Church, Creation, and the Common Good: Guidance in an Age of Climate Crisis
64
Church, Creation, and the Common Good: Guidance in an Age of Climate Crisis
64eBook
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Overview
Engages in how we should now live into this time of climate change crisis
It is hard to be hopeful in the face of climate crisis. The problem is on a scale difficult for us to understand. Actions needed to address the crisis require a radical change in way of life. Does the Church have anything unique to offer? Is there something in our life of community, worship, and prayer that suggests a different way through this time? Church, Creation, and the Common Good is a program resource offering a hopeful answer to these challenges. Through scripture, tradition, and Christian practice, it guides church communities into deeper understanding of their role as the Church in the world and how they might be communities for the common good in this time. This curricular resource is sure to foster rich conversations and provide a path toward love of all creation and our particular places as we face the climate crisis together.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781640651128 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Church Publishing |
| Publication date: | 09/17/2018 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 64 |
| File size: | 118 KB |
About the Author
Ragan Sutterfield is an ordained Episcopal priest serving in his native Arkansas. His writing has appeared in a variety of magazines including The Christian Century, Sojourners, Christianity Today, and Books & Culture. He lives in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Emily Sutterfield is curriculum developer with a background in sustainable development. She worked for many years teaching and developing Heifer International's Global Village and Heifer Village education programs. She has a master's degree from the School for International Training. She lives in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Read an Excerpt
CHAPTER 1
SESSION 1
Ecclesia, Part 1
Objectives
• To gain a clear perspective on what the Church should be
• To reflect on the Church as a Truth-Telling Community
• To explore the Church as an Agent of God's Work
• To deepen our understanding of the Church as a Vision of the Future
Materials
[] Flip chart
[] Markers
[] Pens
[] Images and key words, each cut out separately in advance from magazines and newspapers that remind you of possible ways to define the Church. (You may choose to have magazines, newspapers, and scissors available for participants to find their own as an extended activity.)
[] Blank sheets of paper
[] One copy of Church, Creation, and the Common Good for each participant
Reminders for the Facilitator
• Organize and set up the room with all materials ahead of time.
• Pray for all the participants before each session.
• Keep the conversation flowing, making room for all to share.
• Be open to listening more than sharing.
• Let the process unfold organically for each participant.
Welcome and Opening Prayer (5 minutes)
Welcome to the first session of the class Church, Creation, and the Common Good. Make sure everyone has a seat where they can be seen and heard. Let them know that this will be a time of prayerful discernment together. You are there as a facilitator who is open to learn and grow with them.
During this first class, if there is adequate time, give each participant a chance to introduce themselves. Let them know who you are as well. If it is appropriate, share a bit about why you felt called to lead this class and invite everyone to share why they are interested in the topic.
Explain that during each session, we will open with a time of prayer. Read aloud the following prayer or allow a volunteer to read it aloud for the group.
Keep, O Lord, your household the Church in your steadfast faith and love, that through your grace we may proclaim your truth with boldness, and minister your justice with compassion; for the sake of our Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Session Overview (15 minutes)
Share:
In our first two sessions, we will be exploring what it means to be the Church. We are talking about Church in capital letters — not just about the one particular church we may be part of (though our particular church is a local representation of the Church at large). We sometimes refer to the Christian Church as Ecclesia.
Questions to Ponder:
• Thinking back to the prayer we just read, we are reminded that we are called to be "the Church" in faith and love. What does that mean?
• What is "the Church"?
• How do we define "the Church"?
After a few moments of silence, scatter the cut-out images and words on the floor in the middle of your circle.
• Choose a word or image that speaks to you when thinking of how you define "the Church."
• Have blank paper as well. If you choose, you can draw your own image or write in your own word as well.
Go around the group and have everyone share their images or words with the group. Each participant can briefly explain why they chose their particular word or image. No one needs to share if they are not comfortable.
As specific thoughts are shared, write them on a flip chart.
Focus for the Day (5 minutes)
Thank the group for sharing their thoughts. Explain in your own words that we all have many different ways of understanding the Church and it is indeed many things. The Church is a community, a people, an Agent of God's mission in the world. The Church can mean different things to different people at different seasons of their lives. All of this is important to be aware of and to respect.
