Featured articles #1, April 2008 Lutheran Woman Today

Faithful earthkeeping is at the heart of who we are and what we do as people of God.

It’s that time of year again when observations of Earth Day garner some headlines or attention by schoolchildren, politicians, celebrities, and even a growing number of churches. I celebrate that, no question about it.

What I celebrate even more is that within our church, many more people and congregations have come to realize that caring for creation — earthkeeping—is an integral part of our religious identity and practice. Faithful earthkeeping flows from who we are, what we do, and how we relate to God, creation, and one another. It should have always been that way, but it’s taken church folk a while to awaken to the Spirit’s urging anew in our lives and times.

In light of climate change alone, I’ve begun describing where we are today as our 21st-century Deuteronomy 30:19 moment. We have set before us — once again —"life and death, blessings and curses" and need now to choose life, in an ecojustice and eco-sustainable way, for us and our descendants to live.

A look back
The concept of an awareness raising Earth Day first arose in the secular community, when a handful of organizers, politicians, and scientists made ecology a well–known word and college campuses sponsored teach-ins across the country on April 22, 1970. Do you recall that first Earth Day 38 years ago? It made a big impression on me. I was in high school, and a group of students came together to plant a tree and pick up litter on the school grounds — small actions easily forgotten as the years went by.

In 1990, as the 20th anniversary of Earth Day approached, there was a resurgence of public attention and awareness of the need to step up actions to protect the environment, though this message was still driven mainly by secular organizations. There had been, to be sure, the stirrings of a religious, theological perspective on environmental problems for some years, but most of us were probably unaware of them. My science background — at the time I worked in a medical field — and my concerns for the future of my children prompted my renewed involvement in environmental concerns.

So it was that I attended a wonderful churchwide conference hosted by Women of the ELCA at Black Mountain, North Carolina, in the fall of 1991. I went there mostly as a grassroots environmental activist who just happened to be a Lutheran. In hindsight, I know that God obviously had other reasons for me to be there.

The title of the conference certainly caught my attention: "Caring for Creation: A Challenge for the Church." "How cool is that?" I remember thinking at the time. With more than 200 participants there, surely the Spirit planted many other seeds during those few days.

There is a theme from the conference that has echoed in my consciousness ever since, and it speaks to us, calls to us, even now. Dr. Calvin B. DeWitt (professor of environmental studies, University of Wisconsin, Madison) had sent us out one morning for an "Environmental Stations of the Cross" walk, to be done in silence and reflection, with a simple instruction and question drawn from Romans 8:19. "For what," DeWitt asked us to consider, "is creation waiting with such eager longing?" He wanted each of us to ponder how God might be calling to us to tend the groaning creation.

Losing environmental stewardship
Throughout the 1990s, I became increasingly involved in synodical and statewide ecumenical efforts to awaken the people of God to care for creation. Those years were a time of rich learning, formation, and preparation in discerning my call to ministry. Along the way, I stopped using the term environmental stewardship in favor of earthkeeping. Why? Because I think one of the deepest reasons why humankind does not care for Earth that sustains us is that too many people do not know or feel their inherent biological, ecological connection to the rest of the natural world. Referring to what we should care for as simply "the environment" fosters the sense that it’s something "out there" and separate from us. Throw in ignorance, apathy, arrogance, and greed in our interactions with Earth, and you see where it’s taken us.

Earthkeeping, on the other hand, is drawn from Genesis 2:15, where God places Adam (humankind) in the garden to "tend and keep it." Earthkeeping, then, denotes a more intimate caring and keeping, modeled upon how God cares for and keeps us. We are, after all, made in the image of God.

Earthkeeping becomes a rich concept that encompasses all the ways we relate to God, one another, and creation: in terms of theology, spirituality, practical actions, and advocacy, and even liturgically, as we join our voices to the hymn of all creation.

Dominion becomes rightly understood to be not about domination, but to be at its heart a sacred trust and responsibility, exercised in humility and joy, with compassion and justice for others and for the generations that follow us.

