Our Purpose

Epworth is a place "reserved by The United Methodist Church as sacred common ground." Outdoor ministry has a deep history in Methodism, beginning with John Wesley's personal struggle to step out of the traditional and formal church structure in favor of the open air. To read more see Kevin Witt's website at:
www.gbod.org/camping/articles.asp?act=reader&item_id=10562#4

Epworth as sacred common ground seeks to preserve and to teach love and respect for our 160 acres of beautiful river valley. In addition, we seek to be a light on a hill to our generation in building and promoting living practices that thoughtfully listen to nature and work with it, instead of running rough shod over its beauty and balance. To that end, we seek to build model systems of land use and living structures that are as in tune with natural laws as our current understanding can make them. We practice stewardship for its own intrinsic rightness. In addition, we provide immersion in good stewardship practices for our community and many visitors.

Definitions Of Permaculture

Permaculture is a philosophy of working with, rather than against nature; of protracted & thoughtful observation rather than protracted & thoughtless action; of looking at systems in all their functions rather than asking only one yield of them & of allowing systems to demonstrate their own evolutions.
-Bill Mollison

Permaculture design teaches you to understand and mirror the patterns found in healthy natural environments. You can then build profitable, productive, sustainable, cultivated ecosystems, which include people, and have the diversity, stability, and resilience of natural ecosystems.
-www.permaculture.com/permaculture/index.shtml

We welcome you to our updated Natural Building Workshops as we build the Sustainable Farmhouse at Epworth. Please pass this announcement on to others.