About Us

Who We Are…

A Penny for your thoughts!

If scrolling the internet has brought you to this page, Welcome! My name is Penny, and I serve as one of the co-founders of Fellowship of the Sacred Earth, which is an exciting intersection of the many paths in my life.

Raised in Ohio and having spent much of my adult life near the Adirondack Mountains, unbeknownst to me, my journey to FoSE began after my first encounter with the Teton Mountains at a young age. Standing there in awe of the mountains, I realized there must be a connection between all human and non-human beings. And that all life played an essential part in this beautiful web of interbeings we call Mother Earth.

This awakening set me on a lifelong journey of seeking the holy, infinite Mystery (which I call God) that binds all creation together through mutual respect, nurturing love, acceptance, and peace.

As a forest therapy guide, I’ve learned that one merely opens the door; Creation is the teacher if we only listen. I am passionate about opening these doors for one another as we walk each other on this path of re-membering together.

Penny Brink, Co-Leader

Who is Mark? Meet a Wandering Mystic

Greetings! To answer my own question, it turns out I’m your average bloke and a completely ordinary nature mystic. I forget to floss regularly, I eat ice cream late at night, I commune with trees, I will wander for hours in open, wild spaces. Yes, I will lead nature meditation walks just for the opportunity.

I grew up a New Englander, have lived in the Midwest and now call upstate New York home. I’ve lived in and wandered the forests of northern Sweden, hiked the Cascades, Rockies, Wind River Range, Berkshires, Greens, Whites, Catskills, and Adirondacks. The mountains, lakes, and rivers of my youth are not the ones I hike, camp in, and paddle mostly today, but it all offers the same connection to the Great Mystery and feeds my heart and soul. And it is All connected, that’s Nature principle number one. Spending time in the wild connects us more deeply to ourselves, to the wider creation, and to the Creator. As we find ourselves in the wild, we will feel both more connected and more whole.

My life journey has been about walking a path rooted in love of the land and its many creatures as well as branching out into working for environmental justice, and now, creating ways that more people can have access to the beauty it holds. Some folks don’t get it and that’s OK, it’s not for everybody. But this is what motivates me to help build a community such as Fellowship of the Sacred Earth. It seems the organic “next-step” to bring together like- minded and like-souled people at this important time.

I heartly offer this invitation to all who want to encounter the realm of nature beyond ourselves (we are part of nature too). And whether this represents a spiritual experience or not, it feeds us, changes us, and makes us better kin to the more-than-human world. So, I’m putting out the invitation to you dear reader: Reach out! Get connected! Gather with us! Celebrate the wonder! Come wander with us and experience the Mystery for yourself!

To wander is to fall in love with the earth!

Mark Chaffin, Co-Leader