National Catholic Rural Life Conference

Resources for Religious Communities on the Land

For related information, land use assessment and planning assistance, contacts, and resources contact Tim Kautza, National Catholic Rural Life Conference, 4625 Beaver Avenue, Des Moines, IA 50310-2199; 515-270-2634, ext. 19; tim@ncrlc.com

Catholic Rural Life magazine, Spring 2002. The entire issue of NCRLC’s award-winning magazine explores sustainability themes. John Carroll challenges us to seriously claim an authentic spirituality that leads to concrete impacts on lifestyles and attitudes; Joyce Rupp shares insights on rhythms and processes of nature, including death and birth, from her book The Cosmic Dance; Peter O’Driscoll laysout institutional conversions necessary to move effectively to real sustainable development; Bruce Beaver shares how he, as a college chemistry professor, helps students find values of sustainability in the "hard sciences;" Marie Cirillo draws on cosmic reflection and personal spirituality to help others nurture a sustainable web of life in Appalachia; and Robert Gronski shows how local voices over the past 30 years have risen to shape the agenda for sustainable development around the world. $2.50

Religious Congregations, on the Land, Catholic Rural Life magazine, Fall 2000. This article by Kathleen Storms, SSND, codirector of the Center for Earth Spirituality and Rural Ministry, draws upon scripture, Catholic Social Teaching, and contemporary authors for the foundations of land care that will benefit communities financially and preserve contemplative space. Land audits, easements, trusts, community supported agriculture and other land use options are discussed. $2.50.

Religious Congregations on the Land: The practical links between community, sustainable land use, and spiritual charism. 1996. Case studies describing changes in sustainable values and practices of 30 religious communities in 15 states from Oregon to North Dakota to Massachusetts. Includes contacts at each community plus additional resource people and organizations. $15.00.

Sustainable Land Use and the Law, 2000. An overview by Brother David Andrews, CSC, of options for owning and using land with an ethic of sustainability including conservation easements, land trusts, and community focused food systems. No charge.

Model Uses of Land by the Church, Catholic Rural Life magazine, June 1988. Nine articles on land ethics grounded on scripture, organization of community land trusts, how a parish manages farm land received as a gift, the early story of the Sinsinawa Dominican’s farm and education center, ecumenical backing of ecological farm guilds, an urban garden project, and Genesis Farm, a Dominican center for contemplation and ecology. $2.50.

Strangers and Guests: Toward Community in the Heartland. 1980. Statement by the Catholic Bishops of 12 heartland states on current and future responsibilities for land stewardship. $2.00

At Home in the Web of Life. Endorsed by the Catholic Bishops of Appalachia, this pastoral message based on scripture and the Church’s teachings explores new ways of living together through the rooted paths of sustainable communities. $5.00

Land Use. 1998. An informational brochure highlighting the rights and responsibilities of land ownership through the prism of Catholic Social Teaching. $0.50

Church-Owned Farmland: A guide to policy-making. 1993. A guide based on scripture and Catholic Social Teaching to help develop policy for making land use decisions on agricultural land that models stewardship, sustainability, and community involvement and empowerment. Intended for use by parish members, it can be adapted for community use. $2.00. Facilitator’s guide $3.00.

Passing on the Land. Stories by a beginning farmer, a retiring farmer, a farmer supportive of beginning farmers and church, and a church development director discussing gifts of land to the church. These perspectives raise issues to be considered when developing a land ethic. $3.00.

Theology of Land – A selection of audio tapes (listed below) from Theology of Land conferences held at St. John's University in Collegeville, Minnesota, 1987. Each taped presentation is available for $3.00 plus shipping and handling.

Rights for Life: Rebuilding human relationships with land, Richard Cartwright Austin, Holston Presbytery of The Presbyterian Church

Land: Fertility and Justice, Walter Brueggermann, Columbia Theological Seminary

What happens to a society when land ownership becomes concentrated into a few hands? – The Brazilian Experience, Dom Helder Camara, Archbishop of Recife, Brazil

Ownership and Sustainability in the Earth Community: A view from environmental ethics, Sara Ebenreck, St. Mary’s College

The Land and Gifts of Nature: What are the rights and responsibilities of ownership? Bernard F. Evans, St. John’s University

Implications of a New Land Ethic, C. Dean Freudenberger, University of Claremont

Insights and Oversights: Past land reform efforts in the United States, Charles Geisler, Cornell University

Industrial Agriculture and the Erosion of Democratic Values, Walter Goldschmidt, University of California – Los Angeles

Land, Theology, and the Future, John Hart, Carroll College

Catholic Social Tradition and a Theology of the Land, Rev. J. Bryan Hehir, SJ, Joseph P. Kennedy Institute of Christian Ethics, Georgetown University

The Community of People in the Community of Nature, Wes Jackson, The Land Institute

Domination: Relationships between the land and humans, Rosemary Radford Ruether, Garrett Theological Seminary

Land Use Ethics: The social responsibility of ownership, Leonard Weber, The Ethics Institute, Mercy College

Videotapes on ecology, sustainability, new cosmology, and spirituality,
by Lou Niznik, Earth Communications.

Catholic and Sustainable: A Green Approach to Church Architecture