Exploring God’s invitation to care for His Creation

Exploring God’s invitation to care for His Creation

Join me for a one-day workshop on Saturday, 30 October  2021. A mixture of experiential and creative activities (indoor and outdoor) with biblical reflection.

While removing invasive grasses in some bushland near our Crafers home, I had a Damascus experience. God was asking me to speak out and act against injustice that has occurred and continues to occur to his creation. I also felt he had entrusted me with a responsibility to pass on this vital message to evangelical Christians. This, I realized, would not be an easy task, as I considered my inadequate understanding for the biblical reasons for creation care. I needed to examine the pillars on which my evangelical faith was based, as well as think through the biblical, moral and ethical reasons as to why Christian’s care for God’s creation.

I returned to Tabor, having already completed a Graduate Diploma in Arts and a Master of Education, to complete a Graduate Diploma in Divinity followed by a Master of Ministry, which focused on ecotheology and the educational use of the Arts. This then led me to move onto a Doctor of Ministry (based at Adelaide College of Divinity) so I could research and develop a workshop template that could be used in churches, Bible colleges and with youth groups. The aim of the workshop is to discover

What features of an experiential workshop are most likely to lead to a transformative wholistic awareness of creation care for Christians to more fully integrate their faith with creation care.

During my studies I came to realize that historically the Church has not been able to loosen itself from Hellenistic beliefs that elevate the spiritual over the physical. These beliefs have become ingrained in much of the Church’s teachings and interpretations of Scripture, resulting in some Christians having a negative attitude towards care for creation. Some instead focus on saving souls, whose future is up in heaven. Others see the environmental crisis as a sign Jesus is returning soon, or they think the Bible doesn’t have much to say on creation care. Then there are those who feel overwhelmed by the doom and gloom stories about the future of this planet which inhibits them from taking any action. These understandings have created attitudes of ambivalence or antagonism towards care for creation amongst some Christians.

I am looking for Christians aged 20-50 years who’d like to explore the biblical reasons for care for creation. Join me for a one-day workshop (details below):