09/11/2026
What Roots Know: Gratitude from the Mountains
The Oreon E. Scott Clergy Retreat, What Roots Know: Story, Soil, and the Sacred Beneath, was an amazing time of connection and depth.
From September 1–4, clergy and pastoral innovators gathered at Christmount in Black Mountain, NC. We arrived carrying the usual weight of ministry: full calendars, tired hearts, and big questions about faithful leadership in a changing climate and a changing church. And the mountains offer rest, resilience, courage- they slowed us down and invited us to listen.
We walked in the woods and let the forest teach us. We learned about the broken stories that confine us, and about the liberating power of story. We practiced sacred listening, with one another and with the land. We went looking for awe and wonder in our neighbors, in music and in the forests. We explored how to seek justice and grow wisdom as AI reshapes our work and our world.
None of this happens without a gifted circle of leaders. Deep gratitude to:
Rev. Julian DeShazier, our guide(University Church, Chicago)
Rev. Carol Devine, Blessed Tomorrow Director and Green Chalice Co Minister
Rev. Dr. Dara Cobb Lewis, Spiritual Director and Pastoral Counselor
Apostle Sharyn Cosby, Worship/Workshop leader and Climate Ambassador
Josh Kelly, Mountain Ecologist
Rev. Dr. John Frey who offered wisdom and spiritual grounding regarding technology
Tom Eure and Amelia Osborne of Inspired Arts & Sound, whose fiddle, banjo, and drum filled our gatherings with joy (tomeure.com/inspired)
And thank you to every ecumenical colleague who showed up with an open heart. You made this a circle, not a conference.
We were reminded that roots do their best work in the dark, underground and connected to one another. That's good news for the church. The work of healing and hope is already growing beneath the surface, and we don't do it alone.
It was a beautiful time in the mountains.
