Position Statements on Creation Care
One of the first major steps in motivating a congregation to action is by formally declaring your solidarity with the intended object. In this case our object is God’s creation, and the action is our stewardship of it.
There are a multitude of ways to approach this, and this page is far from an exhaustive listing. However, a couple examples could be: encouraging your congregation to make more energy efficient decisions at home, making more energy efficient decisions at the church itself, or setting up a small group of people who are passionate about the environement and actively seeking God’s will.
Here are some excellent examples:
In keeping with our vision statement to bear the transforming presence of Jesus into the heart of the Ann Arbor area we will grow in our stewardship of the environment, guided by Jesus brand spirituality in our call to work together in community, and our commitment to works of justice and compassion.
Our approach to environmental stewardship will be active: through concrete practices like recycling, energy conservation, and promoting environmental stewardship in our community. Our approach will be contemplative: through fostering an awareness of God’s spirit at work in and through his creation and prayer for wisdom and empowerment to address various global environmental crises. Our approach will be biblical: through study of the Scriptures for understanding our proper relationship to all of creation. Our approach will be communal: through cooperative efforts and mutual encouragement to engage in the love and good works of environmental stewardship.
We will focus on the following areas: implementing principles of environmental stewardship in the use of our facility through recycling and energy conservation; integrating environmental stewardship practices into our ministries; encouraging and equipping each other to develop these practices in our home, school, and work environment; encouraging environmental stewardship locally, nationally, and globally.
-Vineyard Church of Ann Arbor, MI
We of Park Slope United Methodist Church believe that human beings are called by God to the task of stewardship, the taking care of the earth respectfully for its own sake, and so that present and future generations may live on it and enjoy its fruits. The gifts of creation and the responsibility of stewardship were given to all of humanity.
God calls upon the church to participate in the redemption of individuals, all of humanity, and the whole of creation. Therefore, ministries of environmental stewardship and environmental justice are significant in the mission of our congregation. We thus promise to become engaged in or to continue to be engaged in these ministries by following Programs and Practices that are consistent with our mission. These include, among others: (You can click here and scroll down to see their programs and practices)
-Park Slope United Methodist Church
Whatever you choose, I think you’ll notice a couple similarities between the above two that can serve as useful guidelines.
1) Make the statement – what you believe and why you believe it.
2) Expand upon the statement by describing how you will approach it – contemplatively? through specific programs? Both are excellent.
3) How will you physically manifest this belief – what will you actually do about it. This is the last line in the Vineyard statement, and information listed under “Programs” and “Practices” if you click on the Park Slope link.
Finally, if your church has a statement regarding environmental stewardship, send it to me! I’d love to place it here.
Jon
jon.rutz@creationcareforpastors.com