The Rev. Stephen Blackmer Awarded EES Morgan Directors’ Award
11/7/2014
Exciting news for the Rev. Steve Blackmer, founder of Church of the Woods (click here to read about the Stirrings of the Spirit field trip to COTW) and chaplain for next month’s Rock Point Advent Retreat (which you can still sign up for by clicking here!).
From Episcopal Evangelism Society (EES):
The Board of Directors of the Episcopal Evangelism Society (EES) is pleased to announce that the recipient of the Morgan Directors’ Award for 2014 is the Rev. Stephen D. Blackmer, founder of the Church of the Woods in Canterbury, NH.
Blackmer came to the Berkeley Divinity School at Yale from a career as an environmental activist, with a strong sense of call to reconcile humankind to God as a means of hope for a solution to the environmental crisis. He received two EES grants as a student, to articulate this theology and to build a network of support for his vision. In June 2014, the Church of the Woods was launched on property he had acquired near Canterbury, NH. His work may be followed at Kairosearth.org.
As described in the November 6th issue of The Living Church: At the end of bumpy drive in the least religious corner of America, a new church without a building has begun offering the Eucharist among the hardwoods and the chipmunks of rural New Hampshire. The dream is as big as the forest: to evangelize the many locals who love the outdoors and seek spirituality in nature, not church.
“Steve’s work is an outstanding example of effective evangelism in the 21st century,” says Day Smith Pritchartt, Executive Director of EES. “When I attended the launch this summer, as part of the Pilgrimage for Earth, it was clear that he has taken the church where she needs to be in this context.”
Each year, the EES Board of Directors selects one to three grant recipients whose completed work best exemplifies the objectives of the Society. Recipients are selected for the scope, quality and particularly for the evangelical impact of the project. The award was named in November, 2007 for retiring Board Chair the Rev. Dr. Michael Morgan. Mike received support from the Society as a seminarian and served on the Board for many years. As Chair, he established the Director’s Award in 2002.