Seminar to engage congregations in creation care

Caring for God's good creation

May 17, 2016 | Web First
Deborah Froese | Mennonite Church Canada

We’re already implementing creation care practices. Let’s share what we’re doing.

That’s the message behind “Caring for God’s Good Creation,” a seminar to take place on July 10, 2016, following Mennonite Church Canada’s Assembly 2016.

“Caring for God’s Good Creation”  was designed to bring interested groups and individuals together to share best practices. It was organized by the Service, Peace and Justice Committee (SPJ) of Mennonite Church B.C. (MCBC) and Mennonite Creation Care Network (MCCN).

The event will examine the current world circumstances, take seriously the church’s theological commitments to care for creation, and seek ways to encourage and support one another in this ongoing work.

This event begins with several assumptions:

  • God has provided a good creation
  • Climate change is real
  • As followers of Jesus, it is our responsibility to address the injustice of environmental damage and neglect.
  • We wish to take action personally and collectively as God’s people
  • Creation care is already underway, and churches have much to learn from and share with each other.

“We realized that we have done good theological work as a denomination both nationally and in our area churches,” writes Henry Krause in an email interview. Krause is pastor of Langley Mennonite Fellowship and chair of SPJ. He points to statements affirming creation care and the wide array of significant creation care events attended by Willard Metzger, Mennonite Church Canada executive director. Those include the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Durban, South Africa (2011) and a spring 2015 Justice Tour across Canada focusing on the intersection of climate change and the poverty that results.

For the past two years or so, SPJ has sought ways to engage congregations more intentionally with creation care and climate change. “We’ve looked at the idea of finding funding for churches to upgrade their buildings to be more energy efficient,” reports Krause. “We’ve partnered with A Rocha to do workshops at our annual meetings at MCBC and have encouraged churches to take on community gardens and ‘bike to church’ Sunday and celebrate ‘Earth Day’ or ‘Good Seed Day.’”

The SPJ committee wanted to exchange ideas with other congregations on a national basis. Connecting with MCCN to do so was a natural step; Mike Currie, a member of SPJ and an environmental scientist, is also on the board of MCCN.

Planners of “Caring for God’s Good Creation” invite individuals and groups to bring material supporting their ideas and approaches to creation care to share with other attendees. “We will put this information up in the room we are meeting in and take opportunities during the day to talk to each other and share these ideas,” says Krause.

An MCCN creation care curriculum adapted for a Canadian audience, “Every Creature Singing,” will be introduced at the event, with encouragement to share it with congregations across the country.

“Caring for God’s Good Creation” will consist of three sessions. The first will examine the state of the world today, the second will look at practical resources, and the third will use music, video and other artistic expressions to encourage imaginative participation. Presenters will include: Mark Bigland-Pritchard, Joanne Moyer, Christine Penner Polle, Dan Epp-Tiessen, and David Henry.

The event will be held at Wanuskawin Heritage Park, 15 minutes northeast of Saskatoon, Sask. To learn more and register go to: home.mennonitechurch.ca/saskatoon2016/CreationCare

Share this page: Twitter Instagram

Add new comment

Canadian Mennonite invites comments and encourages constructive discussion about our content. Actual full names (first and last) are required. Comments are moderated and may be edited. They will not appear online until approved and will be posted during business hours. Some comments may be reproduced in print.