Earthkeepers: A Circlewood Podcast on Creation Care and Spirituality · Forrest Inslee

Edgewalking: Finding New Vision in Wilderness (part I) with Victoria Loorz | Ep. 119

·41 min·3 clips

Victoria Loorz reveals how edge walkers are midwiving new stories to replace dominance and consumerism.

This episode features host Forrest Inslee in conversation with Victoria Loorz, co-founder of the Wild Church Movement and director of the Center for Wild Spirituality. They explore the concept of "edgewalking" within faith communities, which involves moving from conventional church centers toward creative, alternative expressions. Loorz shares that she is currently in a caregiving role for her mother while also expanding her Seminary of the Wild program to include a second, vocationally-focused year. The discussion centers on the role of edgewalkers in questioning dominant Western stories of individualism and consumerism during a time of ecological and institutional unraveling. Loorz notes that 40-60% of participants in her programs come from outside the Christian tradition but are drawn to this exploratory edge. She and Inslee examine the tension between edgewalkers and those at a faith community's center who may resist new ideas out of fear or a desire to preserve tradition. Loorz references the work of John Powell and Isabel Wilkerson on "othering," connecting it to patterns of human hierarchy she believes are not innate but developed over the last 10,000 years. A key insight is that edgewalking is likened to an organic, expanding circle rather than a precarious line, with participants stretching the boundaries of faith practice collectively. Loorz argues that disconnection from nature is a spiritual problem at the core of the climate crisis, and the church has a role in offering both practical shelter and wisdom. She posits that a relational worldview, where love extends to all beings—human, animal, and even stone—is foundational and corrective. The conversation reveals that practices of "wild spirituality" aim to restore sacred relationship, moving beyond a stewardship model to one of mutual kinship. Inslee shares an anecdote from his work with an environmental institute, where a scientist ultimately framed their conservation work as an act of love, surprising him. Loorz emphasizes that this approach is not about abandoning tradition but digging beneath cultural interpretations to reconnect with a foundational, relational love exemplified by Jesus's practices in wilderness. The tone is conversational, reflective, and exploratory, weaving personal narrative with theological and ecological concepts. This episode would deeply resonate with listeners feeling disconnected from institutional faith but longing for spiritual community rooted in creation care. Those firmly committed to conventional church structures or skeptical of nature-based spirituality might find the concepts challenging.

As heard by us

A measured conversation on edge-walking, creation care, and hope at the edges of church.

Victoria Lewis treats edge-walking as a lived posture, not a metaphor. The discussion keeps wilderness, creation care, and spiritual imagination in the same frame, and it is strongest when earth care reads as a change in faith itself rather than a side project.

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Why you'd press play

You want a conversation where wilderness, church, and creation care stay in the same frame.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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