Nathan Stucky, director of the Farminary Project at Princeton Theological Seminary, presented “God and Dirt: Toward a Soiled Spirituality” at Mount Saint Mary College.
Nathan Stucky, director of the Farminary Project at Princeton Theological Seminary and an ordained minister in the Mennonite Church, recently examined the link between Christianity and agriculture with his presentation “God and Dirt: Toward a Soiled Spirituality” at Mount Saint Mary College.
Stucky discussed his involvement with the Farminary Project at Princeton Seminary, which integrates theological education with small-scale regenerative agriculture. With this as a backdrop, he explored the connection between the Genesis story of the creation of Adam and care for the environment.
“There’s love and knowledge that can only be known, that can be experienced, in our own intimate connections with creation, with soil, with forest, with river, with ocean,” he said.
Stucky grew up on a farm in Kansas, where his love for Christian faith and agriculture first took root. After earning a BA in Music from Bethel College, he spent six years doing ecumenical youth ministry on the eastern shore of Maryland, and two years farming back in Kansas. Later, he earned an MDiv and a PhD (Practical Theology, Christian Education and Formation) from Princeton Theological Seminary. His scholarship explores questions of land, ecology, theology, agriculture, justice, joy, and Sabbath as they relate to theological education. He is also the author of Wrestling with Rest: Inviting Youth to Discover the Gift of Sabbath.
The talk was part of the Laudato sí Lecture Series, spearheaded by the Mount’s Catholic and Dominican Institute (CDI) and the Division of Natural Sciences.
CDI is directed by Charles Zola, assistant to the President for Mission Integration and associate professor of Philosophy. CDI not only upholds the Dominican heritage at the Mount, but also fosters dialogue between Catholic and Jewish communities and embodies the study and service charism of the Dominicans, providing a forum for discussing current ethical issues.
In addition to the recent talk, CDI and the Mount’s Career Center recently co-sponsored an information session for Mount students on the Hope Volunteer Community at the Center at Mariandale, Ossining, N.Y. The Center is sponsored by the Dominican Sisters of Hope and offers retreats and many other programs related to spirituality, the environment, and cultivating a healthy lifestyle. Carl Procario-Foley, director of the Center, and Sr. Connie Koch, OP, a 1971 graduate of the Mount and a current member of the college’s Board of Trustees, explained that Hope Volunteers is a group of young adults who have graduated from college and provide service to the center. They cultivate an intentional community within the Center. Volunteers are provided free room and board and are free to pursue graduate education or other community service opportunities during their time at Mariandale.
The Mount was one of several local colleges and universities in the area that co-sponsored a day-long conference at the Center at Mariandale titled “Revolution of the Heart: The Spirituality of Dorothy Day.” Zola and two students from professor Robert Miller’s theology course attended the conference on Saturday, April 13.