The Church can also be very powerful. Therefore, we must continually reflect on what it should be through prayer and humility, and through study and conversation. How can we go deeper together to understand the Church?
To explore the meaning of "Church" more deeply, let us start by going to prayer and scripture. Prayers help us define our theology. Scripture serves as the authoritative guide for our lives. Lex orandi, lex credendi: It is prayer that leads to belief and it is liturgy that leads to theology.
We will use these two sources of prayer and scripture to help us better understand what the Church is supposed to be.
Break into pairs or smaller groups. Each team can have a different prayer and scripture to explore together. The facilitator should float between groups to help them stay on track in their conversations. (See Appendix A, pages 47–50.)
Group Reflection (20 minutes)
Give the small groups plenty of time to discuss their prayers and scriptures. Encourage them to take notes and to be ready to share their key findings with the larger group.
Optional: Each group can come up with one image and word to define the Church together. Based on their particular scriptures or prayers, they can select from the leftover images and words of the first activity.
After time for reflection, gather everyone back together. Give each group time to briefly share their prayers and scriptures, summarizing what they discovered in their exploration of the prayers and scriptures.
Optional: If they choose a word and image, they can share and post these on blank chart paper. Each group can add to the same page, creating one large poster together.
After everyone has had a chance to share, take time to sum up the key points.
Key Points and Next Steps (10 minutes)
From our readings and discussion, we have hopefully deepened our understanding of what the Church is about. Sometimes it is good to clear our perspectives and focus on key points.
Based on our readings, three important points stand out (write each heading on a flip chart sheet to use in later sessions):
1. Truth-Telling Community
God has called the Church to be a community that tells the Truth to each other and to the world. Throughout the week, think of what that means to be a Truth-Telling Community.
2. Agents of God's Work
God has called the Church to be an Agent of God's Work for renewing the world and restoring the common good. Throughout the week, think of what it means to be Agents of God's work.
3. Vision of Hope for the Future
God has called the Church to be a community that lives in the now but is guided by what God is working for in the future. Throughout the week, think of what it means to be a Vision of Hope for the Future.
In preparation for the next session:
• Look around for examples of people or groups that are living into our call to be the Church.
• Where in our community do you see people living into Truth?
• Where in the world do you see groups living as Agents of God's work?
• Where do you see communities living into hopeful visions of how God's Kingdom should be?
These may be examples within or outside of the Church. Come back ready to share what you find; bring images if you choose.
Closing Prayer (5 minutes)
Close with Prayers of the People, Form I found in Appendix B on page 51. Encourage participants to add in their own petitions throughout the prayer. Volunteers can read different sections if you'd like.
CHAPTER 2SESSION 2
Ecclesia, Part 2
Objectives
• To understand practical ways the Church can be a Truth-telling community, an Agent for God's work, and a Vision of the Future
• To reflect on challenges the Church needs to address and to focus more deeply on the issue of climate change
• To deepen our understanding of how the Church can work for the common good in the face of climate change
Materials
[] Flip chart
[] Markers
[] Pens
[] Paper
[] Chart paper with "3 Key Factors of Church" written on it: 1. Truth-Telling Community; 2. Agent of God's Work; 3. Vision of Hope for the Future
[] One copy of Church, Creation, and the Common Good for each participant who did not receive one in the first session
[] Optional: Screen, computer, LCD player, or other connection to show videos
Reminders for the Facilitator
• Organize and set up the room and materials ahead of time.
• Pray for all the participants before each session.
• Keep the conversation flowing, making room for all to share.
• Be open to listening more than sharing.
• Let the process unfold organically for each participant.
Welcome and Opening Prayer (5 minutes)
Welcome the group back to the class. Give everyone time to find a seat. If there is anyone who is new, invite them to introduce themselves.
Give a brief overview of the last session in which we started to explore our role as Ecclesia, the Church. In this session, we are going to go deeper into that understanding of being the Church by looking at specific, real-life examples together.
