6th annual Eighth Day symposium to look at creation as gift

The ecumenical Eighth Day Institute that seeks to renew culture through faith and learning is using the Paris Climate Conference and Pope Francis’ recent encyclical on the environment as a backdrop to its 2016 symposium, “Soil and Sacrament: The World as Gift.”

Mike Aquilina, Hans Boersma, Rod Dreher and Vigen Guorian will be among the speakers at the symposium from Jan. 14 to 16 at St. George Orthodox Christian Cathedral.

The symposium will explore the notion of creation as a gift from God and humanity’s role as grateful stewards of the gift.

Guorian, who is an author, gardener and professor of religious studies at the University of Virginia, will give two keynotes: one, a view from the garden called “Soil & Sacrament: Earth Meditations,” and the other a view from the classroom: “World as Gift: The Earth Poetry of Wendell Berry.” The event also includes a banquet with reflections by the speakers and live music.

Registration is $35 per day, $65 for both days, $35 for the banquet, or $100 for both days and the banquet before Jan. 1. Rates increase after that. Information and registration are available online at www.eighthdayinstitute.org, by phone at 316-573-8413, or in person at Eighth Day Books at 2838 E. Douglas. The cathedral is at 7515 E. 13th St.

This story was originally published December 23, 2015 at 1:55 PM with the headline "6th annual Eighth Day symposium to look at creation as gift."