LETTER TO THE ECOTHEO COMMUNITY
from active members of the EcoTheo Collective Board of Directors, with input from EcoTheo Review Editorial Staff
As many community members are aware, Rev. Jason Myers, Executive Director of EcoTheo Collective, was arrested for online solicitation of a minor. A letter from the rector of Trinity Episcopal Church, where Jason served, can be found here.
Jason has been removed from all roles with EcoTheo Review and EcoTheo Collective, effective immediately. The magazine, and as such, the essence of the organization, existed before Jason’s leadership, and the Collective now operates as a 501c3 non-profit governed by a Board of Directors.
As an organization, EcoTheo Collective envisions a world in which caring for the places we inhabit, the people we encounter, and the lives we lead makes for lasting beauty in art, nature, and community. As the board of EcoTheo, we are shocked and deeply troubled by the news regarding Jason Myers. Accordingly, the board of EcoTheo Collective is announcing that EcoTheo Review and the Collective itself are taking an intentional pause to enter a period of contemplation and action.
We express our regret, our sincere concern for victims, and our commitment to pursuing justice for all who have been harmed and affected by Jason’s actions. We acknowledge the profound harm these events cause our entire community. We support calls for truth, transparency, and accountability in the hopes that we may heal as a community, individually and collectively. Especially in times like these, we are guided by poets and artists.
"Sometimes we are blessed with being able to choose the time, and the arena, and the manner of our revolution, but more usually we must do battle where we are standing.”
-Audre Lorde
The board and editorial staff of EcoTheo are deeply grateful for the trust our community members have placed in our collective work. We commit to living our core values of love, justice, creativity, and care for all human beings and our more-than-human world as we chart a path forward for this organization. For anyone who may desire contact with the EcoTheo Board, two board members and an Executive Director Emeritus are available:
EcoTheo Board Members
Cynthia Kittredge (512) 750-9962 ; cynthia.kittredge@ssw.edu
Shann Ray (509) 953-4967 ; ferch@gonzaga.edu
EcoTheo Executive Director Emeritus
Travis Helms (832) 279-2024 ; travis@ecotheo.org
EcoTheo Collective envisions a world in which care for the places we inhabit, the people we encounter, and the lives we lead makes for lasting beauty in art, nature, and community.
We pursue this vision through publications, support for creative writers, artists, and theologians, and ways of gathering that embody attention and devotion. Our print and online magazine, EcoTheo Review, publishes work at the intersection of ecology, spirituality, and culture. Starshine and Clay, an initiative with Cave Canem, is a fellowship awarded to an emerging Black poet. Each year, that poet and many more gather at our annual Wonder Festival to read poems and celebrate the act of gathering together around poetry. The Lorca Latinx Poetry Prize supports the publication of a dual-language, artisanal chapbook by a poet with no more than one full-length collection in print. Soon, EcoTheo will begin welcoming writers-in-residence to Desert Poets in Alpine, Texas.