Maria Ale Andrade V and Clark Buys began by presenting Tearfund’s Abundant Community Theology (ACT). They talked about cultivating an abundant community mindset over that of a scarcity mindset: this prioritizes relationship over individual identity, a shared home over competitive market, generosity over greed, and better distribution over more production solutions.

Prof. Must Dube followed this presentation with a critical reflection on ACT. She highlighted the importance of contextual theology with concern for the communities included and excluded within our conversation. She raised the need for decolonized theology and mentioned that ‘…a spirit of inclusion does not mean a spirit of equality’. She also emphasised the importance of lament with God and God’s creation for ‘…naming oppression, calling for change and justice for earth’. She ended by reminding us that the good news extends to all creation and underscored the transformative nature of salvation.

Dave Bookless offered an overview of creation care theology trends. He first began by highlighting how early creation care theology existed among Desert Fathers, Coptic Christians, Celtic Christians, and even early evangelicals. He discussed how a great reversal took place when a fear of science, liberal theology and ‘social gospel’ concerns emerged. Integral Mission was rediscovered through the aid of theologians such as René Padilla, Samuel Escobar, and John Stott. Currently, we are witnessing a rise of eco-theologies, including liberation theologies, interfaith theologies and post-colonial and indigenous theologies. Finally, he named a few future trends including:

a) rethinking ‘stewardship’
b) questioning ‘anthropocentrism’
c) cultivating theologies of lament, loss and hope
d) exploring intersectionality of ecotheology among other issues like gender, decolonization, and so on.

A link to the recording of this webinar will be shared in the next Pollinator.

Paper: Abundant Community Theology – Buys & Andrade V. (2023). Abundant Community Theology: A Case Study in Decolonial Theological Research. Christian Relief, Development, and Advocacy 5(1), Summer2023.

Video: Tearfund – Enough for All

You are welcome to the launch of Tearfund’s Abundant Community Theology! Celebrate the culmination of an extensive global theology research project on environmental and economic sustainability, explore transformative ideas proposed in Abundant Community Theology, and hear from global thought leaders about the future of creation care theology in this 90-minute Zoom webinar. You might well spot a familiar face in the speaker line-up!

Date: Wednesday, 27 March 2024

Time: 12:30 – 2:00pm UTC

Are you interested and available? Don’t forget to sign up here.

We bring you news from our friends at Tearfund/Renew Our World! There is an exciting new resource, with our very own Revd Dr Dave Bookless as the lead author.

Note that they are looking for co-publishers in translating and publishing this for wider reach and use!

“We’re launching Making a World of Difference at COP. This is our resource for church leaders, giving a Christian understanding the climate crisis, the nature crisis, and the signs of the times. It’s short and accessible and we hope it helps equip church leaders in many places. The lead author is our Board member Revd Dr Dave Bookless, Director of Theology for A Rocha International and Catalyst for Creation Care for the Lausanne Movement, with contributions from over 20 others from around the world.

‘I love this booklet and warmly commend it for three reasons: first, it is short and very easy to read and get your head around; second, it keeps making you stop and think by asking searching questions again and again (ideal for church and student groups); and third, it combines great biblical teaching (that I wholly agree with!) with lively and inspiring examples from all round the world, to help you not just think again, but choose to go and do likewise.’

Chris Wright, Global Ambassador with the Langham Partnership

It will be available in English, and soon after in Croatian, French, Portuguese (with Brazilian and European versions), Spanish, and Thai, with a few more languages on the way after that. We’re looking for co-publishers interested in translating and publishing Making a World of Difference online, in print, or both, on a non-commercial basis. Please do get in touch if you might be interested. You can contact Ben Niblett at ben.niblett@tearfund.org”

The “Group of Seven” (aka the G-7, the nations representing the world’s largest economies – Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the United States) will be meeting next week in Cornwall, UK. Though this group has no power of its own, discussions and decisions taken can be extremely influential for the rest of the world.

Which is why the recent report from Tearfund, Cleaning Up Their Act?, is both timely and important:

The responses of the G7 nations to Covid-19 will either accelerate the transition towards cleaner, more equitable societies or lock the planet into catastrophic and irreversible climate change.

This report shows that, since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic – and despite collective pledges to ‘build back better’ – G7 nations have been pumping more money into fossil fuels than they have into clean energy.

The report also recommends three commitments that G7 Leaders’ Summit participants can make to get back on track.

Read the full report here.

The annual Justice Conference hosted by Tearfund will be online and worldwide this year on 22 May. It’s going to be 24 hours long, so time zones don’t seem to be a concern. Everyone can participate without losing sleep. (Thank you for that, Tearfund!)

From the conference website:

The Justice Conference is a global movement of Christ-followers passionate about living the message of Jesus and making justice a way of life. Usually, we gather together in person but this year things are a bit different.

Join us for a 24-hour global conference: an opportunity to connect online with people from all over the world to explore the theology of justice and wrestle with the most pressing issues of today.

Across the conference we will dive into the life of Jesus and explore the biblical narrative of restoration as it relates to the work of justice in our society. Drawing upon the distinct and intentional physical movements of Jesus in his ministry, we will explore his pursuit of justice for the most vulnerable and hurting, and challenge one another to consider a deeper imitation of Him. Guided by globally recognised Christian leaders, we will prophetically reimagine the work of the gospel for such a critical time as this.

Among the featured keynote speakers is our own Katharine Hayhoe. Register here (cost is US$25.)

Our desire as a family is to glorify God by caring for his creation in a way that allows us to eat healthily, make a living and bless other people. 

…We set ourselves a simple goal: to grow all our own food and eat healthily. 

As with many others in many different parts of the world, their effort seeks to integrate all of the different parts of God’s creation:

We began with activities such as land preparation, construction of the chicken house, planting trees and digging fishponds. We read many articles and books and visited other people’s farms to learn from them. We looked for market opportunities and started to harvest eggs, vegetables, fish, chicken and rice.

‘Our farm of three hectares is now carefully planned for integrated farming. One third is for rice and the rest is for fish ponds, chickens, ducks, fruit trees, bamboo for construction, corn, beans, herbs, medicinal plants and vegetables. We raise bees in the fruit orchard for organic honey, pest control and pollination. 

‘We use farming practices that work with nature, not against it. We use compost and animal manure to fertilise the land. Pests and diseases are kept under control by insects and birds that are attracted to our farm by the trees, ponds and permanent vegetation.  

In the intervening years, they have influenced their neighbors and the larger Christian community around them. Read more here.

At Tearfund, we want to equip churches to respond biblically and holistically to the Covid-19 crisis. This pandemic is creating many significant challenges for communities and churches around the world, but it is also an opportunity for the church to be a much-needed source of comfort, hope and truth.

Resources are continually being developed, translated and published on Tearfund Learn. This page will be updated regularly.

Materials are available English, Spanish, and Portuguese, with one poster (below) in seven languages from Arabic to Swahili. Also note that there are some resources particularly designed for Holy Week and Easter. So don’t wait to check it out.

Download in Arabic, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, or Swahili