Wild Seasonal Rituals of Aliveness with Daniel Cooperrider

In this conversation, Victoria Loorz speaks with Daniel Cooperrider, writer, ecotheologian, and pastor of Flicker Wild Church in Madison, Wisconsin, and author of Speak with the Earth and It Will Teach You and the forthcoming Live Each Season as It Passes. Daniel reflects on what he calls his lifelong “ecological conversion” and on the growing Wild Church movement, which is reimagining wild spiritual with community through outdoor gatherings rooted in the land, the seasons, and relationship with the more than human world.

Together, they explore what it means to practice a “liturgy of the land” through outdoor spiritual community, seasonal ritual, and what Daniel calls “campsite thinking,” a way of gathering that embraces impermanence and presence rather than institutional permanence. The dialogue also reflects on earth empathy, mortality, and how sacred practices like communion and baptism might be reimagined through deeper relationship with water, landscape, and place, inviting us to rediscover our place within a living Earth.

Connect with Daniel:

• Personal Website: danielcooperrider.com
• Flicker WC Website: flickerwildchurch.org
• Instagram: @greatlakeswanderers
• First book: Speak with the Earth and It Will Teach You: A Field Guide to the Bible
• Next book (Pre-Order, 1 May 2026 Release): Live Each Season as It Passes

Mentioned in the episode:

• Holy Wisdom Monastery Website: holywisdommonastery.org
• Book: The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben
• Book: Finding the Mother Tree by Suzanne Simard
• Book: The Overstory by Richard Powers
• Book: Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Connect with the Center:

• Website: wildspirituality.earth
• Victoria's Website: victorialoorz.com
• Email: [e-mail]
• Linktree: linktr.ee/ctrforwildspirituality
• Instagram: @center_for_wild_spirituality

Timestamps:

• 00:00 — Introduction
• 05:09 — Interview Begins
• 06:37 — Daniel’s Ecological Conversion
• 08:58 — Inviting In Daniel’s Neighbors
• 10:14 — Hearing the Call of Seasonality
• 14:06 — Welcoming Victoria’s Neighbors
• 14:46 — Flicker Wild Church
• 15:51 — Cathedral and Campsite Thinking
• 19:39 — Holding Space with Mortality
• 23:32 — Availing and Allying
• 27:10 — Kinship All the Way Up and All the Way Down
• 27:47 — Midroll: Wild Church Network
• 28:41 — The Waves of Possibility
• 31:52 — Ancient Wisdoms Integrating with Technology
• 35:14 — Finding and Becoming Indigenous
• 38:28 — Re-Story-ing Our Place
• 42:45 — Engaging the Rituals of Aliveness
• 46:01 — A Sabbatical of Water Spirituality
• 49:02 — Closing
• 50:48 — Wild Invitation
• 52:58 — Credits