Eco-Chaplains Multi-Faith Conference

Conference Details

Date: Saturday, October 3, 2026
Time: 9:00 AM–5:00 PM PST
Format: Hybrid (in-person and online)
In-person Location: Insight Meditation Center, Redwood City, CA
Cost: There is no fee to attend

Since the Sati Center of Buddhist Studies launched the Buddhist Eco-Chaplaincy Training Program in 2017, we have witnessed the emergence of a growing constellation of practitioners across Buddhist, interfaith, Indigenous, contemplative, and secular traditions responding to the emotional, spiritual, and psychological dimensions of ecological crisis. This work is carried by chaplains, clergy, therapists, spiritual directors, educators, activists, and community leaders.

As climate disruption intensifies around the world, so too does the need for spaces of accompaniment, grief tending, ritual, resilience, and collective care. In response to this call, the Buddhist Eco-Chaplaincy Association (BECA) is helping to organize an inaugural Eco-Chaplains Multi-Faith Conference—an intimate, invitation-only gathering of practitioners working at the intersection of caregiving and ecological loss.

This gathering offers an opportunity to come together across traditions to explore the evolving role of eco-chaplaincy in these times and to deepen relationships with others engaged in this vital work.

Program

We envision this gathering as a collaborative and community-driven space for learning, reflection, and connection. The morning will feature several short keynote talks to help seed the field, followed by small-group and whole-group dialogue. Together, we hope to explore questions such as:

• Tradition & Roots

What teachings, practices, and ethical orientations do our traditions offer regarding humanity’s relationship with the Earth? What language do our lineages provide for grief, loss, resilience, and healing? How do our faiths shape the practice of eco-chaplaincy?

• Resilience & Collective Care

  What does resilience look like at the personal, communal, and collective levels within our traditions and communities? How do we sustain ourselves and one another amidst ongoing ecological disruption, uncertainty, and loss? What practices help cultivate endurance, compassion, and courage?

• Rituals & Practices

  What rituals, ceremonies, contemplative practices, and land-based traditions can support communities navigating ecological grief and change? How might we engage one another’s practices with humility, respect, and without extraction or appropriation?

• Eco-Chaplaincy in a Time of Polycrisis

  What distinguishes eco-chaplaincy from other forms of spiritual care? Can eco-chaplaincy be separated from the wider social, political, and spiritual dimensions of the polycrisis? How do we respond to ecological suffering while also attending to justice, displacement, inequality, and collective trauma?

• Visioning & Field Building

  What kind of eco-chaplaincy field are we being called to cultivate? How can practitioners across faiths and traditions collaborate more deeply in service of collective ecological and spiritual care? What shared stories, practices, and networks are needed for the work ahead?

This gathering is intended not as a traditional conference, but as a space of inquiry, relationship-building, and shared practice. We hope to cultivate a grounded and generative container where participants can reflect together on what this work is asking of us now, and how we might continue to support one another in serving communities and ecosystems amidst profound change.

Participants

This gathering is intended for practitioners and leaders engaged in forms of ecological and spiritual care work, including:

• Eco-chaplains and spiritual caregivers

• Clergy and contemplative teachers

• Therapists and grief practitioners

• Climate resilience and community care workers

• Those accompanying individuals and communities through ecological loss and disruption

RSVP

This is an invitation-only gathering with limited capacity. There is no fee to attend.

If you wish to attend, please contact us to RSVP at BECA@buddhistecochaplaincy.org.

A limited number of travel stipends will be available for participants traveling from outside the Bay Area. If you are unable to attend but would like to hear about future gatherings, we would be glad to stay connected. If you have suggestions for additional participants to invite, please email us at the address above.

Hosted by:

Gil Fronsdal, Kirsten Rudestam, and the Buddhist Eco-Chaplaincy Association (BECA)