This Sacred Ground: Stories from Soil and Scripture

Why this Forum?

In this conversation-style presentation the Norquists will explore how Christian faith shapes the way we see and steward the natural world.

On Friday Andrew will discuss his new series of large-scale graphite drawings of ancient trees—works that invite viewers to encounter creation as both fragile and enduring, temporal and transcendent. Ben will provide a critical framework for reflecting on these artworks, raising questions about beauty, place, and the theological significance of the earth.

Together they will invite the audience into an immersive experience and engaging dialogue about how art can deepen our sense of connection to creation and awaken a richer imagination for land, life, and worship.

On Saturday (seperate ticket) Ben Norquist will draw on themes from his forthcoming book Pilgrimage in Place: Every Somewhere Sacred to invite listeners into a fresh Christian imagination for the physical places where we live, work, and worship. He will explore how American Christians often live “everywhere and nowhere” at once—rootless, disconnected from neighbors, and inattentive to the land itself—and why recovering a biblical vision of place, land, and community is essential to discipleship. Blending theology, history, and vivid examples from across the U.S. and the Holy Land, he will outline how our faith can reshape our understanding of space, property, and community, and offer practical pathways for “pilgrimage in place”—living more deeply, justly, and gratefully right where God has put us.

Speaker Bios

Andrew Gunnar Norquist is a Rhode Island-based artist whose practice blends drawing, sculpture, and installation with a deep sensitivity to place, memory, and meaning. He holds an MFA in Sculpture from the Rhode Island School of Design and a BS in Studio Art from the University of Northwestern, St. Paul. Alongside his studio practice, Andrew has spent nearly two decades working in gallery preparation and exhibition design, experiences that have shaped his eye for detail and his appreciation for the physical and narrative presence of art in space.

Norquist’s recent body of work—detailed graphite drawings of ancient trees—emerges from a long-standing fascination with the spiritual resonance of the natural world. These trees, many of them millennia old, are not simply botanical subjects but living witnesses to history, mystery, and endurance. His renderings invite viewers to contemplate rootedness, time, and the silent stories carried within the gnarled limbs and hollowed trunks. In his work, trees become icons of presence—beings who stand quietly in their place asking us to listen.

This exhibition is a meditation on the sacred dimensions of landscape and the human stories that play out across their surfaces. Norquist’s work sits at the intersection of spirituality, place, and storytelling—each drawing a quiet pilgrimage into the heart of creation. Through the act of seeing and depicting these ancient forms, he offers viewers a visual liturgy: a way of beholding the world with reverence and attention.

Dr. Ben Norquist Ben Norquist is a writer, researcher, and educator whose work explores the sacredness of place at the intersection of land, story, and faith. He is a director at Churches for Middle East Peace and serves on the executive leadership team of Church at the Crossroads. Ben’s doctoral research focused on higher education in active conflict zones, culminating in a qualitative case study of Palestinian universities in Bethlehem. His writing often weaves together personal narrative, settler colonial critique, and theological reflection—most notably in his forthcoming book with InterVarsity Press, Every Somewhere Sacred: Rescuing a Theology of Place in the American Imagination (2026), which examines how American Christians imagine and inhabit the lands around them. A graduate of St. John’s College and Azusa Pacific University, Ben has held appointments and leadership roles at Wheaton College and Bryan College. His essays and commentary have appeared in Christianity Today, The Christian Century, Religion News Service, Sojourners, Christians for Social Action, and Baptist News Global. He lives in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, with his wife and three children.

Host or Publisher The Row House Forum