H. Paul Santmire
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hpaulsantmire.bsky.social
H. Paul Santmire
@hpaulsantmire.bsky.social
850 followers 180 following 150 posts
ecotheologian, scholar, pastoral activist

https://linktr.ee/HPaulSantmire

ELCA feed: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:7jjqhixxhj2vinaxr26i4gkc/feed/aaan3utf4zuxo

(Paul's daughter manages this account, posts by Paul signed -hps)
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hpaulsantmire.bsky.social
are you on Instagram? Here's a post to share about the Season of Creation: www.instagram.com/p/DMBBX0MOdm...
An instagram post CELEBRATION GUIDE 2025 PEACE WITH CREATION hpaulsantmire • Following hpaulsantmire 11m Plan to Celebrate the Season of Creation Sept. 1 - Oct. 4 Get the guide here: https://lutheranworld.org/news/celebr ation-guide-2025-season-creation-released "Our Biblical text for this year is Isaiah 32:14-18. The prophet Isaiah pictured the desolated Creation without peace because of the lack of justice and the broken relationship between God and humankind. This description of devastated cities and wastelands eloquently stresses the fact that human destructive behaviours have a negative impact on the Earth.
July 12, 2025 at 5:35 PM
hpaulsantmire.bsky.social
Laurel and I attended the South Paris/Norway Maine, No Kings demonstration
June 14, 2025 at 7:16 PM
hpaulsantmire.bsky.social
No Kings! Great turn out in Oxford County Maine!
And elderly white man (Paul Santmire!) is seated in a chair, outdoors, he’s wearing a white baseball cap. He is holding onto a walking cane. Exam is a sign that says no one is free until everyone is free, Fanny Lou Hammer. Just outside the picture is his wife standing there holding the sign.
June 14, 2025 at 7:10 PM
hpaulsantmire.bsky.social
A Lenten Resource. Beginning this Ash Wednesday (3/5/25) I will be sharing “Seven Mini-Meditations For Your Lenten Reflection: What Should Christians Be Up to Today?”

