Union College News

Union College To Host Forum on Religion and the Environment

Guests panelists will join Union faculty and staff for the Forum on Religion and the Environment on Monday, October 29, at 7:00 p.m. The event, which explores the relationship between faith and environmental issues, is open to the public.

The forum is hosted by Union College’s Spiritual Life program, headed by Rev. David Miller. Panelists include Father John Rausch, director of the Catholic Committee of Appalachia; Reverend Holly Shipley, associate pastor of Faith Lutheran Church in Lexington; and Andy Messer, director of outdoor programs and an assistant professor of recreation management at Union.

Father Rausch, who received the 2007 Pax Christi USA Pope Paul VI Teacher of Peace Award, is based in Stanton, Kentucky and has worked in Appalachia for more than twenty years. He directs the Office of Peace and Justice for the Diocese of Lexington and is a syndicated columnist.

Rev. Holly Shipley is an active member of the Sierra Club, a national organization that has worked for over a century to protect and preserve America’s wilderness areas. Rev. Shipley is also interested in the issue of mountaintop removal in Appalachia, and recently toured mountaintop removal sites in Eastern Kentucky.

Andy Messer leads outdoor programming at Union College. Through UC Outdoors and the college’s Appalachian Wilderness Club, Messer and staff take students on outdoor adventures such as rappelling, caving, hiking, cycling, white-water rafting, canoeing, and kayaking. The outdoor program is designed to enhance the undergraduate experience through wilderness adventures, while introducing students to the wealth of outdoor recreation opportunities in the region.

The forum will be held in the Patridge Campus Center’s upstairs conference room on Union’s campus. For more information, visit www.unionky.edu or call 546-1230.

October 23, 2007

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