A Center for sustainability, grounded in the spirit of Francis

The life of St. Francis of Assisi is a formative presence in the work of the Franciscan Spirituality Center. Francis is known for much: his renunciation of wealth, his loyalty to the Catholic church, his challenging of the Catholic church, his joyful and creative presence for those who flocked to him.

But as much as anything, Francis is known today for his radical relationship with God’s good Creation. He is said to have preached to birds. His “Canticle of Creatures” praises Brother Sun and Sister Moon, Brother Wind and Sister Water. As much as he was a man of God, Francis was a man of Earth.

And so in the spirit of St. Francis, the Franciscan Spirituality Center seeks to foster our relationship with Creation, and to cooperate with local people and organizations working on sustainability.

In recent years, our efforts have included:

• Holding our first ever “Food Retreat: Finding the Sacred in Our Daily Bread” in Fall 2009. The weekend included a presentation by Rhonda Funmaker, a Ho Chunk woman who cooked for retreatants while describing the role of food in her people’s tradition; and a day at Driftless Farm and Forest, where participants learned about justice issues in the food system, and had time to slow down and experience what is holy in a meal.  
• Partnering with Driftless Farm and Forest to become one of its first Community Supported Forest members in 2009.
• Free viewings of environmental films.
• Switching to 100% recycled post-consumer waste paper for our envelopes, business cards and letterhead paper.
• Using cloth napkins at retreats.
• A “Green Spirituality” retreat in Summer 2009, a chance to enhance one’s spiritual relationship with Mother Earth.
• Starting to use catering from The Root Note, a local business that integrates local and organic food into its dishes.
• Hosting a Coulee Partners for Sustainability discussion group on sustainable food.

We’ll be holding another food retreat, “Wild Food, Wild Souls: A Springtime Food Retreat” April 30 and May 1, 2010. For more information, click here.

While becoming a sustainable presence is an ongoing effort, we seek to be for our community a place that fosters love for and relationship with our Mother, the Earth.

Email: fscenter@fspa.org