Caring for Creation: Finding Common Ground
Annual LSM-WA Earth Day Summit

The Laudato Si’ Movement Washington chapter (LSM-WA) invites you to attend the annual Earth Day Summit – Caring for Creation: Finding Common Ground on April 25, 2026. Join us for a day of building bridges through love for creation with presenters representing diverse areas of specialty from across Washington State.

Registration is required for the summit. All are welcome to attend this free event. During registration you may choose to help offset the cost of your attendance by making a donation (estimated cost to attend: $15 parking; $15 lunch; $10 refreshments).

Details:

Caring for Creation: Finding Common Ground
Saturday, April 25, 2026
8:30am – 4:30pm
Seattle University, Student Center LeRoux Room

Summit highlights include:

• The day includes parking on campus, morning and afternoon refreshments, a vegetarian lunch, and time for prayer and spiritual reflection.
• Morning keynote “Our Sacred Earth: The Care of Creation as a Spiritual Imperative” with Sr. Mimi Maloney, SNJM (Spokane), and Sr. Mary Ellen Robinson, SNJM (Yakima), and Ms. Eleana Pawl (Seattle)
• Special guests:
  • Daniel Harm, Communications Director for the Center for Responsible Forestry
  • Lynda Mapes, retired Pulitzer Prize-nominated Environmental Reporter for the Seattle Times and National Outdoor Book Award Winner
  • Ashton Picard, Vice Chair of the Nez Perce Tribe
  • Dick Warwick, Cowboy Poet and retired farmer
• Afternoon breakout sessions include:
  • Going beyond nice: effective conversations on divisive topics with Kathy Wilmering: How do we manage the anxiety and anger that emerge when someone with a different opinion attacks us? Our ensuing fight, flight, or freeze response is counterproductive and harms our health. Learn quick ways to calm your physiology so you respond effectively and scripturally.
  • Creating your parish Laudato Si’ Action Plan with Terri Nelson: Navigate the LSAP structure and its seven goals and learn more about the benefits of your parish or organization joining this global Catholic network promoting integral ecology and care for creation.
  • A poetry writing workshop with Dick Warwick: Think it! Feel it! Say it! Enjoy it!  Release your inner poet.
  • Protecting the Pacific Temperate Rainforest with Daniel Harm: What are legacy forests, why do they matter, and why is the Washington Department of Natural Resources still managing them like short-term timber assets instead of long-term public infrastructure? CRF’s Communications Director, Daniel Harm, uncovers the full value of these ecosystems—from disaster protection and rural community resilience to biodiversity, carbon storage, hydrologic maturity, and microclimate stability. By linking forest ecology with long-term economic thinking, this talk offers a hopeful, forward-looking vision for stewardship grounded in watershed health, collaboration, and shared benefits.
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The summit is sponsored by Laudato Si’ Movement Washington (LSM-WA), Seattle University’s Institute for Catholic Thought and Culture (ICTC), the Intercommunity Peace and Justice Center (IPJC), the Archdiocese of Seattle, St. James Cathedral and the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary (SNJM).