Subscribe to the series here: hpaulsantmire.net/lenten-reflections. I will share them on bluesky, as well.
#Lent #ELCA
Grey wood background, probably a table. On the upper left is a small dish of ashes. under and below are palm tree fronds. on top of the fronds and at an angle from the lower left corner is a simple cross. on the right with a dark grey background is text that reads: "subscribe to 7 LENTEN REFLECTIONS 1. Coming to Terms with an Era of Apparent Church Decline 2. Understanding Our Post-Christian World 3. Attending to the Signs of These Times 4. Spiritual Discernment or Looking Before You Leap 5. Reclaiming the Child Within 6. Revisiting Your Local Church hpaulsantmire.net/lenten-reflections"
February 25, 2025 at 9:26 PM
hpaulsantmire.bsky.social
My spirits have been bolstered over the years by the witness of Lutherans Restoring Creation and by Phoebe's leadership...the Lord saw an ecojustice challenge that needed to be addressed...he called her to lead us through that wilderness toward the Promised Land.
@lutheransrc.bsky.social
An abstract web or water-like lavender background with text reading "I had the benefit of knowing Paul Santmire over coffee before I ever read his work. While sage seminary professors, eager new preachers, and eco-activists in my midst were envious that I was going to meet up with their intellectual hero at a diner, my anxiety was ratcheted up as I figured this conversation may be out of my league. Before our mugs stopped steaming I realized I was in the midst of a great mind and a truly pastoral heart. His genuine desire to get to know fellow humans is similar to his approach to the truly open up and explore Scripture. When he asks you how you are, he really wants to know, it's not just a habitual phrase. His work to strengthen siblings in Christ in their connection to God through revering the created is a calling he lives out as an educator, pastor, leader and friend. The web of faith-based ecological work in the world is led by the light cast on this subject by Paul many years ago. And, anyone who has had the benefit of sharing a table with him can feel the light of his curiosity illuminate them as well. Phoebe Morad, executive director of Lutherans Restoring Creation"
January 16, 2025 at 8:57 PM
hpaulsantmire.bsky.social
I appreciate the kind words, @jimantal.bsky.social and am so grateful for "witnesses like you raising holy hell and doing it so well, both in print and on the streets, in the wider ecumenical world." -hps www.jimantal.com/book
The field of Environmental Ethics stands on the shoulders of Paul Santmire, who recognized in the late 1960s that theology must play an essential role in addressing the ecological crisis. Now, 54 years after the publication of his landmark book Brother Earth - Nature, God and Ecology in Time of Crisis, his prophetic voice continues to bear witness with the release of The Earth and the Fullness Thereof. Rev. Dr. Jim Antal, author of Climate Church, Climate World and Special Advisor on Climate Justice to the head of the United Church of Christ.
December 17, 2024 at 10:13 PM
hpaulsantmire.bsky.social
Thank you, @billmckibben.bsky.social. I have long rejoiced not only in your powerful public vocation but, all the more so, in that vocation as it has been rooted in the witness of the Holy Catholic Church at its best... -hps billmckibben.com/end-of-natur...
"A deep, prophetic, and generous voice that has for many years helped illuminate some of the most important intersections in this blessed and weary world." Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature
December 17, 2024 at 3:12 AM
hpaulsantmire.bsky.social
Thank you, Larry Rasmussen! I'm grateful for Larry's "energetic explorations in the ecojustice wilderness. He did for ecojustice discourse in particular what Reinhold Niebuhr did for social ethics more generally." -hps sojo.net/biography/la...
Paul Santmire wrote the first full-length study in eco-theology in 1970. As a study in St. Francis, it should probably have been by a Catholic scholar but was by a Lutheran one. And Paul hasn't stopped since...in a remarkable collection and contribution to Christian environmental ecology and ethics. For me personally, The Travail of Nature arrived at a pivotal moment. I was trying to assess my own Christian faith, its promise and its peril for the cause of planetary health. As an historian of Christian ethics that volume was never far from my desk as I drafted texts for seminary classes and church presentations. Nor was it far as I engaged in World Council of Churches work with a wide variety of global Christian traditions in the Justice, Peace, Creation unit. Furthermore, I'm certain my testimony about that volume would find parallels by other scholars and activists on other volumes by Paul. Well done, thou good and faithful servant! Larry Rasmussen Reinhold Niebuhr Professor Emeritus of Social Ethics at Union Theological Seminary, New York
December 16, 2024 at 12:29 AM
hpaulsantmire.bsky.social
Thank you to Rev. Professor Barbara Rossing for her generous note. "Early on, I identified Barbara as a voice for the voiceless to which I wanted to keep listening." -hps For more about Barbara: divinity.yale.edu/alumni/alumi...
Paul Santmire embodies the best of Lutheran theology, historical scholarship, and pastoral imagination- grounded in love for God's creation. With his trail-blazing ecological and sacramental insights Paul helps pastors preach the gospel for all creation. I am grateful for Paul's work to advance the Season of Creation, and to champion Lutherans Restoring Creation. I always look forward to reading how he brings environmental lenses to open up biblical and Patristic texts in new ways. He inspires me as a scholar to keep studying and writing for the church. Rev. Professor Barbara Rossing, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, author of The Rapture Exposed: The Message of Hope in the Book of Revelation
December 14, 2024 at 6:54 PM
hpaulsantmire.bsky.social
Cynthia Moe-Lobeda’s globe circling, tenacious, and prophetic theological labors have long encouraged me and I’m grateful for her kind words here. See her latest book, Building a Moral Economy: Pathways for People of Courage www.fortresspress.com/store/produc... #ELCA #LutheransRestoringCreation
For over half a century, this wise prophetic man has inspired people the world over to embark on a sacred journey toward ecological healing. Paul Santmire is a seminal thinker and wisdom figure in the world of eco-theology and environmental ethics. His brilliant work radiates with spiritual depth, fierce but gentle honesty, and transformative power. Santmire is a humble hero, led by the Spirit, who offers his readers a feast of life. To him, I bow in gratitude. Cynthia Moe-Lobeda author of Building a Moral Economy, and other works in theological ethics
December 10, 2024 at 1:28 PM
hpaulsantmire.bsky.social
Thank you to @debrakrienstra.bsky.social for your continuing work on faith and the climate crisis. In particular, your podcast was a gift to us all. debrarienstra.com/refugia-podc...
H. Paul Santmire remains a foundational voice in ecotheology. For decades, he has provided in-depth scholarship on the Christian ecotheological tradition along with wise theological reflection. His clear, winsome explanations and compassionate challenges are a gift to people of faith and conscience. For those who long to find a faithful way through this historic moment of ecological crisis, Santmire continues to offer deep and delightful nourishment. Debra Rienstra Author of Refugia Faith Seeking: Hidden Shelters, Ordinary Wonders, and the Healing of the Earth
December 8, 2024 at 7:00 PM
hpaulsantmire.bsky.social
A message directly from -hps related to the just-published book: hpaulsantmire.net/books/the-ea...
Green pine and holly branches with red holly berries at the top and bottom, with text that reads "How The Earth and the Fullness Thereof: A Down-Home Reader in Ecological Theology, just published by Cascade, can help you with your Christmas shopping list. If you are a • Grandparent: give the book to college and highschool age grand kids for Christmas • Church-goer: ...to your Pastor for Christmas • Ecoactivist: ...to fellow activists for Christmas • Partnered person: ...to your significant other for Christmas • Pastor: ...use your discretionary fund to purchase books for all your staff members • College student: ...you have no idea what to give your parents for Christmas; give EFT to them; problem solved • Friend online: pass the word to all your contacts Thanks for thinking about this! -Paul Santmire
December 1, 2024 at 4:53 PM