Begin with an opening prayer. Read this aloud or ask for a volunteer to share it:
Generous Giver, you pour forth your extravagant bounty without measure upon your whole creation. Teach us such generosity, that the fruits of our spirits and the works of our hands may build your commonwealth of blessing. Amen.
Session Overview (15 minutes)
Share:
In our last class, we explored what the Church is supposed to be. Refer to the chart that is posted at the front of the room. Review that we ended the class by focusing on three important aspects of the Church:
1. The Church as a Truth-Telling Community
2. The Church as an Agent for God's Work
3. The Church as a Vision of Hope for the Future
Invite participants to share any observations from the last week of real- life examples for the Church to learn from. Remind them that at the end of the last class you asked for them to look for signs of Truth-Telling Communities, Agents of God's Work, and Visions of Hope for the Future. Take time for all to share with the group; also add your own examples if there is time and if it is needed.
Optional: Some participants may have brought pictures, articles, or other artifacts to share. More time can be devoted to these findings if appropriate.
Thank everyone for sharing. Describe how we are going to continue to look at how the Church can live more fully into these practices to create Communities for the Common Good.
Questions to Ponder:
• When you look at the world today, what are the greatest challenges that we face — for people, the environment, all of creation?
• Where do we see suffering in our local and global communities that may seem overwhelming?
Give a few moments for participants to share some of the big challenges that came to mind for them. Let them briefly share key words or phrases at this time. Note: This is not yet the moment for deep discussion.
Focus for the Day (5 minutes)
Our work as the Church is to be aware of our connections to these challenges and to be prayerfully responsive as well.
Today we are going to pull out one big challenge that may directly or indirectly affect many of the problems that we have shared. We are going to focus on the crisis of climate change. Encourage the group to think back to the list of challenges that they shared (and others as well). How many of those problems can be connected to climate change? Let them think on this but not share aloud.
After a time of reflection, give an example: Many people are without homes today due to major storms, flooding, fires, and other natural disasters. The increasing number and severity of these disasters are directly connected to climate change.
The problem of climate change is unique and complex. Most political, economic, and moral systems are unable to successfully deal with this issue. They tend to either argue about or ignore the problem altogether.
We hope to explore together how the Church can grapple with climate change in a practical and transformative way. We, as the Church, can be bold and hopeful together in the face of climate change.
Group Reflection (20 minutes)
To start this process, we need to look at what climate change is and why it is so problematic.
You have a few options for leading this part of the session:
• You can show a short video (or a long video) to the entire class. (See Appendix E on page 60 for suggestions.) Then you can follow up by reading some specific facts about climate change. (See Appendix D on page 58.)
• Or you can skip the video and just read and discuss the facts in small groups or the large group together.
After the video (if you choose to show it), break the group into three smaller groups. Assign each group an aspect of the Church to focus on as well, referring to the chart that is posted. Give one group "Church as a Truth-Telling Community," one group "Church as an Agent for God's Work," and one group "Church as a Vision of Hope for the Future." Encourage each group to think through their particular focus of the Church in relation to climate change.
Post various questions for them to choose to start out with as a group on the flip chart:
• What concerns about the impacts of climate change do you have personally?
• Which impacts do you feel are greatest?
• Do you believe that climate change is a big problem?
• Why is climate change such a difficult issue to address?
Additional questions to share with the different groups:
• For the "Truth-Telling Community" group:
— How do our fears affect our perception of climate change?
— How does faith change our relationship with fear?
— How does faith change our relationship with Truth?
— When we think of being a Truth-Telling Community with regard to climate change, what thoughts come to mind?
• For the "Agent of God's Work" group:
— If our call as Christians is to care for our neighbors, particularly those who are poor and vulnerable, how do we make sense of this call in an age of climate change?
— How can we nurture for peace and justice for the poor and oppressed in the face of climate change?
• For the "Vision of Hope for the Future" group:
— What are ways we can wake up as a Church to a new vision of hope and action?
— What are the lifestyles and desires we may need to refuse to gratify?
— How do we live into the world as it should be, respecting all of creation?
After the participants have had time to reflect, bring them all back together. Briefly share words or thoughts that popped up during this time.
