Theology in the Wild: Finding God in Nature with Wild Churches

Megan Ulishney headshot

Megan Loumagne Ulishney
Boston College

Date:听Tuesday, April 7, 2026
Time:听12 - 1pm
Location:听Boisi Center, 24 Quincy Road, Conference Room听听

Experiences in nature provide emotional, affective, and spiritual resources for many that are听sometimes described as 鈥渞eligious,鈥 or 鈥渟acred.鈥 For some who express disillusionment with听institutional forms of religion, mystical or spiritual encounters in nature can provide听experiences of the transcendent, the sublime, connectedness, and even of spiritual healing.听Some contemporary听expressions of nature spirituality provide sources of community, core texts, and suggest spiritual practices that mimic听traditional religious practices, even as they seek to transform them. For example, the 鈥淲ild听Church Network鈥 is a support system for 鈥渘ew and growing wild churches鈥 which organizes gatherings for spiritual seekers who desire to reconnect on a spiritual level with their听ecosystems. In this talk, Dr. Megan Loumagne Ulishney will reflect on her field work visits to six Wild Churches in the summer of 2025 in order to explore the complex ways in which theology is both denied but also utilized by the Wild Churches to facilitate a feeling of spiritual connection with nature. As the Wild Churches are predominantly led by women, Dr. Ulishney will also discuss the formation of Wild Churches as an instance of strategic and creative negotiation of an alternative authority structure fashioned from the tools of more traditional and patriarchal Christianity.听 听

Megan Ulishney headshot

Dr. Megan Loumagne Ulishney is an assistant professor of systematic theology in the theology department at Boston College. Her work engages questions at听the intersection of Catholic theology, the sciences, and feminist philosophy and theology.听She is currently working on a grant project that is funded by the John Templeton Foundation entitled听鈥淪piritual Naturalisms: Nature Spirituality and Ecological Activity Among the 鈥楽piritual but not Religious.'鈥澨齌his project examines the rise of nature spirituality among the 鈥榮piritual but not religious,鈥 the ways in which theology may play implicit roles in nature spirituality, and the relevance of nature spirituality for creation care.听

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