Church for Our Common Home — Church For Our Common Home

Photos from the Harvard Spirituality and Art Conference 2025

Artist Statement

This artwork is a community project, inviting people of all ages, abilities, cultures, and faiths to contribute to the creation of our untraditional “Manger Church” at the Mary Magdalene Retreat Center—where we sometimes worship with the animals in the barn.

Our vision is of a world of Peace, Justice, Beauty, and Love—what Jesus called the Kingdom of God, and what my teacher and mentor, Dr. John B. Cobb Jr., described as an Ecological Civilization.

The barn mural art project arose as a calling from Our Lady of Guadalupe, the Black Madonna of the Americas. She calls us to rebuild the church and our world. We stand in solidarity with “the least of these”—the poor and the vulnerable, especially non-human creatures—as we witness the extinction of species and ecosystems.

My life has reflected an experience I had at age seven in the Dormition Abbey of Jerusalem, at the Tomb of Mary. The feminine face of the God of Love became Mother Mary for me. Underground, I experienced that she had been a dead woman, but before my eyes she resurrected and came to life. The wooden statue transformed into a woman of flesh and deep feeling. It was like Sleeping Beauty—an unconscious being awakened into new consciousness.

photoshop planet manger scene.png

photo mother mary tompb w our lady.jpg

Bonnie's Christmas Card 2022 PNG .png

photo barn mural before paint.jpg

photobarn mural our lady w lady begind her.jpg

photo our lady barn.jpg

photo bugs and mountain.jpg

photo wolf howling at moon.jpg

photo barn both sides.jpg

photo tree woman front barn mural.jpg

photo barn front with goat.jpg

photo love your enemy way.jpg

photo matthew praying at prayer station Nancy-1.jpeg

photo nancy's painting .jpg

photo buddist prayer station.jpg

photo prayer station Jesus.jpg

photo prayer station goddess of mercy.jpg

photo prayer 1 w medicine stick.jpg

photo hilda and sculpture.jpg

photo mud hosue two sides cropped.jpg

photo compost toilet inside.jpg

photo mud house nest.jpg

photo labryinth finished.jpg

photo labryinth w sun.jpg

photo door Lovers w Andrea.jpg

photo bonfire.jpg

photo mural from east side w tiny house.jpg

photo 11th prayer station jesus and MM w candel.jpg

photo barn worship lights.jpg

photo dream guest house door from tree.jpg

photo barn both sides.jpg

photo walt w God glasses.jpg

photo God glasses Bonnie.jpg

photo mother mary statue.jpg

photo green hills w sheep.jpg

photo giant rod puppet.jpg

photo giant rob puppet at march newspaper.jpg

photo goddess of mercy prayer station.jpg

photo prayer station close up wood wide web.jpg

photo love your enemy way from a distance.jpg

photo prayer station w wailing wall.jpg

photo prayer station goddess of mercy.jpg

photo angel paper.jpg

photo vegetale garden just planeted.jpg

photo barn front with goat.jpg

flier ecsg cropped final.png

photo prayer station julian of norwich.jpg

I thank the countless volunteers, friends, family, and WWOOFers—for all of you who have loved me and our church into what is now our shared vision. We are called to do creative work, also known as God’s work.

Church for Our Common Home is a church dedicated to Mother Earth, the Divine Feminine, the arts, and loving community. Our place of worship is the Earth itself—with, in, and for God and the natural world.

Our vision is made manifest in:

The Our Lady of Guadalupe Barn Mural
The Living Rosary
The Interfaith Secret Prayer Garden, with 12 prayer stations on 12 trees
- Special thanks to Nancy Mahoney for painting St. Brigid, the first of the triptych of three prayer altars honoring Brigid the Triple Goddess of pre-Christianity, Hildegard of Bingen, and Julian of Norwich, and for all her support of our church
An Eco-Build Compost Toilet (led by Erin Shepard, Antigone, and many participants in our eco-build workshops)
The Dream Incubation Guest House, with its “Lovers” Tarot Card door
The Snake Labyrinth (created by Kathy Ruyts)
The Wailing Wall

We especially thank:

Andrea, a gifted artist and WWOOFer, who completed the Dream Incubation Guest House door, painting her dog/wolf Zeus howling at the moon, and contributing much more
Katie Rutherford, my talented stepdaughter, who first began painting The Lovers card on the door—thank you, Katie!
Erin, a talented artist, who encouraged me to paint the rainbow scalloped patterns from my childhood vision of the sky opening—thank you, Erin, for painting with me and for your steadfast support!
Adrianne Jung, who collaborates with me on Photoshop images and helps with all things technical
Hilda, a gifted artist, who led the work on the peacock and roses
Our many visitors from China, who have shared their creativity and spirit

To everyone who has contributed: THANK YOU for our shared vision of Peace, Justice, Beauty, and Love on Earth.

We also give thanks to the animals and angels in the barn, barnyard, Interfaith Secret Prayer Garden, and throughout our common home, Mother Earth. You are our teachers and constant companions.

(Photos below are from the archives.)

