Greening the Spirit: Nurturing Spirituality Through Nature

Marianne is the founder and executive director of Arborvitae. A professional forester by training (B.Sc.F., M.Sc.F.), she’s a senior scientist with Environment Canada (specializing in biodiversity and climate change) and coordinator of the Ecology Project at the Ignatius Jesuit Centre of Guelph.

Since 2000, Marianne has combined her unique multidisciplinary expertise in theology, ecology and science to lead retreats, teach courses, and facilitate workshops from as far afield as Canada to Brazil to Mozambique. She’s also an award-winning author and her work with Arborvitae has been featured in articles and the media.

Arborvitae is a non-profit organization that helps individuals of all ages and backgrounds reintegrate with the fabric of life around them. It seeks to nourish spirituality through nature and, in so doing, expand our understanding and appreciation of our essential and enduring connection to the Earth.

Through workshops, retreats, lectures, and organizational consulting, Arborvitae provides vital opportunities for experiential learning and profound personal renewal. Benefits include enhanced health and well-being, improved creativity and productivity, and fresh insight into some of the most important spiritual and ecological issues of our time.

Connecting with earth is often a path to discernment and meaning. Learn simple prayer and meditation techniques to awaken and deepen your engagement with nature and to lead you to a place of peace. Come and explore what creation means to us and our spirituality by hearing inspiring true stories of the natural world. We will have a hands-on outdoor activity (if feasible) that will help create a soul memory of our time with the earth. It will be a time to think, share and experience the impacts of a renewed connection with earth.