Why I care about climate change
My peace and reconciliation ministry is motivated ultimately by my love of the Creator, my service to Christ and my submission to the Comforter. Yet, I also have familial motivations for the vision, mission and activities to which I’m committed—they are my family, especially my grandchildren. What I’m doing now is a grandfather’s attempt to…
Reflections of creation
God’s creation is now facing unprecedented destruction brought on by human activity. Attentive hunters know this just as well as vegan environmentalists. Caring for the ecosystems that God created doesn’t need to be a divisive or partisan issue. Yet it has come to feel that way. Conversations related to energy have become especially contentious. This…
‘Called to be a church for others’
The August sky was an eerie brownish-orange as the morning news warned Edmontonians not to exert themselves outside. Thick smoke smelling of charred forests blanketed the city, and the air quality was so poor that even healthy young people stayed indoors. On a family vacation, we drove through heavy smoke in southern British Columbia, never…
Pastors prepare to become climate leaders
Hopelessness. Denial. Grief. Guilt. Despair. Pastors face these emotions in their congregations as they walk with people suffering from personal losses. Through a series of retreats funded by the Center for Sustainable Climate Solutions in Harrisonburg, Va., church leaders are beginning to transfer these skills to climate change. The non-profit and its partner, Mennonite Creation…
Rooted and Grounded speakers call for changed worldviews
As the floodwaters of Hurricane Florence crested in South Carolina in late September, three keynote speakers at this year’s Rooted and Grounded conference on land and Christian discipleship at Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS) told participants that shifts in the dominant western belief systems and priorities would be needed for people to live in right…
Readers write: October 22, 2018 issue
Differing responses to Steve Heinrichs’s ‘green gospel’ column Re: “Peter’s Letter to Canadian Christians,” Sept. 24, page 7. I don’t object to anyone taking a passionate stance regarding environmental issues, but please don’t misapply Scripture to support those views. Let’s look at the questions columnist Steve Heinrichs poses: “Is there hope? Can God move us…
Foodgrains Bank brews climate storm on Twitter
The Canadian Foodgrains Bank walks a fine line on climate and walks it well. A recent and rare slip demonstrated the tensions it, like the rest of us, must navigate. The Hill Times, an Ottawa newspaper aimed at political insiders, wanted articles on global food issues. The Foodgrains Bank helped arrange for such articles by…
‘Choose something to do’
“There’s no such thing as a natural disaster,” according to Bruce Guenther. But Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Canada’s disaster response director wasn’t in denial. Guenther was the featured speaker at MCC Saskatchewan’s encounter and annual general meeting, held at Cornerstone Church in Saskatoon on Nov. 4, 2017. “Disasters are caused by people’s vulnerability to disaster,”…
Living with a carbon footprint conundrum
Jane Fonda received lots of criticism last year for travelling to Alberta to criticize future pipeline construction. Media outlets, including the Winnipeg Free Press, noted the apparent inconsistency between her comments about fossil-fuel extraction and how she flew to Alberta, used a helicopter to tour the oilsands, had her voice amplified by a microphone powered…
Eco-mom addresses climate-change naysayers
Christine Penner Polle used to turn off the radio when global warming was discussed. Now the former nurse, writer and self-described “climate-change avoider” volunteers full-time as a climate-change campaigner in the northwestern Ontario town of Red Lake. She and her family maintain ties to Hope Mennonite Church, Winnipeg. Canadian Mennonite: How were you converted? Christine…
