What if the natural world has more to teach us than we realize?
This fall, Unity Church of Overland Park invites you to explore that question through Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer.
Beginning September 27, Fall Faith 2026 offers an opportunity to read, reflect, and share ideas with others as we explore the relationships between people, plants, nature, and the world around us.
Through stories, science, Indigenous wisdom, and personal reflection, Kimmerer encourages us to look at the natural world with greater attention and wonder. Her work invites us to consider not only what we receive from the Earth, but also what we can give in return.
Whether you join a small group or read the book on your own, we hope you’ll find something in Braiding Sweetgrass that inspires curiosity, reflection, and a deeper sense of connection.
Braiding Sweetgrass brings together Indigenous knowledge and scientific understanding to explore the many ways plants and the natural world can teach us about life, relationships, and responsibility.
As a botanist and a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, Robin Wall Kimmerer draws from both scientific knowledge and Indigenous teachings. Throughout the book, she shares stories of plants, people, and the living world, inviting readers to see nature not simply as something around us, but as a source of wisdom and relationship.
Themes of gratitude, reciprocity, generosity, and connection run throughout the book. Kimmerer asks us to reconsider what it means to receive the gifts of the Earth and how we might respond with care and generosity of our own.
The result is a book that encourages us to slow down, pay attention, and perhaps see the world around us a little differently.
Learn more about Braiding Sweetgrass
Robin Wall Kimmerer is a botanist, author, professor, and enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. She is a SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor of Environmental Biology and the founder and director of the Center for Native Peoples and the Environment.
Her work brings together scientific knowledge and Indigenous ways of knowing, with a particular focus on plants, ecology, restoration, and our relationship with the natural world. She is also the author of Gathering Moss and The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World.
Through her writing and teaching, Kimmerer encourages us to look more closely at the living world and consider what it might teach us about how we live and relate to one another.
Learn more about Robin Wall Kimmerer
Want to get to know the author before you begin reading?
In this video, Kimmerer talks about the wonders of nature, the importance of respecting both Western scientific knowledge and Indigenous knowledge, and what we can learn from the natural world.
Reading a thought-provoking book can be meaningful on its own, but sharing the experience with others can open the door to new perspectives and deeper conversations.
Fall Faith small groups begin September 27. Groups are limited to 10 participants, and there are both in-person and Zoom options available.
2026 Small Groups
Jim Skinner
Sundays at 11:30 a.m.
Fillmore KC Event Space
Jeff Swietzer
Mondays at 6:30 p.m.
Fillmore KC Event Space
Lona Davis
Tuesdays at 3:00 p.m.
7200 W. 127th Street, Apt. 1652, Overland Park, KS
Angella Herrman
Tuesdays at 7:00 p.m.
Fillmore KC Event Space
Sharri Johnson
Wednesdays at 6:00 p.m.
6611 E. 128th Street, Grandview, MO
or via Zoom
AJ Stutzer
Wednesdays at 6:30 p.m.
3131 W. 171st Street, Stilwell, KS
Ready to read, reflect, and share the experience with others?
Copies of Braiding Sweetgrass are available at Unity Church of Overland Park for $15.
Pick up your copy and start reading before the small groups begin on September 27.
A Fall Faith 2026 Study Guide will be available soon to accompany your reading and small group conversations.
The guide will offer additional questions and opportunities for reflection as you explore the themes of Braiding Sweetgrass.
What can a plant teach us about generosity?
What does reciprocity look like in our everyday lives?
How might our relationship with the natural world change when we begin to see ourselves as part of it rather than separate from it?
These are just some of the questions Braiding Sweetgrass invites us to consider.
This fall, come explore these questions with us. Read at your own pace, join a small group, listen to new perspectives, and make space for reflection and discovery.
Fall Faith 2026 begins September 27.
Pick up your book, choose a small group, and join us as we explore Braiding Sweetgrass together.
We look forward to sharing this journey with you.
