Rooted and Grounded: Essays on Land and Christian Discipleship (Studies in Peace and Scripture: Institute of Mennonite Studi)

For many of us, the connection between the ecological crisis and humanity's detachment from the land is becoming increasingly clear. In biblical terms, adam (humanity) has severed itself from the adamah (soil), and we (creation) are reaping the consequences. This collection of essays, and the conference from which it took shape, calls the church to root itself more deeply in the agrarian biblical text and ecclesial tradition in order to remember and freshly imagine ways of living on and with the land that are restorative, reconciling, and faithful to the triune God's invitation to new life in Christ. When we listen attentively to and patiently learn from the biblical text, church history, and theology, the land itself can become a conversation partner, and we are summoned to recognize that the gospel is reserved not simply for humanity, but for the whole of creation.

Ryan D. Harker is from the northern edge of the Ozark Mountains in rural Southern Missouri. He is an adjunct instructor at Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS) and AMBS's co-liaison to Blessed Earth's Seminary Stewardship Alliance.

Janeen Bertsche Johnson grew up among the corn and soybean fields of central Illinois. A 1989 graduate of Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS), she serves at AMBS as Campus Pastor, Director of Alumni Relations, an instructor, and co-liaison to Blessed Earth's Seminary Stewardship Alliance.