Our Purpose and Vision
In support of WCIU’s vision “for a verdant and flourishing world,” the Eden Vigil Institute promotes research and reflection, education and discussion on the spiritual, religious, economic and other roots of the climate and ecological crisis.
Our vision is to be a center of wisdom for activists in all five environmental movements (environmental, climate, creation care, environmental justice, environmental missions), including promoting the principles and practical skills of Adaptive Leadership.
Philosophy
“Scholar Practitioners” & “Crucial Neutrals”
The founder of WCIU, Ralph D. Winter, envisioned an order of people, almost monastic in their outlook, who position themselves as “scholar practitioners” bridging the gap between researchers and activists, and “crucial neutrals” who serve other practitioners without thought to aggrandizement.
“Roots & Realism”
Henry David Thoreau writes, “There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root, and it may be that he who bestows the largest amount of time and money on the needy is doing the most by his mode of life to produce that misery which he strives in vain to relieve.” Activists can also be guilty of denialism if they conflate radical/biblical hope with optimism and exceptionalism, and if they fail to seek out the spiritual, theological, political, and economic roots of the ecological crisis.
“Adaptive Leadership”
Adaptive leadership is a model of leadership, developed by Ron Heifitz and Marty Linsky, that distinguishes between the technical and adaptive problems posed by something like climate change. By definition, it “mobilizes others to make progress on daunting adaptive challenges.” Eden Vigil Institute has been endorsed by the Kansas Leadership Center, from whom Lowell Bliss has been certified as a teacher.
Center for Wisdom
Proverbs 21:22 describes the Eden Vigil Institutes approach to activism: “One who is wise can go up against the city of the mighty and pull down the stronghold in which they trust.”
A Five Movement Approach
The Eden Vigil Institute is recognized as a founder in the Environmental Missions movement but seeks to serve all five movements: environmental, climate, creation care, justice, and missions. Read more.
Programs
Christian Climate Observers Program (CCOP) Eden Vigil is a co-founder and Lowell Bliss is a co-director of CCOP, which brings emerging leaders from under-mobilized constituencies to the UN COP climate summits for an immersive and discipled experience of climate action. www.ccopclimate.org
Climate Intercessors is a global network of intercessory prayer for the climate crisis. They meet monthly for Zoom prayer meetings, and have been featured in Christianity Today and Christian Century. Eden Vigil is a co-founder and Lowell Bliss leads the organizing team and publishes monthly Bible studies.
Eden Vigil Webinars are open to the public as part of WCIU’s event series. Our inaugural webinar—“Processing the Difficult Emotions of Climate Change”— will be offered as an instructional retreat by Robynn Bliss, a certified Spiritual Director.
Roots & Realism Consultations— Consultations are collaborative conferences focused on topics related to the roots of the ecological crisis. The inaugural consultation, tentatively entitled “The Cross and Climate Catastrophe,” is planned for February 2023.
Speaking and Writing— Eden Vigil maintains a bi-monthly blog and a speaker’s bureau. Lowell Bliss is the author of two books Environmental Missions: Planting Churches and Trees, and People, Trees, and Poverty (ebook). We will promote writing from outside the institute through occasional papers, the WCIU Development Journal, and WCIU Press.
Adaptive Leadership Training and Consultation— Certified trainers in Adaptive Leadership, particularly using the framework of the Kansas Leadership Center, are available to assist NGOs, teams, and other practitioners in the climate and environmental movements as they seek to overcome obstacles in “mobilizing others to make progress on daunting adaptive challenges.” For a free consultation call, contact lowell@edenvigil.org.