Creation Care

I am a climate career professional - someone who works on climate advocacy and climate justice as a job, Monday through Friday, 9 to 5. It is my dream job. As part of my job, I work on mobilizing Christians to take faithful action in the public sphere in response to the climate crisis through storytelling, resourcing, opportunities to petition legislators on specific bills, and non-violent direct action. Almost every time I’m invited to speak on climate change, the question of how to stay hopeful emerges.

Christians talk about our calling to be "good stewards of God's creation," but often we don't carry that commitment into the details of political policies. In today's world, there are urgent matters that demand our active stewardship.

Lent comes to us providentially to reawaken us, to shake us from our lethargy.  - Pope Francis 

To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing.  - Martin Luther 

There is a relatively new threat to the health of Americans and Canadians. The flourishing future for all people, which our religious tradition envisions, is threatened by PFAS chemicals, which contaminate our water supplies and exist in various consumer products. Vulnerable and frontline communities, for whom we are particularly called to care, are especially affected. Of the approximately 5000 PFAS chemicals produced, only perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanoic sulfonate (PFOS) have been studied extensively. 

"Don't be discouraged today.  You can leave your 'what-ifs' and 'if-onlys' in the hands of the One who loves you and rules all things." - Paul Tripp

“17.2 million people leaving their homes because of climate disasters is not a change.” This was a sign I saw as I first stepped off the metro in Madrid, Spain in early December. I had just arrived for the COP25 (Conference of the Parties), the global climate negotiations conference hosted by the United Nations. As I walked out of the metro to the conference center, more signs lined the hallway with startling statistics, many of which I had heard before. However, in the week ahead these statistics would become real people with real stories. 

Not too long ago, I was in a Christian Climate Observers Program (CCOP) leadership meeting discussing and making plans for COP25 which concluded last month. During the course of this planning meeting, our team wrestled with the idea of what ‘role’ as well as the scope of engagement our CCOP delegates would have with other civil society groups present at COP25. 

In 2018 National Post columnist Kelly MacPharland wrote an opinion piece criticising Environment Minister Cathernie McKenna and what he called the Liberal party’s “faith in their moral infallibility”. Building on this during the 2019 election campaign, Andrew Scheer took issue with Justin Trudeau’s use of campaign jets and accused him of hypocrisy.

To trust God in the light is nothing, but trust him in the dark, that is faith.  - C.H. Spurgon