How Can I Care for Creation?

By Stephanie McDyre Johnson

Be inspired and empowered to make care of God's earth central to your life.

From Earth Day in the 1970s to the present day, the Church has been a moral and ethical voice in encouraging a deep relationship between love of God and love of the earth. As climate change becomes an even more pressing issue and localized environmental injustices increase, the Church stands at the forefront of this conversation. Stephanie Johnson provides readers with tools to be inspired and empowered to make care of God’s earth central to their lives.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Church Publishing
• Release date: Nov 17, 2019
• ISBN: 9781640652095

Stephanie McDyre Johnson

Stephanie McDyre Johnson is the chair of the Episcopal Church’s Advisory Council on the Stewardship of Creation and Environmental Racism. An environmental planner and educator for nearly twenty years prior to her ordination, she is on the Leadership Circle of Blessed Tomorrow, a faith-based ecumenical group working on faith-based responses to climate change in collaboration with Eco America and the Advisory Board of the Center for Earth Ethics at Union Seminary. She is the rector of St. Paul’s Church in Riverside, Connecticut.

Book preview

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Why Go to Church? by C. K. Robertson

How Can Anyone Read the Bible? by L. William Countryman

What Happens when We Die? by Thomas G. Long

What About Sex? by Tobias Stanislas Haller, BSG

What Do We Mean by ‘God’? by Keith Ward

How Can I Care for Creation? by Stephanie McDyre Johnson

How Can I Live Peacefully with Justice? by Mike Angell

Making Money Holy by Demi Prentiss

What Is Evangelism? by Patricia M. Lyons

Who Is My Neighbor? by Samira Izadi Page

The Way of Love: Go

The Way of Love: Turn

The Way of Love: Learn

The Way of Love: Pray

The Way of Love: Worship

The Way of Love: Bless

The Way of Love: Rest

STEPHANIE

MCDYRE JOHNSON

How Can

I Care for

Creation?

img1

Copyright © 2019 Stephanie McDyre Johnson

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher.

Unless otherwise noted, the Scripture quotations contained herein are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Church Publishing

19 East 34th Street

New York, NY 10016

www.churchpublishing.org

Cover design by Jennifer Kopec, 2Pug Design

Typeset by Denise Hoff

A record of this book is available from the Library of Congress.

ISBN-13: 9781640652088 (pbk.)

ISBN-13: 9781640652095 (ebook)

Printed in Canada

To my beloved children, Kyra and Robert,

and to all future generations. I hope you know,

in your hearts, that I tried to make a difference

for your sake, God’s sake, and all of creation.

Contents

Introduction

1   img1   What Does the Bible Say?

2   img1   Our Separation from God, Nature, and Each Other

3   img1   A Short Primer on Eco-Theology

4   img1   The Episcopal Church in Caring for Creation

5   img1   What Can One Person Do?

6   img1   How Can I Green My Congregation?

A Few Final Thoughts

A Mini-Retreat for Eco-Ministry

Notes

Resources for Creation Care

Introduction

I grew up in the Hudson River Valley, in a small farming town about sixty miles north of New York City. When I imagine the Hudson River with its gently sloping hills and meandering riverbed, I feel a deep sense of connectedness to God’s earth. The seasons are vivid in the valley, from brightly colored red and orange leaves in the fall, to the mint green buds in the spring, the flourishing vibrancy of the summer growth, to the starkness of the winter snow against the barren trees.

It is here along the Hudson River where I experience a profound sense that God knows me and I know God. In the midst of creation there is but a small separation between heaven and earth; a thin space where the presence of the Divine is palpable.

This knowledge of God’s presence in nature is one that many people experience. When I lead talks on creation care, I invite people to reflect on where they most deeply experience God. Most often the response is tied to nature—on the top of a mountain, standing at the side of the ocean, in a quiet forest, or even an urban park. Sometimes these experiences of God in nature are memories that include childhood or family gatherings, a powerful reminder of our interdependent relationship with both people and nature.

My memories of the Hudson River Valley cover decades of my life. As a child I recall being on the Hudson Clearwater sloop, an educational experience led by environmental activist and folk musician Pete Seeger. Beginning in the 1960s and continuing until his death in 2014, Seeger was a leading voice in raising awareness of the fragility of the land, water, and air. He engaged people through both his music and environmental educational initiatives. With his vision, Seeger created an experience of sailing on the Clearwater as educators taught both sailors and guests about the ecology and environmental degradation of the river.

Thus my elementary school memories in the 1970s include a field trip on the Clearwater, learning about the pollution coming primarily from upstream factories. I would discover later that the pollution included PCBs, chemicals that were destroying fish, particularly the shad that had been running in the Hudson for centuries. But from that short field trip, I retained a searing memory of a polluted river that was essentially dead. Over the years that educational sail would come back to me as a stark reminder of the ability humans retain to nearly destroy the environment.

When I began a career as an environmental planner and educator, it became clear to me that local environmental issues could often be addressed by engagement with various community stakeholders. For me, that area of focus was the New York City watershed, which included the areas of