Stewardship Symposium
“On Becoming Disciple-Stewards: The Restored Gospel and God’s Creation”
Sponsored by Global Environmental Studies and the David M. Kennedy Center for International Studies held at Brigham Young University, November 14-15, 2025
2025 marks twenty years since the publication of Stewardship and the Creation: LDS Perspectives on the Environment, published at BYU by the Religious Studies Center and edited by George Handley, Terry Ball, and Steve Peck. The collection of scholarly essays, the first of its kind, covered a wide range of topics, from wildlife management to business ethics to LDS church history, and other topics in light of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.
Much has happened since that time. We are both at a more precarious time ecologically and at a hopeful time of renewed attention to the doctrines of environmental stewardship in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. To mark the 20th anniversary of the publication of Stewardship and the Creation, the Kennedy Center for International Studies, the Global Environmental Studies program, and the Stewardship Lab, together with campus partners, are hosting a Stewardship Symposium. Join us this November as we reflect on these last twenty years, explore further a Gospel-centered approach to stewardship and sustainability to meet the challenges of the future.
Friday, November 14th and Saturday, November 15th
The BYU Maeser Building
No registration required
Symposium Schedule
Thursday, November 13: At the BYU Music Building (The BOX)
| 7:30 pm | BYU Environmental Stewardship Symposium Opening Social & Faculty Music Concert Music Building (The BOX) Join us for a special Faculty Music Concert featuring live performances by BYU faculty musicians and composers. This concert celebrates sound, contemporary works, and the environment. Connect with faculty artists and symposium presenters while experiencing nature reimagined through sound. | |
Friday, November 14: At the Historic BYU Maeser Building
| 8:00 am | Keynote - Elder Gérald Caussé, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - Harman Building (HCEB Ballroom) | |
| 9:00 am | Break | |
| 9:30 am | Personal Narratives & Place 250 MSRB Hasta la Raíz — Teresa Gomez Stream Restoration in East Maui — Rachel L. Wood & Seth M. Bybee Giant Icebergs and Global Warming — Prof. David Long | Stewardship in Action (BYU Students) 202 MSRB |
| 11:00 am | Institutional Stewardship Practices 250 MSRB Bremen Leak (BYU Associate Director of Sustainability) Jenica Sedgwick (Presiding Bishopric's Office) Carr Kruger | |
| 12:00 pm | Lunch "Choices" catered lunch for presenters in room 202 MSRB | |
| 1:30 pm | Doctrine and Theology Auditorium (321 MSRB) The Garden of Eden — Paul Alan Cox A Constant Theophany — Clinton Whipple Reflections on the Spiritual Creation - George Handley | |
| 3:00 pm | Break | |
| 3:30 pm | Technology, Science, & Resilience 250 MSRB Advances in Sensing Approaches — Ruth Kerry Tsunami Early Warning System — Jared Whitehead Turfgrass, Crops, and Gardens — Bryan Hopkins & Neil Hansen | Literature, Humanities, & Wonder 202 MSRB A Textual Ecology of Time — Samuel Jacob Fables & Visions — English Brooks Wonder: Philosophical and Spiritual Dimensions — Marcus Smith Indigenous Influence: Unearthing the Full Measure of LDS Theology — Alisha Anderson |
| 5:00 pm | Day 1 Wrap up Auditorium (321 MSRB) | |
| 5:30 pm | End Day 1 | |
| 6:00 pm | Dinner for presenters - BYU Catering At the BYU Engineering Building Event Space | |
Saturday, November 15: At the Historic BYU Maeser Building
| 8:30 am | Stewardship Models Auditorium (321 MSRB) Stewardship or Atonement — Teri Harman Rethinking Environments — Clifton Farnsworth, Andrew South, Robert Christensen Environmental Stewardship as a Humanitarian Imperative — Eva Witesman Stewardship and the Call of Connection — Chip Oscarson | |
| 10:00 am | Break | |
| 10:30 am | Ethics, Law & Policy 250 MSRB Wilt Thou Not Have Compassion Upon the Earth? — Craig Galli & Aaron Miller Environmental Sustainability and the Two Great Commandments — Troy Rule & Lincoln Davies Faith in Christ the Creator — Lincoln Davies & Troy Rule | Artistic Panel: An Act of Listening, an Act of Witnessing 202 MSRB Keely Song, Michelle Kesler, Steven Ricks |
| 12:00 pm | Lunch "Kneaders" boxed lunches for presenters in room 202 MSRB | |
| 1:30 pm | Faith, Ethics, and Future Energy Stewardship 250 MSRB Joshua J. LeMonte, Sam Hudson, Jim Nelson, Ben Abbott, and Matt Memmott | Behavior & Practical Action 202 MSRB Spiritual Principles Related to Recycling — Bill Rudy What Would Jesus Drive? — Logan Millsap Eschatology & Nonhuman Relations — Becky Schulthies Stewardship in Action -- Catie Nielson and Jennifer Nielson |
| 3:00 pm | Break | |
| 3:30 pm | Energy Panel: Behind the Sustainability Switch 250 MSRB Devin Rappleye, Andrew Fry, Andrew Ning, Douglas Tree | Systems & Sustainability Challenges 202 MSRB Living Waters: Inspired Water Stewardship in the American West — Steven Hall Intersection of School Meals & Sustainability — Lori Spruance Covenant Stewardship: The Race to Replenish Great Salt Lake — Ben Abbott |
| 5:00 pm | Break | |
| 5:30 pm | Concluding Remarks Auditorium (321 MSRB) | |
| 6:00 pm | End Symposium | |