernment with regard to clothing designers and
houses, and how the empire cannot own you or dictate your style.
Living a Fair Trade Life - Kirstin Vander Giessen-Reitsma, Robert Vander Giessen-Reitsma
An exploration of fair trade as a movement that is striving to understand how all consumer transactions can honor people,
animals and the environment. This workshop will address the intersection of fair trade with broader economic and biblical themes.
Love in Practice is a Hard and Dangerous Thing Compared to Love in Dreams: An Inside Look at the The Catholic Worker and Radical Hospitality - Rob Shearer
Imagine growing your own food, baking organic bread for income, meditating, regularly protesting war and injustice, contemplating, wearing only
used and donated clothing, praying in community, making art, inviting 'the poor' to live with you, and struggling (daily)
for a revolution! Sound fun? Started in 1933 by Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin, The Catholic Worker Movement, through over 200 'anarchist
Catholic' communities worldwide is still comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable with its call to live the works of mercy.
Come learn about the history of the CW movement and discuss the call for us all to live radical hospitality.
Nature & Spirituality - Marianne Karsh
Come and explore what creation means to us and our spirituality by hearing fascinating true stories of the natural world.
We will have a hands-on outdoor activity that will help create a soul memory of our time with the earth. It will be a time to think, share, and
experience the effect that creation has on our spirituality.
Russet House Farm - Henry Bakker
A tour of Russet House Farm that will focus on strategies and techniques for sustainable agriculture that are currently in practice.
Highlights will include pastured poultry, management intensive grazing, composting, soil health and management, as well as strategies for
sustainable forestry in a working woodlot. All of these topics will be considered in the context of understanding a farm as a whole
ecosystem engaged in a dynamic relationship with the wildlands ecosystems that surround it.
Workshops for the Young and Young at Heart (ages 6 and up)
Imaginastics - Sarah Bakker
Exercise your brain and your body with theatre-based games. Using the story of Noah’s ark, we will develop a drama piece for the
Sunday morning worship service.
Pioneer Crafts: Making Beeswax Candles - Stephanie Nyhof-DeMoor
Imagine a world where you need candles or an oil lamp to have light. And imagine that you need to make the candles
instead of going to a store and buying them. Learn how to make beeswax candles from scratch.
What’s Hiding in the Woods? - Marianne Karsh
Walk through the woods, discover things you’ve never seen before, find a place in the woods to make
your very own. Various hands-on activities will shape our walk.
Fabric Art, Quilting, and the Story of Creation - Stephanie Nyhof-DeMoor.
Using fabric art techniques, each child will make their own quilt square that reflects part of the biblical story.
Each square will become part of a larger quilt that will form part of our worship on the Sunday morning service.
Practicing Resurrection 2008 workshops included:
The 5,000-Mile Diet: Homemaking Across Borders
Jim & Ruth Padilla-DeBorst
In this workshop we will explore the tension inherent in reducing our footprints without walking away from the
struggle for global justice. We'll ask ourselves how we can withdraw from economies of consumption and
construct societies of connection. Together we will search for a border-bending politics even in our homes.
Canning to Kingdom Come
Diane Engelstad
Home canning is a simple and satisfying way to preserve your local harvest.
Learn about safe methods, enjoy an old-fashioned communal canning experience, and bring home a jar of canned Russet House produce!
Charity v. Justice
Lorrie Polito and Nicole Bryant
When homelessness becomes a matter of charity, then justice is obscured and homeless people become objects of pity.
Home is a right and homelessness is injustice. We will discuss homelessness and its prevention in Kawartha Lakes.
Do-It-Yourself Wind Power
Alan Engelstad
With this multi-day workshop, Alan Engelstad will show you how to build your own wind turbine.
Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings in Fenelon Falls for those who want hands-on experience.
A two-hour demonstration will be offered on the weekend.
Fear and Faith in Organic/Local Food Systems
Garry Lean
An interactive presentation and discussion to explore the drivers, realties and subtleties of the local and
organic food system. What’s happening with the Canadian Organic Standards? How will Local Flavour Plus integrate
local-organic-sustainable food production and institutional food supplies? What do consumers need to know to make informed
responsible food choices?
The Garden as Home for All Creatures
Sylvia Keesmaat
While we think of gardening as a home-making activity for ourselves, it is often a home-destroying
activity for native plants and flowers considered to be weeds and for insects that happen to eat the same
things that we do. Beginning with a short bible study, this workshop will focus on organic pest-control as we explore
what it looks like to have a garden that is welcoming to all creatures.
Homemade Music: DIY Music Practices and the Church as Counterculture
Michael Iafrate
In this workshop, Michael Iafrate will reflect on his experiences in independent music communities and
what they taught him about being Church. He will also lead discussion on ways to resist corporate throw-away
"anti-music" through homemade music and "do-it-yourself" music-making practices. Come with ideas, examples, and
experiences you have had with making your own music that you can share. Or if you are more of a listener, come
simply with an openness to new ways of thinking about, making, performing, sharing, and "consuming" music.
Nature & Spirituality
Marianne Karsh
Come and explore what creation means to us and our spirituality by hearing fascinating true stories of the
natural world. We will have a hands-on outdoor activity that will help create a soul memory of our time with the earth.
It will be a time to think, share, and experience the effect that creation has on our spirituality.
