When we think about Missouri’s natural resources, it is difficult not to realize that we have been blessed with abundance. In fact, our whole country has been blessed with abundance. But, along with celebrating this abundance, we can’t allow ourselves to take any of it for granted. So the greatest challenge that we have in common is to remember we are all stewards of our environment.

On Sunday, October 6th, Arrow Rock Federated Church presented a special Fall Fourth Sunday Community Conversation about this topic. (The goal for the Community Conversations program isn’t just to inform people about issues, but to bring people together from the surrounding community to actually take the time to sit down and talk to each other, sharing what they know/think/understand about important topics that are related to all of us.) Dana and Ethan Duke, Co-Founders of the Missouri River Bird Observatory headquartered in Arrow Rock, served as the presenters in a conversation about celebrating what we share in common as stewards of our environment. Working with small groups, they led a facilitated conversation identifying the concerns, issues, and challenges facing the environment in Arrow Rock and surrounding area. Participants were also invited to explore the opportunities we have in common with each other to protect the future of our natural resources.

Thank you very much to Patrick Overton, pastor of the church and co-organizer of the Community Conversations program, for this story and photos. For more information about this program, how it was planned, and its outcomes, please continue reading his detailed description of the process.