Claiming Your Call: Navigating Spiritual Leadership in a Climate-Changed World

What does it mean to have a calling in a climate-changed world? In this episode, Jessica David is joined by Alison Cornish and Allen Ewing-Merrill from The BTS Center team to explore the idea of “calling.” How do we know what our deepest purpose is, especially when the world is shifting beneath our feet? Through personal stories, reflections on chaplaincy, congregational life, and ecological crisis, this conversation models how calling is not just a destination—it’s an ongoing dialogue between joy and need, self and world, spirit and action. “My calling is to be an agent of God's love, healing, justice, and peace in the world.” — Allen Ewing-Merrill “My specific calling really came when I heard the earth calling directly.” — Alison Cornish ✨ Highlights from the Episode

• Alison and Allen reflect on their personal callings—from a childhood love of carpentry to a life of teaching and pastoring
• The BTS Center’s unique framing of vocational discernment: spiritual leadership for a climate-changed world
• A theological and interfaith understanding of calling as active, evolving, and collective
• How congregations and chaplains are responding to climate change in ways that are embodied, compassionate, and spiritually grounded
• An invitation to discern not just what you are called to do, but who you are called to be

🧭 Resources Mentioned in the Episode

• Frederick Buechner’s Definition of Calling: “The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” https://www.frederickbuechner.com/
• Refugia Faith by Debra Rienstra – framing congregations as spiritual refugia in a climate-changed world https://debriarienstra.com/refugia-faith/
• Claiming Your Call for a Climate-Changed World — A program led by The BTS Center in collaboration with: Creation Justice Ministries, Anabaptist Climate Collaborative. https://thebtscenter.org/claiming-your-call-for-a-climate-changed-world/
• Chaplaincy Innovation Lab (Partnered with BTS Center on climate chaplaincy programming) [https://chaplaincyinnovation.org]

📣 Share Your Calling We want to hear from you! 📞 Call or text: 207-200-6986 📧 Email: [e-mail] 🌐 Learn more and explore past episodes: climatechangedpodcast.org