LINCOLN — A public conference titled “Farming & Faith: Holistic Responses to Climate Change” is set for April 9 at Sheridan Lutheran Church in Lincoln.
​
The conference — scheduled from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. — will bring together people of faith from diverse backgrounds in Nebraska to consider the connections between faith and farming in the face of our changing climate. The keynote speaker will be Doug Dittman, an organic farmer at Branched Oak Farms, owner the new Hub Cafe in Lincoln and a Soto Zen Buddhist practitioner.

Sheridan Lutheran Church is located at 6955 Old Cheney Road in Lincoln.

“Farming & Faith” is being hosted by Nebraska Interfaith Power & Light, a state organization formed in 2000 that includes Lutherans, Presbyterians, United Methodists, Catholics, Buddhists, the spiritual but not religious, Quakers, Unitarians, Evangelicals and other Christian faiths.

Religious traditions often speak of the rhythms of agricultural life along with the rhythms of faithful life. Sacred teachings carry a long history of understanding the food that comes from the earth as a gift from a benevolent creator. As the world enters into an era of a changing climate, people face questions about how crops will perform in the future, how to produce food in ways that protect the health of the earth and the role of faith communities as the climate shifts.

Dittman will speak about how his religious perspectives have informed his care for the land. Attendees from all faith backgrounds are welcome to attend the conference.