Ewalu Camp & Retreat Center of Strawberry Point is hosting an enrichment event from 1-3 p.m. Friday, Feb. 24, with Decorah’s Jim Martin-Schramm, professor emeritus at Luther College and scholar of climate change ethics. Martin-Schramm will speak on “Luther College’s Path to Carbon Neutrality by 2030.”
All are welcome to attend the free adult education event at the camp’s Creation Center, located at Ewalu’s main site three miles west of Strawberry Point. Refreshments will be served, RSVP at 563-933-4700 or office@ewalu.org. The Ewalu Enrichment Event series is sponsored by HJR Financial Group of Coralville.
Most of Martin-Schramm’s scholarship has been in the area of ethics, public policy and the church’s response to climate change. He is the author, co-author or co-editor of several publications, including “Christian Ethics: A Case Method Approach” (Orbis Books, 2020), “Eco-Reformation: Grace and Hope for a Planet in Peril” (Wipf & Stock, 2016), “Earth Ethics: A Case Method Approach” (Orbis Books, 2015) and “Climate Justice: Ethics, Energy, and Climate Policy” (Fortress Press, 2010).
Martin-Schramm joined the religion faculty of Luther College in 1993 and retired in 2021. Currently, he serves on the boards of the Winneshiek Energy District and Future Iowa Energy. He is also a director of Luther College Wind Energy Project, LLC, and has helped to develop Luther’s renewable energy projects; he recently ended a term as the director of Luther’s Center for Sustainable Communities. He also serves as chair of the City of Decorah Sustainability Commission and has served on the boards of the Iowa Wind Energy Association and Iowa Interfaith Power & Light.
He is an ordained member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and holds a doctorate in Christian ethics from Union Theological Seminary in New York City. Martin-Schramm is lead author of a draft ELCA social message on climate care, which the ELCA Church Council will vote on this spring.
About Ewalu
Camp Ewalu is a year-round Christian ministry that serves over 200 Lutheran congregations in Eastern Iowa with nearly 1,000 youth participating in its summer programs and nearly 1,000 more through Day Camp evangelism programs. The camp also serves 1,500 environmental education students and hundreds more youth and adults who come to renew and grow in their faith throughout the year.
The camp’s mission is to serve all people as a place to connect the Word of God with the world of God, with its main site and office located just west of Strawberry Point and the Stone Center retreat space just north of Strawberry Point. In 2022 the ministry launched a capital campaign to renovate Cedar Lodge, the hub of camp activity, and to strengthen its mission. The campaign recently passed the $700,000 fundraising mark toward its goal of $2 million. Learn more at www.ewalu.org.