Punch It Down and It Will Rise Again: The Spirituality of Bread-making
Bethany Osborne
The making of bread seems to be a lost art (and pleasure) in the world that we live in--its simplicity has been
lost with generations past. Bread-making can seem complicated and unnecessary. I like to think of the process of
making bread as an ongoing relationship because what you are making is a living thing, and like other living things,
it requires us to know how to care for it but can in fact be left alone at times to grow on its own. Bread-making has also been
a part of the fabric of many spiritual communities. Learning from Ignatius and the Jesuits, this practical workshop will walk you
through making your own bread and introduce you to some practical spiritual exercises that you can include in the process.
Each session is limited to the first eight participants.
Russet House Farm
Henry Bakker
A tour of Russet House Farm that will focus on strategies and techniques for sustainable agriculture that are
currently in practice. Highlights will include pastured poultry, management intensive grazing, composting, soil health and
management, as well as strategies for sustainable forestry in a working woodlot. All of these topics will be considered in the
context of understanding a farm as a whole ecosystem engaged in a dynamic relationship with the wildlands ecosystems that surround it.
Telling Our Stories, Sharing Our Hearts: Homemaking Among Immigrant Women
Bethany Osborne
One of the pervasive features of the last half century has been growing forced migration of millions of people worldwide.
Many countries, including Canada, have increased their population through the influx of refugees and immigrants.
Many people find themselves in Canada after experiencing the incredible trauma of war or other atrocities. For others,
the trauma begins when they arrive in Canada full of hope and possibility, only to discover that settling in this new country
is much more difficult than they anticipated. Both of these groups find themselves marginalized and isolated and as a result,
have difficulty finding a sense of home. Over the past eight years, I have been working in different community development
contexts and have had the opportunity to share in the lives and the stories of many different women and their families. I have looked
at different approaches to engaging people and encouraging them to take ownership of their lives and communities. As I have
watched women struggle to re-establish themselves and their families, it has been apparent that they are struggling towards some
sense of home. My work over the last seven years has used narrative and visual art as possible tools to help mitigate the effects of
trauma and function in the unlocking of self. The very nature of breaking the silence and speaking into the places of shame that often
accompany the experience of violence, can lead to transformation in their own lives and the lives of their communities. In this workshop,
we will look at how God calls us to be homemakers and how we can creatively reach out and engage the world around us.
There will be particular focus on immigrant and refugee populations but the different aspects of homemaking that we will discuss
will have application in other communities as well. There will be a creative, participatory aspect to this workshop. Please
bring your ideas and experiences with you.
Using 75% Less Natural Resources in the Home
Bill Perkins
Morning Sun Builders' current project is the renovation of a multi-unit dwelling in the city of Pittsburgh.
We will be discussing the goals for the project which are:
1. highly efficient space and water heating.
2. highly efficient use of electricity.
Super-insulation and water conservation will also be discussed. A brief introduction will be included on environmental eschatology.
Children’s Workshops
Session 1: Imaginastics
Led by Sarah Bakker in the Main Tent
Exercise your brain and your body with theatre-based games. We will develop a drama piece for the Sunday morning worship service.
Session 2: The Great Bug Off!
Led by Sylvia Keesmaat in the House Kitchen and the Garden
Bugs! They buzz, whirr, scoot, fly and munch. And some of them are good for us and our
veggies! We will spend this workshop locating bugs in the garden (of which there are many) and then talk
about what form they’re in, what they are doing there, whether they’re beneficial, what has attracted them, and more.
Session 3: Making Home from Bible to Banner
Led by Sylvia Keesmaat in the Summer Kitchen
During this session we will look at a few Bible stories about home, and then make banners to be used in the
Sunday morning worship service.
Session 4: What’s Hiding in the Woods
Led by Marianne Karsh at the Picnic Area
Walk through the woods, discover things you have never seen before, find a place in the woods to make your very own.
Various hands-on activities will shape our walk. Children are encouraged to wear shoes or sandals suitable for walking and to
wear insect repellant.
Session 5: Imaginastics
Led by Sarah Bakker in the Main Tent
Continuation of Session 1
Plenary Talks
Our plenary speaker was Brian J. Walsh, who together with his wife, Sylvia Keesmaat, is one of the owners of Russet House Farm
where he takes an interest in all things related to sustainable culture, agriculture and local economy. His day job is as a Christian
Reformed campus minister at the University of Toronto. Again, with Sylvia, Brian has co-authored Colossians Remixed: Subverting the Empire.
Along with Steven Bouma-Prediger, Brian is co-author of Beyond Homelessness: Chrsitian Faith in an Age of Dislocation.
He blogs regularly at www.EmpireRemixed.com
Brian gave the following two talks:
“O Sweet Fantasia of the Safe Home”: Homelessness from the Street to the Condo
In this opening talk Brian will sketch out the scope of the crisis of homelessness and dislocation in our present
cultural context. Homelessness wears many faces – from the sadness of the panhandler, the fear of the refugee,
the blank stare of the upwardly mobile and the indifference of the consumer. And he will suggest that home doesn’t
die a natural death. It must be murdered.
“All the People are Marching Home": Biblical Homemaking in a Culture of Dislocation
From the bad news of homelessness to the good news of homecoming. This is a perrenial theme in human life,
and it is at the heart of biblical faith. In this second talk Brian will evoke images of homecoming that can shape our
homemaking. From housing policy to our eating habits, from being neighbourly to reading the Bible, from a walk in the
woods to a walk down an inner city street.
Copyright © 2007
Last modified: August, 2008