Class Description:
Edifiio Divina means “where are we, physically?” In spiritual life, lectio divina is the practice of studying small portions of scripture at length, pondering their meaning. In today’s built environment, we too often move through our day so quickly that we fail to also spend time thinking about the immediate environment in which we exist, our impact on it, and what went in to creating the structures around us.
In this class, Josh Svaty will ask us to ponder where Village Presbyterian Church (or any House of Worship) is physically, to better understand its place in Prairie Village, Kansas, and the rest of the world. We’ll explore the watershed in which it sits, the utilities that enter and exit the building, and at the end of the class we’ll even ask each attendee to quietly ponder a small portion of the craftsmanship that went in to making the physical structure of their House of Worship.
Presenter Bio:
Josh Svaty is a 5th generation farmer from Ellsworth, KS, who married a 5th generation Kansas Citian in May 2007 at Village Church, where she grew up and remains a member. He and Kimberly own and operate Free State Farms (a diversified crop and livestock operation) and are raising 4 young children. From 2003 to 2009, he served in the Kansas Legislature. For 5 years, he was the ranking minority member on the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee. He also served on the House Utilities Committee. During the Parkinson Administration, he served as Secretary of Agriculture. Svaty has been a Senior Adviser at the Environmental Protection Agency Region 7 in KC and a Vice President at The Land Institute in Salina. He currently farms and manages his consulting company, Perennial Prairie. In May 2017, he entered the Kansas primary as a democratic candidate for governor. This will be Josh’s sixth presentation at Village Church. He comes from a multi-generation family of Presbyterians.