And our Risen Christ’s reconciliation of all things becomes for us, as "ambassadors of reconciliation" (2 Corinthians 5:18–20), an urgent call in our day and time to be about the restoration of right relationships between all of humankind and all of creation. All is connected by and in Christ, in whom "all things hold together" (Colossians 1:17) in "a matrix of grace" (as the late theologian Joseph Sittler described it).

Answering God’s call
How exciting and hopeful it is that there are now so many ways to be a part of a rising tide of efforts in earthkeeping, eco–sustainability, eco–justice, and advocacy. There are green congregations and even green synods. There is a renewed effort to establish a Lutheran Earthkeeping Network of the Synods (LENS). Women of the ELCA has also played a prominent role in raising awareness and calling for action on such matters as water issues, fair trade coffee, sugar, and chocolate, and eco–sustainable palms for use on Palm Sunday.

Where to begin? It often depends on whether you have a small, interested group within your congregation, or you are struggling as one lonely, impassioned individual who knows the Spirit is urging you to do something. You might check with your synod or consult the resources below for help. Wherever you and your congregation are on the spectrum of earthkeeping awareness and activities, there are things you can do to learn, grow, and take action.

Be open to God’s voice — in your prayers, in your walks in nature, or in your Bible study —and you will discover how your gifts and energy are needed at this time, to help mend creation.

On this journey together
Who would have guessed, back at that conference in 1991, that the environmental activist who happened to be a Lutheran would have traveled a full circle some 14 years later? On the day in May 2005 when I was to be consecrated as a diaconal minister specializing in earthkeeping, I spent my morning giving a presentation to a group of environmental activists. But I was there as a Lutheran minister, to talk about the role of the faith community in environmental issues. God’s call to journey always contains surprises, challenges, and blessings.

I was further blessed in the opportunity to write a small group study guide, Awakening to God’s Call to Earthkeeping, for the ELCA in 2006. It is designed to lead participants on a shared journey of better understanding our place in creation and in exploring scriptural texts that can help inform our role as earthkeepers. It invites reflection on how we experience God’s presence through the natural world, as well as through Scripture and the sacraments.

The last session in that guide is titled "Creation Waits with Eager Longing!" and serves as an opportunity to discern together where God is calling you and your congregation. I humbly offer it as one tool on the road to more faithful earthkeeping, wherever you are on that journey.

My sisters in Christ, we have the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of so many visionary women who have raised awareness and led efforts to care for God’s creation, both within and outside of the church.

As women, I think we share special gifts for caring and for compassionately nurturing relationships, for standing prophetically with others, and in calling for justice for women and children who are oppressed. We can offer our voices, hands, and hearts for endangered creatures and all creation, as well. As women, I think our role and possibilities for helping to heal the world cannot be overstated. Coming together, what can’t we do?

Enlightened by the Spirit, we can hear and respond to creation’s cries, as it waits with such eager longing for the revealing of the children of God. Empowered by the Spirit, we can bear witness to God’s hope and unconditional love for the whole world. And, as ambassadors of Christ’s compassion, justice, and reconciliation, we can participate in the restoration of right relationships — for all creation.

Kim Winchell is a diaconal minister for Earthkeeping Education and Advocacy Ministries, North/West Lower Michigan Synod.

Helpful Resources for Earthkeeping

Human Resources
Mary Minette, director, ELCA Environmental Education & Advocacy
Mary.Minette@elca.org

Kim Winchell, diaconal minister, Earthkeeping Education & Advocacy Ministries, ELCA North/West Lower Michigan Synod
kwinchelldm@aol.com

Awakening to God’s Call to Earthkeeping
Four-part small group study guide; $5
www.augsburgfortress.org

National Council of Churches Eco-Justice Programs:
Earth Day materials, plus "Opening the Letter: A Congregational Guide to God’s Earth Is Sacred" and "Mindful Living: Human Health, Pollution, and Toxics"
www.nccecojustice.org

Four Sundays of creation -themed liturgical settings (look under "Liturgies – Overview" for American versions) can be found at www.seasonofcreation.com

Earth Ministry, Seattle Greening Congregations Handbook ($30)
www.earthministry.org

Earth & Word: Classic Sermons on Saving the Planet
Edited by David Rhoads, Continuum Publishing, 2007

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