Prayers of gratitude and intercession

Our previous stories from the global survey shows that 1) Mennonite-Anabaptist congregations around the world are being impacted by environmental issues such as climate change in diverse ways, 2) are feeling anxious and sad due to those impacts, and 3) are talking some about creation care in their churches.  

But how exactly are churches feeling called to respond to issues of creation care, including climate change?  

To find out how churches are responding, the task force asked two sets of questions: one “closed-ended” giving a list of possible responses to creation in general, and the other “open-ended” asking to identify any responses their church has had to climate change specifically.  

These results help us to understand how churches might best inspire church members in creation care work. 

Churches commonly engage creation care through teaching, reflection and worship 

“Church youth usually take advantage of evangelism sessions to make people aware about the consequences of climate change and how to stop its effects.”

—Thioro Bananzoro, Église Évangélique Mennonite du Burkina Faso 

When responding to creation care needs, churches naturally engage through traditional church activities such as sermons, worship, prayer, Bible studies and awareness-raising activities such as workshops. These are spiritual, intellectual, or emotional responses that often do not directly reduce environmental impacts in the same way as other direct actions.  

Sometimes perceived as ‘just talking’, these actions are in fact an important step in “doing” creation care. Churches clearly value these actions, and they should be acknowledged as critical aspects of encouraging church engagement.  

Common actions centre on waste, plants and energy 

“With our limited resources every year at least 150- 200 households are being supported for tree plantation in their yards.”

—Shemlal Hembron, Brethren In Christ Church, Nepal 

Several categories of more “direct” action were commonly reported.  

Many congregations, especially in Latin America, reported actions that addressed the impacts of waste, by having neighbourhood cleanings, promoting recycling, or producing less waste.  

Planting trees or gardens is another common action seen in all areas, and mirrors general worldwide interest in plant- and food-based solutions.  

Reducing energy through increased efficiency, or by solar energy installation, was a common response in North America, but was rarely mentioned in other areas.  

All of these actions represent socially acceptable actions that are relatively easy for church groups to do together, and that have co-benefits (such as better health from cleaner surroundings, or cost savings from reduced energy use). Engaging with these actions are a good way for churches to begin having a positive impact on the environment in their communities. 

Some important actions receive less attention by churches

“Our church has engaged with the topic of creation care through preaching, political activities, membership in organizations that promote awareness for environmental care, ecumenical celebrations such as vespers on creation day.”

— Jürg Bräker, Mennoniten Gemeinde Bern (Alttäufer) (Mennonite church of Bern, old Anabaptist), Switzerland. 

The quote above represents how many congregations are engaged with creation care on several levels, but is unusual in mentioning involvement with political activities. In fact, public actions of advocacy are an area that was consistently low on the list of activities at churches, and the majority of churches involved at this level are in North America and Africa.  

Similarly, few people mentioned changing modes of transportation, and there were very few responses that said they were working directly with changing consumption patterns. All of these represent actions which involve more risk, are more difficult to implement or are not applicable to all contexts (consumption varies tremendously by region, for instance).  

Nevertheless, these are all areas that have high impact for environmental issues, and churches should consider the value of actions in these areas if they wish to have a real impact on how societies address environmental problems. 

As Anabaptists, we’re known for an emphasis on living out our faith.  These results show ways this is happening with creation care, while also pointing where churches can be more involved in tangible actions.  What do churches need to increase their engagement in these actions? 

Next month we’ll look at what resources and learnings churches say they need in order to faithfully care for God’s creation. 

---

Response 

Be inspired by the stories of creative efforts of Anabaptists engaging with creation care.  

• Find global stories of creation care through Mennonite World Conference, including this Young Anabaptist voice from Zimbabwe, and the Meserete Kristos Church efforts at tree planting in Ethiopia.  
• The Mennonite Creation Care Network shares stories of church actions, and developed the excellent creation care curriculum “Every Creature Singing“.  
• The Center for Sustainable Climate Solutions provides resources and stories such as the Shifting Climates podcast. 
• Watch for creation care themes at the upcoming MWC Assembly in Indonesia. 
  

  ---

   

Welcome to a series on environmental problems and the global church. These stories illuminate a) how Anabaptist-Mennonites are affected by environmental degradation, b) what Anabaptist-Mennonites think about environmental issues, c) how Anabaptist-Mennonites are responding. Story #1: How environmental crises impact church communities Story #2: How do environmental problems make people feel? Story #3: How does climate change intersect with other community challenges? Story #4: Are our churches and leaders engaged with creation care? Story #5: How do churches practice creation care? Story #6: What would help churches engage more with creation care?

“In Germany environmental care has been on the public agenda already for a very long time, making it a part of our church’s collective conscience for a while. We are trying different ways to make good on the belief that we are to be God’s stewards of creation.” 

