Stewarding God’s Creation

I have been reminded recently of the opening  words of the ELCA social statement “Caring for Creation: Vision, Hope, and Justice,”  which say:

Christian concern for the environment is shaped by the Word of God spoken in creation, the Love of God hanging on a cross, the Breath of God daily renewing the face of the earth. We of the ELCA are deeply concerned about the environment, locally and globally, as members of this church and as members of society...we know care for the earth to be a profoundly spiritual matter.

We worship a God who is the creator of heaven and earth. This means that as people of faith and followers of Jesus, care for the earth is a spiritual matter. One of the ways we live out our faith and live in relationship with our Creator God is in the way we steward the earth. 

So, what does this mean? First and foremost, it means that I have sinned and fallen short in my care for the earth in ways too numerous to count. Maybe you have, too. I am mindful that there is much that I have done and left undone when it comes to being a good steward of God’s creation. 

Second, it means that the church has something to say to the world about what it means to care for God’s  creation. As people of faith, caring for the earth is something about which we can and should speak out.

Third, understanding that our care for the earth is connected to our lives as   followers of Jesus, we as the faith family of Abiding Presence have the chance to model what it looks like to be good stewards of God’s creation. I hope we can begin to have conversations around what this might mean moving forward. If you would like to be part of the discussion, please let me know.

As we seek to better steward God’s  creation, we are trying a few things this weekend in order to reduce the amount of paper we use in worship. These changes are experiments to see what might work (or not work) as we seek to care for the earth. I welcome your feedback as to how they go.

Here’s what we are trying:

· Having one prayer request sheet in the back of the sanctuary instead of stuffing individual sheets in each bulletin. (Reduction of 150 pieces of paper/weekend)

· Offering a small number of reusable worship outlines at the 8:45 a.m. service instead of printing a worship folder for each  person. (Reduction of 130 pieces of paper/weekend)

· Creating a worship folder for Saturdays that can be used for a few weeks in a row. (Reduction of 500 pieces of paper/month)

I look forward to continuing the  conversation as a faith family about what it means to be good stewards of God’s creation here at Abiding Presence and out in the world.