2018 Rise for Climate March

2018 May Karaoke Party

DSCN2399[1].jpg

DSCN2400[1].jpg

DSCN2401[1].jpg

DSCN2402[1].jpg

Snapshot 11.jpg

Snapshot 12.jpg

Event on Earth Day Weekend

April 22, 2018

photo debus.jpg

photo debus1.jpg

photo debus2.jpg

photo debus3.jpg

photo debus4.jpg

photo debus5.jpg

photo debus6.jpg

photo debus7.jpg

photo debus8.jpg

photo debus9.jpg

photo debus10.jpg

photo debus11.jpg

photo debus12.jpg

photo debus14.jpg

photo debus15.jpg

photo debus16.jpg

photo debus17.jpg

photo debus18.jpg

photo debus19.jpg

photo debus20.jpg

photo debus21.jpg

photo debus22.jpg

photo debus23.jpg

photo debus24.jpg

photo debus25.jpg

photo debus26.jpg

photo debus27.jpg

photo debus28.jpg

photo debus29.jpg

photo debus30.jpg

photo debus31.jpg

photo debus32.jpg

photo debus33.jpg

photo debus34.jpg

photo debus35.jpg

photo ram cobb.jpg

Pando Populus

Otay Mesa Detention Center

Rev Bonnie Tarwater and Dr. Walt Rutherford with Church for Our Common Home in solidarity with children and families at Otay Mesa Detention Center.

David Maung02.jpg

David Maung03.jpg

David Maung01.jpg

photo+otay+mesa+1.jpg

photo+otay+mesa+4.jpg

Salvation Mountain and Slab City

IMG_20180630_111849 (2).jpg

Dan's Housewarming

August 12, 2018

Dan’s Housewarming, birthdays, and Sunday services.

2018 Strawbale House

Vegetable Garden

vegetable garden.jpg

32 faith leaders arrested at border

Faith at the border

At Border Field State Park on Monday, more than 300 faith and community leaders took part in a protest against the treatment of the migrants in Tijuana, Mexico.

Photos from the the San Diego Union Tribune.

Photographer: Nelvin C. Cepeda

2019 General Assembly Worship and Procession of Species

GA in Spokane Washington with UU Ministry for Earth in Earth Worship service and Procession of Species (June 20, 2019) Pictures by James Long and Amelia Diehl.

001 DSCN3170.jpg

002 DSCN3172.jpg

003 DSCN3173.jpg

004 DSCN3176.jpg

005 DSCN3177.jpg

006 DSCN3181.jpg

007 DSCN3183(1).jpg

008 DSCN3183.jpg

009 IMG_20190620_143826.jpg

009A IMG_20190620_143619.jpg

009B IMG_20190620_143629.jpg

01 IMG_20190620_172251.jpg

04 IMG_20190620_172946.jpg

04 IMG_20190620_174527.jpg

05 DSC06044.jpg

06 IMG_20190620_174601.jpg

08 DSC06057.jpg

09 DSC06066.jpg

11 IMG_20190620_175330.jpg

15 IMG_20190620_180207.jpg

16 IMG_20190620_180319.jpg

18 IMG_20190620_181545.jpg

19 IMG_20190620_181631.jpg

20 IMG_20190620_181924.jpg

2019 Earth Day "Soap from Compost" workshop

Photos From Home Page

photo%2Bfront%2Bpage%2Bsd%2Bunion%2Bcivil%2Bdisobedience%2Bdec%2B2018.jpg

Bonnie Tarwater (second to the right), a minister of Church for our Common Home, walks with other religious faith leaders to the border fence at Border Field State Park in San Diego, California on December 10, 2018. Photo by Ariana Drehsler/UPI

Bonnie Tarwater (second to the right), a minister of Church for our Common Home, walks with other religious faith leaders to the border fence at Border Field State Park in San Diego, California on December 10, 2018. Photo by Ariana Drehsler/UPI

Alexis’ Day of the Dead work of food art 2018 all the more fabulous for it was a diabetic dessert for her American adopted Grandfather!

Alexis’ Day of the Dead work of food art 2018 all the more fabulous for it was a diabetic dessert for her American adopted Grandfather!

Dream of the elephants coming to talk to the whales for they are angry the whales have given up and are resigned to mass extinction. Mother Mary caresses Ganeshas trunk.

Dream of the elephants coming to talk to the whales for they are angry the whales have given up and are resigned to mass extinction. Mother Mary caresses Ganeshas trunk.

Mary+Magdalene+painting+(2).jpg

photo+day+of+the+dead+altar+2014.jpg

Please join us for potluck dinners every Sunday after worship at 6 PM and bonfire!

Please join us for potluck dinners every Sunday after worship at 6 PM and bonfire!

Dog Chapel in Meditation Garden for Blessings of the Animals.Mural projects ongoing.

Dog Chapel in Meditation Garden for Blessings of the Animals.Mural projects ongoing.

photo+concentraion+camp.png

Dogs welcome at worship!

Dogs welcome at worship!

prev / next

Back to Church for Our Common Home

2018 Rise for Climate March

2018 May Karaoke Party

Event on Earth Day Weekend

Otay Mesa Detention Center

Salvation Mountain and Slab City

Dan's Housewarming

2018 Strawbale House

Vegetable Garden

32 faith leaders arrested at border

2019 General Assembly Worship and Procession of Species

2019 Earth Day "Soap from Compost" workshop