Why the Church Cares

What happens to you when you die? No, this question isn’t about your soul. It’s much more literal. What happens to your actual body when you die? This is an often uncomfortable question, only broached upon necessity, for the consideration can be gruesome. Yet for Christians concerned about caring well for the environment, how we choose to have our physical body interred after death is an important decision.

Why should we care? The process of traditional burial is surprising in its toxicity for the environment. Consider the following:

My family and I spent four years as missionaries in Italy, where we met hundreds of people from various countries in Africa and the Middle East who arrived in Europe seeking humanitarian protection. 

“You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name." Exodus 20:7

A United State Indigenous Churches policy was born in 1868 in a time when subjugation was the norm for native people. President Ulysses S. Grant advanced a “Peace Policy” to remove corrupt Indian agents, who supervise reservations, and replace them with Christian missionaries, whom the President deems morally exceptional.

Bartimaeus and Actively Listening to People with Disabilities in Churches

In my previous blog-post, “Embodying Equity,” I asserted that disability is a theological, political, and personal issue, and explained several strategies that believers of varied abilities can use to create access and equity within our churches. Let’s go one step further by examining Jesus’ encounter with Bartimaeus in Mark 10:46-52 as an example of fulsome, embodied equity.

On December 7, Jennifer presented at a World Renew webinar on gender-based violence. What is provided below is an excerpt from her speaking notes. You can see a recording of the webinar here. 

“Throughout most of human history, people have lived as tribal groups in small villages in relatively isolated areas… A radical transformation of all human societies occurred when the European explorers discovered the Western Hemisphere… European languages replaced tribal languages in many lands, first French and then English became the tongue of the civilized world, of diplomacy and trade, and finally of the accepted expressions of civilized values.”  - Vine Deloria Jr.[1]

The story is told of a jungle law that survival is for the fittest. Recently while driving through Queen Elizabeth National Park enroute to the West Nile region in Northern Uganda, I watched how the antelopes and other smaller animals kept their distance away from the thickets, with ears and eyes open all through. If a lion was sensed within its vicinity, they would run for their lives. Unfortunately, the animals who were vulnerable due to sickness, hunger and disability and couldn’t outrun the Lion succumbed to be food for the mighty king of the jungle.

In the days leading up to September 30, 2021, that marked Canada’s first ever National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, many Canadians stood in line as self-employed Indigenous women worked around the clock trying to meet the demands of people of all ethnicities waiting for orange shirts to be made in a size and design of their choosing. Yet, I find myself wondering how all this will play out long-term.

I saw Religious Broadcasters Association’ spokesperson Daniel Darling was fired for his support for vaccinations on a cable news channel. After Darling wrote in USA Today, “we are experiencing a deficit of trust in our institutions.