—Dora Schmidt, Mennonitengemeinde Enkenbach Germany

What is the best thing you can do to help with the climate crisis?   

The answer given by Katharine Hayhoe, a noted climate scientist and evangelical Christian, may surprise you: We should talk about climate change more with those around us. A faithful response to creation care starts with talking about it, which then leads to other action.   

Understandably, the natural response is rather to avoid talking about fraught topics like the climate crisis. 

For instance, survey data in the United States shows that although 72% of Americans think global warming is happening, only 35% of Americans talk about it at least occasionally. This is an astonishing disconnect between what we know, and what we talk about, and calls us to be attentive to how much we include climate in our church conversations. 

So do we talk about climate change in our churches?  

Is creation care actually a part of our “collective conscience” as a church, as suggested by this quote from Germany?  

The Creation Care Task Force asked MWC members how often they hear about creation care in their churches and from their leaders. 

1. Most churches have talked about creation care. 

Most respondents heard about creation care at least occasionally or a few times in their church, with a quarter to a third saying they hear about creation care frequently or even weekly.   

Interestingly, there were broad similarities across regions in how often churches are including creation care in their church life, despite churches in different regions facing different challenges in their everyday lives (see “How does climate change intersect with other community challenges?“). 

Although it’s encouraging that most people hear about creation care in the church, the lower number that reported hearing about it frequently points toward a need to make the topic more central in church. In fact, there are some congregations where creation care is never mentioned, and many respondents expressed disappointment and frustration at how infrequently they hear about this topic in their worshipping community. 

“The church itself has done little to address climate change, other than through leadership seeking to raise awareness of the issue.  As in many rural communities, climate change is often dismissed because it seems to represent a threat to the dominant agricultural paradigm currently employed.”

—Roy Kaufman, member of Salem-Zion Mennonite Church, Freeman, South Dakota, USA 

2. Church leadership values creation care. 

Respondents were evenly split on reporting that church leadership is ‘very aware’ (44%) or ‘somewhat aware’ (47%) of the importance of caring for creation; only a small fraction (8%) felt that leadership was ‘not very aware’.  

Broken down between pastors and members, the results showed that both leaders and lay members have similar perceptions that church leaders value care for creation –  at least to some degree.  

With the increasing impact of environmental issues on communities, talking more about it is a critical step toward making creation care a central activity for the church. Normalizing creation care discussions is an important step toward taking action as individuals and communities. 

3. Churches incorporate creation care into teaching and worship in diverse ways. 

In addition to incorporating creation care into sermons, Sunday Schools, Bible studies, and other conventional church activities, survey respondents reported a wide range of creative ways that creation care is a part of their church life.   

For instance, teachings and worship take forms like seminars, public prayers, a climate youth service, children’s stories and a weekly climate challenge.  

Some churches include creation care in ritual, such as holding reflections, participating in Season of Creation, or incorporating it into holidays (such as the North American Thanksgiving holiday).   

Other activities were more outward-facing, such as ecumenical celebrations, interfaith conversations and starting citizen initiatives.  

Still others embedded creation care in church structure, by creating a climate action committee, a creation care ministry team, or a reflection and work group on creation care.   

“Our synod arranges curriculum based on 5 characters: love, truth, justice, peace, and integrity of creation. Those are divided as annual themes. Especially in the year of the integrity of creation, our community programs focus on environmental degradation topic, including the climate change.”

—Moses David Livingstone, GKMI (Gereja Kristen Muria Indonesia) Kudus, Indonesia; also chaplain of Yayasan Bina Pelayanan Masehi (YBPM) Kudus foundation.  

Indonesia 

Creation care is clearly a central theme for some churches such as the Indonesian church quoted above. The diversity of activities reported in the survey likewise illustrate the many ways that churches take creation care seriously in teaching and worship. These church rituals and other activities around creation care are important ways that lead us to further engage the climate crisis as followers of Jesus.  

Join us next month to explore how churches around the world report taking creation care action. 

---

Response/Prayer 

Seek conversation: 

Make a list of five people in your life with whom you have never discussed the climate crisis.

• As you think of each person, what barriers prevent you from discussing the issue?
• What benefits might come from bringing it up?

Pray for opportunities that enable these conversations to happen.  

Affirm creation care leadership: 

Where in your congregation have you seen attention to caring for the earth?

Whether this was the action of a pastor or a pre-school class, thank the people involved.

Can you think of ways the church could take this word or act further? 

---

Welcome to a series on environmental problems and the global church. These stories illuminate a) how Anabaptist-Mennonites are affected by environmental degradation, b) what Anabaptist-Mennonites think about environmental issues, c) how Anabaptist-Mennonites are responding. Story #1: How environmental crises impact church communities Story #2: How do environmental problems make people feel? Story #3: How does climate change intersect with other community challenges? Story #4: Are our churches and leaders engaged with creation care? Story #5: How do churches practice creation care? Story #6: What would help churches engage more with creation care?

