Welcome to Season 4!
But this fall, we’re back–with eight new episodes plus one bonus episode. This season we’re focusing on churches and Christian communities who are learning how to address the climate crisis together, as an essential aspect of their discipleship. We have a terrific variety of guests to share with you, and we’re confident you’ll discover some wisdom to share with your own faith community.
I hope you’ll subscribe now to the Refugia Podcast on your favorite podcast platform. Episodes will drop weekly starting September 14.
And just a reminder that the last three seasons still make for great listening. They are resources for you to use. You can explore refugia with activists, clergy, artists, biologists, theologians, writers, journalists, and more, just by listening to the first three seasons.
Thanks for listening! And welcome to Season 4.
Welcome back!
Refugia is a biological term for habitats in nature where life endures in times of crisis. In the first three seasons of the Refugia Podcast, we explored the concept of refugia both literally and as a metaphor, discovering how people of faith can become people of refugia—nurturing life-giving spaces in the earth, in our human cultural systems, and in our spiritual communities even in this time of severe disturbance.
It’s been quite a while since we produced new episodes. I’ve been busy teaching at Calvin University and speaking to faith groups all over the country, so I hope you don’t mind that I took a hiatus.
For grammar geeks: “Refugia” is plural. “Refugium” is singular. I try to keep this straight, but both I and my guests mess it up sometimes. Meanwhile, the phrase “people of refugia” seems to reconstrue the word as a singular quality or state of being. I like this term enough, obviously, to put up with the confusing linguistic issues involved!
Refugia Episodes
Episode 10 Do the Next Right Thing: Kate Kooyman on Refuge, Refugees, and Stewarding Citizenship
You just do the next thing that’s possible to do and you hope that what that does is it grows into something that will live.
Episode 9 Keep All the Pieces: Tim Van Deelen on Wildlife Conservation and the Ghost of Aldo Leopold
It’s… loss. It really is. It’s the sense that we are losing our biological richness. It’s disappearing before our eyes. And if there are people that care about it, within a generation it becomes a memory, in the next generation it becomes an abstraction.
Episode 8 Dying and Rising: Jeff Chu on Composting, Evolving Faith, and Pop-Up Refugia
Journalist and recent seminary grad Jeff Chu ponders the intersection of theology and farming, then describes the Evolving Faith Conference and other places of healing and fresh imagination for people who are, for whatever reason, feeling on the margins of the church.
Episode 7 Through Pain to Freedom: John Witvliet on Prayer, Lament, and Refugia in Worship
One of our conclusions is, people love the idea of lament more than the practice of it.
Episode 6 Kitchen Table Refugia: Christina Edmondson on Higher Education, Social Media, and Discipleship for Discernment
Listen now In this episode, Christina Edmondson–Dean for Intercultural Student Development at Calvin University and co-host of the Truth’s Table podcast–reflects on the potential for
Episode 5 New Generation Rising: Kyle Meyaard-Schaap on Young Evangelicals and the Climate Crisis
Listen Now Kyle Meyaard-Schaap, National Organizer and Spokesperson for Young Evangelicals for Climate Action, takes stock of how the church is doing in addressing climate
Episode 4 Sacred Vessels: Jo-Ann Van Reeuwyk on the Arts, the Holy Spirit, and Sanctuary Spaces
Studio artist and art educator Jo-Ann Van Reeuwyk reflects on art and risk-taking as well as creating safe places for risk through sacred spaces pedagogy.
Episode 3 Seedbed to Be a Blessing: Steve Bouma-Prediger on Refugia in Scripture
Listen now Steve Bouma-Prediger is professor of religion at Hope College, ecotheologian, and author of For the Beauty of the Earth–among many other books. Here
Episode 2 The Great Laughter: Jamie Skillen on Humility and Hope
Listen Now In this episode, Jamie Skillen, professor of environmental studies at Calvin University, overviews the sometimes tense relationship between Christianity and environmentalism, urging us
Episode 1 Little Pockets: Dave Koetje and Defining Our Terms
We are in a little conference room adjacent to the greenhouse, and so behind us here you can see all of these wonderful tropical plants, huh? It’s our own little refugium here.
Background
Refugia are places of shelter where life endures in times of crisis. From out of these small sanctuaries, life re-emerges, and the world is renewed. We’re exploring what it means for people of faith to be people of refugia. How can we create safe places of flourishing— “micro-countercultures” where we gain strength and spiritual capacity to face the challenges ahead?
Host Debra Rienstra interviews a different guest each week, exploring the evocative idea of refugia from a variety of perspectives, from biology to worship to politics.
This is a podcast, ultimately, about watching for places where God is working at renewal—of the earth, of the church, culture, and society. It’s about seeking how we might participate willingly and courageously in that divine work.
Acknowledgements
Many thanks to the team of people who made this project possible.
Thanks to all my guests, who were so generous with their time and wisdom. I’m proud to put your work on display whenever I can.
Thanks to Kathleen Dean Moore, whose book Great Tide Rising inspired the idea for the podcast and who continues to inspire me with her prophetic voice, artistic skill, and personal integrity.
Thanks to David Wunder along with the Calvin Center for Christian Scholarship for providing support for Season 3 and to the several Centers and Institutes at Calvin University that provided funding to support an experimental pilot project during the summer of 2019.
Thanks to my excellent assistants for Season 3, Ian Gilbert and Kathryn Gardner (audio editing) and Michal Rubingh (text editing).
Thanks to my excellent assistants for Season 2, Josh Parks (text editing and publicity) and Philip Rienstra (audio editing). Could not have done another season without you.
For Season 1, thanks to Calvin students Kayla Cooper and Garrett Strpko for doing so much of the recording and post-production, and to Jordan Van Eerden for batting cleanup. Thanks to Lauren Cole for much transcription editing and for developing the look of the podcast. Professors are not necessarily the most tech-savvy and we tend to be reclusive, but we can learn. Thanks for your patience with us.
Thanks to Michaela Osborne and Stephanie Boer for vital logistical support during Season 1.
Finally, huge thanks to John Hwang, whose passion and commitment fires us up and continues to make it all possible.