What is your full name?
Heath William Garris
What is your job title with Au Sable?
Director of College Programs
How did you get involved with Au Sable?
I started teaching for Covenant College in 2016 and took over the role of Au Sable Representative from Dr. Jerry Wenger. Jerry was Covenant’s Au Sable rep for over 25 years and he introduced me to Au Sable through the academic council held every September. As a new faculty I remember Jerry introducing me to the council. He reminded his friends and colleagues how long he had loved and served the institute, and challenged me to continue to keep his record of commitment to creation care and to the institute. In 2017 I developed the course “Field Techniques in Wetlands” for Summer Session I and have taught it each summer since (including a 2020 online “home edition”). This past summer I became Au Sable’s Director of College Programs and it has truly been a delight to serve on Au Sable’s staff.
What excites you most about Au Sable?
Au Sable continues to be a place where Christian faithfulness and environmental concern overlap. Jon Terry—our executive director—described our students as often feeling like ‘misfits’ in their homes, institutions, and churches. This epitomized my experience growing up and Au Sable helps students (and faculty) explore what it means to live faithfully and deeply, to explore sound doctrine and wise stewardship for the good of all of creation. I’m excited to be part of the Au Sable project, and especially excited to see the college program grow in opportunities for students to build credentials that will help them succeed in the environmental sciences.
What is something you have recently learned about serving, protecting, or restoring God's Earth?
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about finitude. I’m often tempted to see the fact that I’m limited (in my abilities, my capacity for work, in my time or even my mortality) as something inherently wrong with me or with the world. And while sin certainly acts upon finitude, God doesn’t intend for us to be free from it altogether. Arguably we are called to be like God, not to be God. It’s humbling and relieving to know that I don’t have to be infinite to fulfill what I was made for. I was made for faithfulness. In our shared calling to love and serve what God has made, being finite means doing all that we can and witnessing that there still remains more to do, to live and work fully and to pass the torch to another generation of Christ followers looking forward to the day when all of His creation will be renewed. According to Wendell Berry, we’re "planting sequoias".
What is one practice that helps you to take care of the earth?
It’s small, but when I’m hungry (or tired, bored, stressed, etc…) and looking through the fridge, I think about which foods are most likely to be wasted. It leads to some interesting snacks (e.g. salad, leftover tater tots and sauerkraut) but it reminds me of our shared call to be wise stewards of our resources. And with ~40% of food purchased in North America never getting eaten, I know reducing my own food waste has a positive impact on the planet (and it appeases my inner cheapskate).
What do you do for fun/in your free time?
I run, I walk, I date my wife Ashley, I try to meet my daughters where and how they play; so I play board games, climb rocks and chase unicorns.
Have you read any good books lately? If so, what books?
I recently read Wendell Berry’s “Jayber Crowe” and N.T. Wright’s “Surprised by Hope”. Both are full of interesting ideas.
What is your favorite natural space?
The trails around the Ledges in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. So many great memories of friends and family as well as exercise, quiet and peace in God’s good creation.