“The majority of our members do not have jobs; survival is very difficult.”
Leontina Mahamba, Paroisse Alegria de Malanje, igreja Comunidade Menonita em Angola  

“Mental illness is the major factor keeping the people we encounter homeless. Heat, drought and bad air exacerbate their situation. Food insecurity is another issue we address…. People are forced to choose between rent and food.”  
Duane Ruth Heffelbower, USA 

“Respond to the needs of hunger and economic scarcity; attention to the migrant population; support income generation initiatives; prudence and self-care in the midst of violence and practicing nonviolence; Corruption and socioeconomic inequity; respond in prayer to problems; contribute to peace initiatives.” 
Creation Care Group of the Iglesia Menonita de Teusaquillo, Colombia 

Our churches respond to a wide range of needs, as illustrated by these three survey responses to our question “What other issues (besides climate change and environmental degradation) are a high priority for you as a church in your neighbourhood or community?”  

So why is it important for those committed to creation care to think about other issues? The survey results emphasize why the care for creation cannot be separated from other aspects of community life. 

1. Social problems like poverty and violence are major concerns in areas hit hardest by climate change. 

As we’ve already seen in our previous two stories (see here and here), regions that are less affluent focus on different concerns than more affluent areas of the world.  

Not surprisingly, African and Latin American respondents focus on poverty, employment, food insecurity and violence more than Europe and North America.  

Even more strikingly, respondents who experience multiple indicators of environmental degradation are more than twice as likely to also report effects from multiple social issues (poverty, health, violence, or migration) in their communities.  

These results echo warnings from global organizations such as the World Economic Forum. In their latest report, the World Economic Forum ranked climate and biodiversity loss in the top four global risks, and noted how they worsen global health and social crises.  

Vulnerable communities are hit harder by climate change.  

2. Affluent regions focus on different social issues that also connect closely to climate and environmental justice. 

Several patterns of responses were notably different for the more affluent regions of Europe and North America.  

First, migration was mentioned more often than in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Migration clearly occurs in those regions too. However, respondents from Africa, Latin America and Asia focused more on the root causes of migration.  

Further, the greater focus on migration in Europe and North America was usually in the context of how the church should welcome immigrants, and refugees in particular. Many churches that responded to our survey work with immigration and refugees.  

A second striking result was the focus on identity and intolerance in North America. We used this category for answers indicating that communities struggle with conflicts regarding social identity (e.g., ethnic, racial or religious).  

The high concern for these issues in the USA and Canada in particular likely reflects the heightened awareness of inequalities caused by racial discrimination, yet responses from other regions suggest these issues of identity and intolerance are widespread.  

Migration and racial justice are increasingly identified as important issues related to climate change. Results from the MWC survey show how this connection is relevant to Anabaptist communities with its values of mutual support and peacebuilding.  

3. Churches feel called to respond  

“Currently, with COVID-19 restrictions, we are being forced to notice that the pandemic is affecting people in very unequal ways locally and globally. How does God want us to respond?” (Eleanor Nash, Canada) 

Survey responses clearly reflected that congregations seek to care for their congregants, local communities and global neighbours in diverse ways. They show high concern for the well-being of children and youth, a strong focus on migration, and many expressions of engagement with the struggles of their local and global neighbours.  

In our rapidly changing world of COVID-19, climate change and many other issues, Anabaptist-Mennonite churches are actively grappling with new challenges and opportunities for what it means to follow Jesus.   

Response 

All eyes are on COP26, this year’s seminal international climate meeting which started 31 October and runs through 12 November. Learn why this meeting is important and what to expect here.  

The Creation Care Task Force (CCTF) of MWC joins religious leaders from around the globe who calling for the leaders of nations to respond with urgency, justice and compassion to the climate crisis.  

We acknowledge humanity’s collective failure to care for God’s creation.  

We recognize that a just response should be guided by a recognition that some, especially in the Global North, are disproportionately at the production end of the crisis. Others, especially those in the world who lack power and resources, are disproportionately impacted.  

Everyone can be part of working for change; CCTF invites the global Anabaptist community to join in solidarity, to pray for meaningful action at COP26, and act boldly as followers of Jesus.  

---

Welcome to a series on environmental problems and the global church. These stories illuminate a) how Anabaptist-Mennonites are affected by environmental degradation, b) what Anabaptist-Mennonites think about environmental issues, c) how Anabaptist-Mennonites are responding. Story #1: How environmental crises impact church communities Story #2: How do environmental problems make people feel? Story #3: How does climate change intersect with other community challenges? Story #4: Are our churches and leaders engaged with creation care? Story #5: How do churches practice creation care? Story #6: What would help churches engage more with creation care?