Eco-theological Grounding for EcoMinistry
Stories from our scriptural tradition speak of unity. Our relationship to “the land” (earth) is inseparable from our relationship with God our Creator, with each other and all of Creation, in one single relationship.
This unity requires us to relate to the entire natural world with humility and reverence, with the awareness that we are only a part of all of this life that surrounds us and that, in some mysterious way, we are also encountering God’s presence.
We each bring our individual understandings of the presence of the Divine in the natural world, but the sense of a unity of some sort is shared by most people of faith.
We feel that the mission of the EcoMinistry team should be grounded in belief in the oneness of creation. This suggests that EcoMinistry then also speaks to many social justice issues in which use or misuse of the land (earth and its resources) is a factor.
Scripture speaks to God’s intent that the abundance of the natural world be available for all creatures for sustenance. Scripture also speaks to God’s anger at human abuse or misuse of the land. We agree that these are issues of social justice that speak to current realities as well.
Being grounded in an eco-theological understanding of eco-ministry allows us to see our mission more broadly. We are free to engage in a range of local or global issues that relate to the interconnectedness of “the land”, God’s love and presence, and human actions.
Finally, we acknowledge that we all participate in, and benefit from, a social structure that appears to be at odds with scripture in many ways. As we identify specific contemporary issues, from an eco-theology perspective of unity, we will have a good deal to wrestle with, individually and as a team – and no simple answers. We agree that, in the same way that our scripture and other teachings point out our missteps, they also provide us with guidance and reassurance as we support each other in living into the unity of creation.
We welcome anyone who wants to share in this journey of reflection and challenge.
For more information contact:
Claudia Detwiler at cdetwiler4@icloud.com
New Projects
Political letter writing
We are beginning an earth care political letter-writing event. This is a joint project with East Liberty Presbyterian Church and will be a recurring event. We will send the letter and background material to the congregation one week in advance of each letter writing day. We will then announce the event as well.
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Open in new tab Book Discussion
On Feb 18th we began a book discussion on agriculture, agrarian life and earth care. This is a six-week, alternate Tuesdays, brown bag lunch discussion,. We will be reading Wendell Berry’s Bringing It To the Table: On Farming and Food. Berry focuses on ways to farm that support the health of the soil as well as ways to live in supportive community. We will be exploring the implications of Wendell Berry’s ideas for alternatives to agribusiness and loss of rural communities.
Plastics Are Us: The Eco-Ministry Team Focuses on Plastics
As a team, we have been studying scripture for guidance on living in a caring relationship with all of Creation. This led us to our relationship with plastics. Harmful impacts of our relationship with plastics are present everywhere in Creation- in the waters, land, air and in many forms of life.
Small changes to reduce our use of plastic are a big nuisance. But with lots of small changes, good things happen. Fish and birds don’t die from plastic in the oceans and in our trees, our shared common spaces are not littered with plastic, we reduce climate changing greenhouse gasses, and we can stop using living earth to bury our refuse.
Watch for our “Plastic Facts and Re-Usable Ideas” in the bulletin. Share your success stories in making personal changes. Join us in our own personal efforts to adopt new practices.
“God writes the Gospel, not in the Bible alone, but also on trees, and in the flowers and clouds and stars” Martin Luther (from Awakening to God’s Call to Earthkeeping)
Visit our Eco-Series Education Page.