Five local churches to host watch party for Environment & Spirituality Summit

Southminster Presbyterian Church, Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church, the First United Methodist Church of Arlington Heights, St. John UCC, and St. James Catholic Church are co-hosting a local watch party for Bill McKibben’s keynote at the 2026 Environment & Spirituality Summit 5:30 p.m. on Sept. 29 at Southminster Presbyterian Church, 916 Central Road, Arlington Heights. They will have the opportunity to stream the session together, meet other people from local churches, listen to a Q&A session led by Faith In Place’s coach, Rev. Elle Dowd, and enjoy a dinner at no cost. The watch party is free and all are invited.

The Summit’s theme is Grounded Resistance, exploring how we engage the world from a place of deep grounding, collective support and sustained resistance. Bill McKibben, author, educator, and environmentalist, will challenge attendees to organize with collective courage. He also helped found 350.org, the first global grass-roots climate campaign, and recently founded Third Act, an organizing movement for people over 60.

People who want to attend (virtually) the two-day summit Monday and Tuesday, Sept. 28-29 must first register at aes-summit.org. After they are registered they will receive an email confirmation listing the over-70 locations where the watch party will be held. They may choose Southminster as the watch party they would like to attend in person.