Our reactions to climate change can be varied. Some of us may feel skepticism, fear, helplessness, and anger about this issue. Some may simply want to avoid it altogether. Climate change is definitely an overwhelming problem.
If there is time, go deeper into why climate change is so difficult to address. Then share the following ideas if they have not already come up:
• It is a unique moral problem. It is hard to assign clear blame of who started it and who needs to fix it.
• It is a multigenerational problem. It started long ago and will affect those more greatly in generations to come.
• It is an entangled problem. We are all connected to it by our daily lives and it is difficult to see how to untangle ourselves.
• It is a confusing scientific problem. There are complex and incomplete scientific explanations that lead to possibilities for confusion and disinformation.
• It is unclear if it is a solvable problem. There is no clear course of action to take; something must be done, but it may require major changes on many levels.
Key Points and Next Steps (10 minutes)
Given the nature of this problem, how can the Church, as a community for the common good, offer hope and boldness?
Explain that the Church has a long tradition of living as a community now in a way that is oriented toward God's Truth and to a future of hope. This is why we say, "Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done."
This was particularly true for the Church in Rome when the apostle Paul wrote to them. They had a sense that God's reign was coming soon and that they should live into that reality rather than just going about their lives as normal.
If there is time, share this passage from Romans. Invite a volunteer to read portions of it as well.
"Make sure that you don't get so absorbed and exhausted in taking care of all your day-by-day obligations that you lose track of the time and doze off, oblivious to God. The night is about over, dawn is about to break. Be up and awake to what God is doing! God is putting the finishing touches on the salvation work he began when we first believed. We can't afford to waste a minute, must not squander these precious daylight hours in frivolity and indulgence, in bickering and grabbing everything in sight. Get out of bed and get dressed! Don't loiter and linger, waiting until the very last minute. Dress yourselves in Christ, and be up and about!" — Romans 13:1–14 from The Message
In preparation for the next session:
During the next week, encourage the group to spend time prayerfully considering these verses in light of their discussions.
• How can the church take tangible steps that lead to healing and hope in the face of climate change?
• Look for ways that climate change is showing up in the world, particularly in places close to home.
• Bring in newspaper articles and stories to share with the group if they'd like.
(Continues…)
Excerpted from "Church, Creation, And The Common Good"
by .
Copyright © 2018 Ragan Sutterfield and Emily Sutterfield.
Excerpted by permission of Church Publishing Incorporated.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
Preface
Introduction
Session 1: Ecclesia, Part 1
Session 2: Ecclesia, Part 2
Session 3: Ecology, Part 1
Session 4: Ecology, Part 2
Session 5: Economy, Part 1
Session 6: Economy, Part 2
Appendix A: Scripture and Prayer
Appendix B: Prayers of the People
Appendix C: Case Studies
Appendix D: Key Facts About Climate Change
Appendix E: Climate Change Resources
What People are Saying About This
"Written from an Episcopal perspective, this curriculum helps facilitators guide a journey for Christian adult learners who seek to understand their faith in relationship to climate change. Heavy on theological foundations, the curriculum also provides concrete examples of how Christians are putting faith in action."
––Shantha Ready Alonso, Executive Director of Creation Justice Ministries
"This timely, essential, and accessible curriculum will enable churches to begin theologically reflective, practically oriented, necessary conversations for our common future."
––Nurya Love Parish, founder of Plainsong Farm and author of Resurrection Matters
"Ragan and Emily Sutterfield have put together an immensely helpful curriculum to help our congregations reflect on who we are and where we live in regards to the multitude of environmental challenges we face, including the changing climate. This book moves us into being a part of the solution and helps us become bearers of hope to this world."
––Bingham Powell, Rector of St. Mary's Episcopal Church in Eugene, Oregon
"This curriculum couldn't be more urgently needed. Accessible and adaptable, sobering and hopeful, the Sutterfields offer scripturally sound, liturgically rooted ways of responding to the profound challenges of climate change, now and in the future."
––Debra Dean Murphy, associate professor of Religious Studies at West Virginia Wesleyan College and serves on the board of The Ekklesia Project