Our Vision and Mission:

The Passionist Earth & Spirit Center is an interfaith spirituality institute established in the conviction that the Earth and all of its inhabitants are sacred. Its vision is to cultivate a place and promote an ethics of life which acknowledges the Earth to be a single sacred community.

The mission of the Earth & Spirit Center is to motivate, educate and enable religious institutions and people of faith to assume an active role in building a just and sustainable society.

The mission is achieved through:

• Presenting transformative learning programs in cosmology and eco-spirituality which substantiate the connection between faith and care for the Earth;
• Offering opportunities and training in spiritual practices which can lead to an awaken­ing of union with the Divine Presence which permeates all life;
• Promoting simpler living and sustainable agri­culture;
• Sponsoring Earth-centered celebrations which ritualize the interconnection between Christian­ity and the Earth dynamics;
• Supporting a network of eco-justice organiza­tions;
• Organizing advocacy on key policy issues in partnership with other environmental and faith-based organizations.

While rooted in the Christian faith and the Pas­sionist charism, programs and resources are available to all.

Our History: The Passionist

The Earth & Spirit Center is sponsored by the Passionist Community of Holy Cross Province.

In 1879 the Passionist acquired land in the Highlands areas of Louisville, Kentucky. The community made a residence of the school building which had been Mount St. Mary’s Academy, changing the name to Sacred Heart Retreat. In 1891 the Passionist took parochial responsibility for St. Agnes parish, moving the congregation from a small frame church into the monastery chapel. The present monastery, built in 1906, has served as a residence for many priests and brothers throughout the years.

The Earth & Spirit Center, situated on 20.6 acres of land owned by the Passionists, is located in the barn behind the monastery. Built in 1915, the barn was first occupied by cows, horses and mules. In later years, when the small farming effort was abandoned, it became a recreation center for student seminarians. The barn went through another interior change when for twenty years it was a gathering place teens. In 2000 it was updated and renovated to serve as a spiritual life center.

For many years, the Passionists have hallowed this land by their life and prayer. Now it provides an ideal place for the work and mission of the Earth & Spirit Center. The ground and the barn offer a sacred space for promoting an integration of spiritual practices with the healing of the Earth. 

The Passionist Earth & Spirit Center is committed to the Great Work described by Thomas Berry as a commitment “to carry out the transition from a period of human devastation of the Earth to a period when humans would be present to the planet in a mutually beneficial manner.”

Thomas Berry is a Passionist priest, cultural historian, social critic and one of the leading environmental thinkers of our time. He saw, before many others became aware, the critical nature of our present moment, with its looming ecological crisis. For more than 40 years he has been developing a comprehensive vision of a viable future for the Earth community. From his academic beginning as a cultural historian, he has evolved to become a historian of the Earth. He describes himself as a “geologian.”

Berry was president of the American Teilhard Association for ten years in the 1970’s and is indebted to the thought of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin for helping shape his own understanding of the universe story. For two decades, he directed the Riverdale Center of Religious Research along the Hudson River. During this period he taught at Fordham University where he chaired the history of religions program.

His major contributions to the discussion on the environment are in his books The Dream of the Earth (Sierra Club Books, 1988 reprinted, 2006), The Great Work: Our Way into the Future (Random House, 1999) and, with Brian Swimme, The Universe Story (Harper San Francisco, 1992). His latest collection of essays is Evening Thoughts: Reflecting on Earth as Sacred Community (Sierra Club Books and University of California Press, 2006).

Thomas Berry lives in Greensboro, North Carolina, and continues to be an inspirational voice guiding the Earth & Spirit Center.

