churches – The Pollinator: Creation Care Network News

LWCCN Quarterly Webinar: Creation Care & Churches

Prarthini Selveindran — Thu, 04 Apr 2024 12:02:30 +0000

Join us for our upcoming conversation on Creation Care & Churches! We are delighted to have Kuki Rokhum—A Rocha International Director of Church Engagement, to share her insight on this, alongside other voices from Peru, the UK, and the Philippines.

This quarterly webinar is part of a series exploring theological and practical aspects of creation care.

Time: 13.00 UTC (14.00 BST) | Date: 23 April 2024

ASA Winter Symposium Jan 28: Scientists and the Church

Ed — Tue, 10 Jan 2023 17:13:33 +0000

Even if you are not a scientist, if you are reading this you probably know several. And you may also know that it is not easy today to be a scientist and a Christian both in the world and sadly in the church as well. The American Scientific Affiliation under new Executive Director Janel Curry* is hosting an online Symposium on 28 January at 1 pm Eastern time (US) 1800 UTC, that is open to anyone and everyone, no matter what country you live in. This program is highly recommended for scientists and those who want to learn more about how to support them and learn from them. Donations are welcome but not necessary to attend.

Here is the program description:

Genetic Engineering. Climate Change. Artificial Intelligence. Vaccines. Any one of these contemporary topics involves science and scientists. Many of these scientists are faithful members of our congregations. How do these church members experience discussions within their faith communities when nonscientists attempt to understand these issues from their faith perspective? And how can churches better engage Christians who are scientists in serving the church?

Click here for more information and to register.

*Dr Curry is a long-time friend of the Creation Care movement; it is good to have someone like her at the helm of an organization like the ASA!

JRI webinar: The Land – Theology and Practice

Ed — Mon, 09 Jan 2023 21:54:53 +0000

The John Ray Initiative in the UK is hosting another in their ongoing series of webinars. This one will be held on 4 February 2 – 5:30 pm UK time. The event features author Norman Wirzba of Duke University and JRI’s own Margot Hudson.

On Saturday 4th February 2023 (2.00pm to 5.30pm) JRI will be holding a joint event with CRES on Zoom. Norman Wirzba is Professor of Theology at the Divinity School, Duke University, USA. He will speak on “Loving the Land that God Loves” looking at the theology of the land. Rev Margot Hodson is Director of Theology and Education for JRI. She will speak on “Stewardship of God’s Land“, considering some of the practical aspects of the ownership of the land by the Church.

Remaining places are open to all. The event is free although donations will of course be welcome. There will be a break mid-way through the programme and opportunities for discussion. To find out more and to book your place please click on the button below. When you register for the event an email is automatically generated, please check your Spam box! The Zoom link will be sent out separately to those registering to attend.

Click here for more information and to register for the webinar.

Eco Church: 3,000 churches – and now international

Ed — Tue, 05 Jan 2021 18:10:00 +0000

Eco Church is a wildly successful program engaging Christians at the congregational level in practical creation care activity. The original UK program, run by A Rocha UK, now has more than 3,000 congregations in England and Wales. New Zealand has just announced their own version of Eco Church – read about it here. Rumors are a similar program will be coming soon to the US and perhaps Canada? (Note: the upcoming conference on 4 Feb that we reported on here will include a session on Eco Church. If this is something you are interested in for your congregation or for your region, that’s a good reason to attend that conference.)

Time to Reboot?

Ed — Mon, 01 Jun 2020 14:25:18 +0000

Rebooting: When a computer or other electronic device has got so messed up that the only solution is to turn the thing off and start over again. That is what corona virus has done to the global economy and to all of our societies.

Tearfund UK has a new campaign to help us do just that: Reboot while we restart:

The coronavirus crisis has changed the way we see the world. It’s reminded us of the fragility of life and exposed deep inequalities in society. As churches and communities adapt to find new ways to be a light in the darkness, many are reimagining what life could be like.
As we respond to the crisis and rebuild economies across the world, we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to build a better reality together, where every person can flourish – along with all of creation.
Tearfund has launched a new campaign and discussion guide to help Christians play their part in bringing about a fairer, more sustainable world. www.tearfund.org/reboot

The UK version of the campaign calls on the UK Prime Minister to take 5 steps to respond & reboot the economy in a way that prioritises the poorest, tackles the climate emergency and creates a better world for everyone. However, Tearfund have also released The World Rebooted, a short paper, discussion guide and video for churches anywhere to use to explore big questions around ‘rebooting’ our world, as well as a blog – Imagining a better world.

For more information or questions contact campaigns@tearfund.org

Project 20.’25: Global Evangelical Clean Energy Initiative

Ed — Sat, 02 Nov 2019 20:04:54 +0000

The World Evangelical Alliance (“WEA”), one of the ‘hosts’ of the Lausanne/WEA Creation Care Network, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Smart Roofs Solar Inc. (“SRS”). The MOU joins together the WEA Creation Care Task Force, the WEA Business Coalition, and the WEA Sustainability Center to work with SRS to support WEA’s Project 20.’25. This project, part of the WEA’s Global Evangelical Clean Energy Initiative, aims to assist 20% of its members to be powered 100% by clean, renewable energy by 2025. SRS enables nonprofit and for profit clients to reduce operating costs while building a sustainable future.

“We are excited to promote creation care by partnering with Smart Roofs Solar to launch a local context-relevant, web-based platform to guide evangelical churches and institutions to adopt clean renewable energy,” says Dr. Chris Elisara, WEA Director, Creation Care Task Force.

“We are honored to collaborate with the WEA to ensure evangelicals receive great guidance and state of the art renewable energy systems at the best possible value,” says SRS CEO, Joe Chenoweth.

The Project 20.’25 online platform helping guide evangelical churches and institutions to adopt clean renewable energy will go live on Oct. 30, 2019 in North America at https://www.weacleanenergyinitiative.org. The platform will guide any church or institution with or without renewable energy expertise or experience to determine what kind of project is possible for the building(s) under consideration; and will identify local contractors, financing options, and provide other assistance to help any WEA member to begin the move to 100% clean energy.

We suspect you don’t have to be a current member to check out the website. Let us know what happens!

Webinar next week: How Churches Can Engage in Creation Care

Ed — Thu, 26 Sep 2019 16:29:39 +0000

Ed Brown and others will be sharing in a webinar on Monday, September 30 on this topic, hosted by the World Evangelical Alliance Sustainability Center. See below for information and to register:

190930_Webinar_Season of Creation_Invitation Download

Season of Creation: Reports from Churches around the world

Ed — Tue, 03 Sep 2019 19:35:29 +0000

We are starting to receive reports from many places of Season of Creation activities and programs happening in local congregations. This is exciting! We will plan to continually update this post with brief notes as we receive them. Please continue to send your reports to creationcare@lausanne.org Pictures are welcome!

Kenya – Nairobi: We thank God that Karen Community Church celebrates care of creation under missions month beginning today. Professor Mbaabu and I come from county in Meru where rivers and streams are drying up. We are pushing the community to become proactive in taking measures that mitigate redemption of water and vegetation on the eastern slopes of mount Kenya. We trust God to stand with us at this critical moment. God bless you and his work.

UK – Bristol: Redland Parish Church is featuring a full, month-long Creationtide program. This is a first for this Anglican church, and the program looks amazing! If you’re in that area, they would love to have you visit. Featured talks and presentations include:

“Is God Green” (various answers throughout the month)
“Urban Trees, Plastic Waste and drinking water fountains”
“Why the Gospel Matters to Tree Frogs”
and many more!

Click here for a look at the program or here for the Creationtide website.