Eco-theology: On Earth as it is in Heaven
Our shared home, planet Earth, is a miracle. I’ve known this intuitively since I was a child growing up under the expansive skies of the Saskatchewan prairies. Stunning sunsets, stars, aurora borealis, long winter nights and long summer days with brilliantly clear skies, thunderstorms rolling in from a distance. All of this was a source…
Lonely without insects
Once upon a time I hitchhiked to a park visitors centre nestled beneath Wyoming’s Grand Tetons. Next to other quotes by famous American wilderness gurus were the words of a far-less recognized teacher of ecological wisdom. “Woe be unto you, who add house to house and field to field until you live alone in the…
Grace, guilt and CO2
1. Grace There is more grace in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide. That does not let anyone off the hook; it promises that we can face the grim fate of the Earth and the compromises of our lives without being utterly overwhelmed. (And it means I can break bread with sisters and brothers who do…
Justice in the name of Jesus
Some Mennonites raise their hands when they sing. Others don’t. Some attend climate rallies and examine decolonization. Others don’t. Some Mennonites hear sermons focused on the Word and personal relationship with Jesus. Others hear sermons that draw on Pete Enns; Mary Oliver, a modern day mystic; or the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. My point,…
Food waste a resource for change
Humanity wastes 931 million tonnes of food each year. This figure—from the 2021 United Nations Environment Programme Food Waste Index Report—is an estimate with an admittedly wide margin of error, but it is probably the best of the wildly varying estimates of food waste in the media. The energy it takes to produce, process, store…
How do churches practise creation care?
A global survey conducted by Mennonite World Conference (MWC) shows that Mennonite-Anabaptist congregations around the world are being impacted by environmental issues such as climate change in diverse ways, are feeling anxious and sad due to those impacts, and are talking about creation care in their churches. To find out how churches are responding, the…
Shekinah Retreat Centre installs electric vehicle charging station
The Shekinah Retreat Centre, located near Waldheim, Sask., is now home to an electric vehicle (EV) charging station. Shekinah, which is one of Mennonite Church Saskatchewan’s camps, had the station added to the grounds this fall. Ron Schellenberg, one of the executive directors of the camp, says it was approached by one of the camp’s…
Warm but not fuzzy in 2050
Climate change has been on the agenda of our global village for a generation. The science, the discourse and the mood have shifted over time. As has reality. What was once a dark cloud in the distance has become an atmospheric river overhead. At this particular moment, with the so-called “last chance” UN climate conference…
Voices Together and creation care
If you are anything like me, you are missing singing hymns as a congregation during this pandemic. Hymns are such a vital part of expressing our faith. We find comfort in the melodies and texts from prophets, mystics, church leaders and hymnists. The formation of a new hymnal shows what we as a church body…
Digging into diet
My family farms, raising plants and animals on a small scale—40 hens, five cows, two sows—both to feed ourselves and as a source of income. So I read with great interest “What would Jesus think about factory farms?” a critique and encouragement to move towards a vegan diet by Sandy and Jason Yuen. I have…