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Staff

Director - Joseph Mitchell, CP Joe is a member of the Passionist Community and a priest in the Roman Catholic tradition He received his training in theology at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago and earned a graduate degree in Philosophy, Cosmology and Consciousness from the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco. His current work engages the relationship between the emerging scientific cosmology and Christian theology, the cultural implications for human institutions, and the role of humanity in the story of the Earth. Toward this goal, he initiated the Passionist Earth & Spirit Center in Louisville, KY (2005), where he serves now as director. After serving as the director of Christ the King Retreat Center in Sacramento, CA, his ministry has included retreats, contemplative studies and spiritual education programs offered throughout the country. To contact Fr. Joe Mitchell: joe@earthandspiritcenter.org

Phyllis Fitzgerald – Associate Director Phyllis Fitzgerald has been an environmental educator and activist for more than 30 years, serving in government, corporate, non-profit and school settings.  Her undergraduate and graduate educational background includes degrees in Home Economics (University of KY) and Education (University of Louisville), with additional training and experience in environmental education, air pollution, energy conservation, sustainable food, community building, and gardening.  She has taught, written, and presented many programs about healthy, sustainable food and family life at The Courier-Journal, WAVE3 TV, community organizations, and other media.  Her goal is to model the joy of sustainable lifestyle for the community, and for her 5 children and their families, including 10 grandchildren. To contact Phyllis Fitzgerald: phyllis@earthandspiritcenter.org

Beth Zangari - Associate Director Beth Zangari has been a Program Director at the Passionist Earth & Spirit Center for the last 1 1/2 years. She has loved being involved in the work the Center is doing. She especially enjoys the Kid's Camp and starting the courses offered by the Northwest Earth Institute. She has a B.S. degree from the University of Louisville. She and her husband Tony are the parents of three children.   To contact Beth Zangari: beth@earthandspiritcenter.org   Holly Clark – Gardener and Outdoor Educator Holly Clark has been a joyous gardener, student, and lover of the natural world for as long as she can remember, so she is delighted to explore her passions with the human and non-human communities at the Earth and Spirit Center.  An instructor of eco-feminist composition and sustainability studies at UofL and Jefferson Community College for the past 4 years, she is interested in expanding the ways we listen to and co-create with the larger biotic community in hopes of exploring emergent and regenerative ways of growing food and living in harmony with the earth.  She loves creating spaces for others to evolve their spiritual connection with the natural world, so she is thrilled about the opportunities to introduce students to the interconnections between biodynamic growing practices, holistic healing, and healthy eating.  She is most excited about two new programs she started: a horticultural therapy and experiential outdoor education project with Maryhurst and an intentional community devoted to evolving spiritual practice through active listening in the natural world and regenerative communal gardening.  To connect with garden and land programs: http://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/programs.htm#garden To contact Holly Clark: holly@earthandspiritcenter.org

Advisory Board

Leslie Barras is Associate Director for River Fields, Inc., a non-profit land trust and river conservancy organization founded in 1959. She also serves on the Board of the West Jefferson County Community Task Force, an environmental justice organization working for clean land, water, and air in an industrial area of Louisville. Before joining River Fields in April 2001, she had a 15-year career in environmental consulting and law working for the Department of Defense, Department of Energy, oil and gas industry, power industry, and manufacturing industry in the U.S., Mexico, and Canada. She received an undergraduate degree from Texas A&M University, a law degree and masters in public affairs from the University of Texas at Austin

John Borders is passionate about issues related to housing and sustainable eating practices. He has served on the board of directors of The Housing Foundation, Habitat for Humanity of Metro Louisville (two years as President of the Board), EarthSave International (two years as President of the Board), and EarthSave Louisville. He is an attorney with Borders & Borders, PLC.

Virginia Brown is an educational and ministry consultant who has served in the Archdioceses of Louisville and Indianapolis for over forty years. She has served as a school principal, youth minister, music minister, campus minister, and DRE. Currently, she is an instructor for adult education and teacher training courses, a spiritual director and retreat facilitator.

John Tierney is President of Vocational Economics, Inc., a litigation support firm with headquarters in Louisville as well as offices in several other metropolitan areas. He has qualified as both a vocational and economic expert in federal and state courts, and was formerly under contract with the United States government as a vocational expert. He received his baccalaureate degree from the Gregorian University in Rome, Italy, and holds a master's degree in Counseling and Guidance from Spalding University.

