The Space Between Church and Not-Church: A Sacramental Vision for the Healing of Our Planet

"...Fairless urges us to name our anguish and re-engage our broken hearts; to overcome our anthropocentric view of the world; and to join together at the intersection of our common longings and consciousness so that, as we reconnect with the well-being of this world, we will cease being unwilling and silent co-conspirators in its destruction. [This book] carries within it the seeds of both reconciliation and transformation. Fairless' is a voice that needs to be heard."---Dr. Michael S. Glaser, Poet Laureate of Maryland 2004-2009, professor emeritus, St. Mary's College of Maryland

"...[Fairless'] profound ideas allow me to name as both/and what my culture has been telling me was eitherior. She makes it possible for me to claim my spiritual self without having to find a church or synagogue to legitimize my Being."---Sally Z. Hare, Ph.D., Singleton Distinguished Professor Emerita, Coastal Coroling University, president, still learning, inc.

"...[A] courageous, visionary, provocative, and ultimately hopeful book...a stirring call to engagement; the call to discover an intersection where we can put aside the belief systems that divide us, reclaim the sacredness of the Earth, and join together in new rituals..."---The Rev. Canon Charles P. Gibbs, executive director, United Religions Initiative

"...I hope this book will be widely read, understood, and acted upon: we, our children, and grandchildren will be the beneficiaries."---Parker J. Palmer, author of A Hidden Wholeness, Let Your Life Speck, and The Courage to Teach

Healing our planet is a relational and spirit-centered process, requiring humans to reclaim our appropriate place among the earth community, intrinsic to the integrity of the whole. This book invites readers to release the human-centered biblical justifications of dominion and rule for the sake of a natural web morality, which insists on the sacramental nature of all life and to create an intersection of church people and not-church people, who will be able to jointly develop sacred rituals for the planet's healing. The seven-step process awakens our hearts to the needs of our imperiled planet and calls us to servant action from our place within the biotic community.

Caroline S. Fairless, ordained in the Episcopal church in 1989, is the author of Confessions of a Fake Priest; Children at Worship: Congregations in Bloom; and Hambone, a story for children. Fairless and her husband, Jim Sims, founded the Center for Children at Worship in 1999 and have worked across denominations in the United States, Canada, and England to help congregations develop worship that is fully inclusive of all ages.