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Contact
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Contact Information
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State
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Description
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| Mimi Hottinger, Sr. Kathleen Fernholz, and Sr. Annette Fernholz; School Sisters of Notre Dame. |
Center for Earth Spirituality
& Rural Ministry;
170 Good Counsel Drive,
Mankato, MN 56001-3138;
507-389-4238/
507-345-6679
CESRM@ssndmankato.org
www.ssndmankato.org/
pg_community.htm |
MN
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This 150-acre center on Good Counsel Hill was established to enable all people to become more mindful of the intimate connection of all relationships: with God, with all human beings and with the earth; and to reverse those personal and communal choices which exploit the earth and impoverish peoples. It includes 40 acres of cropland taken out of production because of erosion concerns, enrolled in the USDA Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), planted to native grasses, forbes, and 4000 trees and shrubs, and wetlands restored. With cost-sharing from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, three eroded ravines were restored and holding ponds developed. The one-acre community garden provides fresh produce for 64 landless gardeners including refugee families, single mothers, and students from a local school who grow food for the local food shelf. A farmers’ market organized by the center provides a new market for local farmers by providing local produce to the Motherhouse for 150 meals three times a day . The center with the local Rural Community Development Office is working to expand this concept to other local institutions. The Center brings Catholic social teaching to rural parishes and collaborates with others to advocate for rural people. [2003] |
| Franciscan Sisters of Little Falls Carol Schmit, Agnes Soenneker, Jan Kilian, and Ms. Roxanne Wagner |
Clare’s Well,
13537 47th Street NW,
Annandale, Minnesota
55302-3507;
320-274-3512;
clwell@lakedalelink.net; www.fslf.org/sisters/cw.htm |
MN
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Clare's Well is a 40-acre, women’s spirituality farm named for Clare of Assisi, a 13th-century woman, saint, mystic and friend of Francis. Clare's Well calls on the Franciscan virtues of a loving respect for all of creation, joyful hospitality and solidarity with the marginalized. It provides a safe and reverent space for men and women to reflect, explore, and rediscover their own spirituality through relatedness with the life-giving energy of mother earth. It includes a large farmhouse, hermitages, garden, lake, woods, goats, chapel, labyrinth, wellness center, and walking paths. Communal prayer and ritual, therapeutic massage, integrated energy therapy, and biogenesis are offered. Much of the meals served is drawn from the produce of the circle garden inspired by Derald Langham’s use of Genesa principles in the shaping and contouring of garden beds to enhance plant growth. Three years studying the feasibility of building a wind generator will continue as it appears its great potential remains elusive. A 5-acre alfalfa field is being restored to native prairie with the help of the private firm Prairie Restorations, Inc. (www.prairieresto.com). Their motto is "Wisdom is deep within; drink from your own well." [2004] |
| Sister Monique Schwirtz, OSF, Associate Minister for Congregational Planning (Sisters of St. Francis) |
Assisi Heights Convent,
Rochester Franciscan Congregation,
1001 NW 14th St.,
Rochester, MN 55901;
507-282-7441;
507-282-7762.
MSchwirtz@compuserve.com |
MN
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Surrounded by residences, this 120 acres of land includes 42 acres woodland, 13 acres ornamental lawns, five acres orchard, and 3 acres gardens for the religious community and a community garden plot for local Hmong residents, both utilizing garden compost. The Sisters use a stewardship plan developed with the state Department of Natural Resources to guide their land management decisions. They are considering restoring most of the lawn to native prairie and they’re considering land trust options. [Revised July 2002] |
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