Meet
Bonnie E Fackre-Cochise
Member, Pastor & Professional Clown (Polka Doodle)
1. Why did you get involved with CtH?
I needed an alternative church context in which to grow and develop into a more creative and courageous Christian.
2. What does CtH mean to you?
Christ the Healer has become primary for me, as the community through which I best express my love and share my spirituality.
3. As a covenanted member, would you mind telling us how this process has helped you grow spiritually? And, why do you feel it’s important to grow spiritually?
Remaining committed to Body Electronics, weekly, has helped me shift my perspective and heal my body. Sunday Suppers offered the opportunity to reach out and interact with new people. FIG creates the space for me to share honestly and face myself in the mirror of the quiet listening of trust others. Mystery School offers exciting ways to learn about other spiritual practices and to deepen my own spiritual development. Reiki classes have given me specific tools to tap into positive restorative energy. The Compass Way gives me a map to help me regulate my own feelings and behavior. Volunteering at Acres of abundant Grace and Grace Garden grounds me in the earth, as my neighbor. Climate Café opens whole new possibilities of outreach with folks who are seeking healing. The Beacons, as “governing body” of CtH, gives everyone a voice –and me too.
4. Is there anything specific you wish to offer new community members who want to grow with us?
I would be willing to mentor someone who wants to explore the rich treasures that Christ the Healer has to offer.
5. How have the Compass of Grace Teachings helped you to move into a state of grace with yourself, your relationships and/or the world around you?
As a professional educator, I work in an intense environment of very young children at risk in their development because of poverty-related issues. Compass Way teachings have both grounded me and expanded me in my teaching style and hands-on interactions.
Also, when I face potential conflict with adults who might not agree with me, in other parts of my life, I am able to listen to the real concerns going on underneath
6. How your life has improved or changed as a result of engaging with the CtH leaders and members, or engaging in spiritual and/or healthy living practices?
I have become a much nicer person–less judgmental, more cooperative– than I would have been, had I stayed on my former path. Looking for more in your life? Come, taste and see.
7. Please tell us a little about yourself, including your leadership skills, personal interests, and how you serve the CtH Community?
I do preach in a traditional pastoral role, and I love exploring new ideas. I am a serious silent (professional) clown who likes to bring out the light in other people. I am a grand more of a two-year old in New Zealand, who I have never met yet in person because of COVID. I would love to be part of a sixties-type folk singing sharing group. I do write songs, and I still consider myself part of the Freedom Revolution that is evolving the earth. I am getting certified in Permaculture this summer from Findhorn Ecovillage in Scotland and I would love to share this knowledge in the context of our new collective project: Climate Café Project.
8. What is your leadership role in Christ the Healer?
I sometimes serve as scribe or secretary for the Beacons. I developed the Kids Kitchen Program within the Climate Café’ to teach kids how to have fun growing food, preparing the food they grew, and sharing it at the Climate Café’ events. I also led the charge in adopting the
MEET OUR LEADERS
A word from Bonnie:
From the CLIMATE CAFÉ KIDS KITCHEN INAUGURAL EVENT
It’s happening—or, better yet, IT’S HOPENING! Climate Café’s Kids’ Kitchen is hosting its inaugural “pop-up” meal and program. Saturday September 23 from noon to 1:30 PM, Prince of Life ELCA and Christ the Healer UCC are collaborating in a ground-to-plate, farm-to-table event open to children, youth, elders, and all ages in between.
Climate Café is an all-volunteer effort to address the planetary catastrophe we are now undergoing, and its new offshoot—an outreach known as Kids’ Kitchen—brings to the fore issues that coming generations are already facing today. We believe that changing the way humans produce and consume food goes a long way towards healing the environmental imbalances that disturb both the biosphere and the people who depend on its gifts.
Climate Café’s Kids’ Kitchen operates as a collective, to engage elders with youngsters in brainstorming and developing positive solutions to our current climate crisis. A short participatory program follows the September meal, entitled “Climate Crisis: Facing the Challenge and Embracing the Change,” game will facilitate an opening for personal and public transformation concerning our shared environment. Through simple simulation and song, those who are willing to experiment can start to work through their fears and play out fresh hope about environmental justice–in community! Our motto calls us to “Love all Creation as your Self.” We CAN begin to creatively solve the environmental and economic problems that plague us–by sitting at the table, together, and eating delicious and nutritious plant-based dishes that are grown organically, locally, and according to regenerative farming principles and practices which enrich rather than deplete the
soil.
Climate Café operates as a gift economy. The meal you take in is resourced by folks who give of their time, energy and substance, in order to plant, harvest, prepare and share earth’s abundance. In this way, other folk who normally might not be able to afford the high-quality meal we offer can participate in the feast, right alongside diners and donors who can afford to contribute a little extra.
Leading up to this event, ‘eldsters’ with youngsters will have planted, gardened, harvested, prepped the meal and program.