Honorary Board

Christy Brown is owner of Louisville Stoneware. She is also co-founder of the Center for Interfaith Relations (formerly known as the Cathedral Heritage Foundation), which was established in 1985 to raise funds for the restoration of the Cathedral of the Assumption and has grown to include nationally recognized programs such as the Festival of Faiths. Another of her commitments is to Religions for Peace, the world's largest interfaith organization dedicated to ending war, eradicating poverty and protecting the Earth.

Tom FitzGerald has been Director of the Kentucky Resources Council since 1984.  KRC is a non-profit environmental advocacy organization providing free legal, strategic and policy assistance to individuals, organizations and communities concerning environmental quality and resource extraction issues. From 1980 until 1984, he was a staff attorney and environmental specialist with the Appalachian Research and Defense Fund of Kentucky’s Lexington office. He has been an Adjunct Professor of Energy and Environmental law at the Brandeis School of Law since 1986, and has published a number of articles. He received his Juris Doctor from the UK College of Law in 1980 (Order of the Coif) and was a Reginald Heber Smith Community Lawyer Fellow from 1980-1982. 

David Karem is the executive director of the Waterfront Development Corporation. He served as a member of the Kentucky General Assembly since 1972, first in the House until 1976 then moving into the Senate where he served as chairman of that caucus as well as Majority Floor Leader. He is recognized for his service on many boards of community organizations, including, the Greater Louisville Fund for the Arts, the Louisville Science Center, and the Kentuckiana Minority Supplier Diversified Services Board.

Jim Wayne has served in the Kentucky General Assembly since 1991, representing the 35th House District and is president of the Wayne Corporation. He received an MSW from Smith College School for Social Work and MA from Maryknoll School of Theology. He serves on the Louisville Coalition for the Homeless, Kentucky Society for Clinical Social Work, Metropolitan Housing Coalition, Kentucky Housing Policy Committee, Airport Neighbors' Alliance Inc., and is the past president of the National Association of Social Workers.

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  Article in the Record -  May 29, 2008 Glenn Rutherford did an article on the Earth & Spirit Center titled: "Garden is Part of Earth & Spirit Center Growth". He spoke of the courses & programs that we offer to help people of faith care for creation. If you would like to download the pdf containing this article- Download here 

Hanging Together - Hanging Together is a project of portraits of individuals representing a wide range of socioeconomic status. While society and reality may treat these people quite differently, the photographic technique of this project seeks to view each portrait much the same as God would – with absolute equality. The artist’s objective is to challenge the viewer to approach poverty and wealth through a more complex and personal lens than what their current perceptions, stereotypes, and experiences may allow.
read more at http://www.fitzio.com/hanging

Local Group Joins Effort to Reduce Global Warming - In recent years, the call for environmental stewardship has been echoed by religious leaders, including the late Pope John Paul II and Billy Graham. Now a new group, Kentucky Interfaith Power & Light is working to answer that call and help mobilize the state's religious community to act against global warming. The group, formed in December 2007, is the local branch of the national Interfaith Power & Light movement. Such groups exist in 26 states, with about 4,000 congregations of nearly all faiths participating. The Rev. Joe Mitchell, a Passionist priest and director of the Passionist Earth & Spirit Center, said stewardship has always been a key component of the Christian understanding of humanity's relationship to creation, but the consensus of what it means has been shifting toward kinship and caring for the Earth. Read more of the Courier Journal article in the attached pdf.

Who Knew Healing Could Be So Simple - Bob Hill from the Courier Journal wrote an article that was published on July 5, 2008. The article was about Fr. Joe Mitchell and his mission of creating the Passionist Earth & Spirit Center. see attached pdf of the article

It's Time to Do What You Can to Save the Earth - Phyllis Fitgerald wrote an article in the Courier Journal that stated "It's Time to do What You Can to Save the Earth". This was published July 7, 2008. Phyllis is a program director at the Earth & Spirit Center _see attached pdf of the article

Locavore Lore - Heirloom tomatoes in full bloom at farmers markets- by Holly ClarkHolly Clark wrote an article in Leo magazine - July 2008. Leo started a monthly feature about eating locally. See attached pdf of the article

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For a copy of the Passionist Earth & Spirit brochure, please click on the following link.

Brochure pdf
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