Creation Care

Season of Creation Celebration Guide 2023. Each year from September 1 to October 4, the Christian family unites for the worldwide celebration of prayer and action to protect our common home. This year, the theme for the season is "Let Justice and Peace Flow". This guide will help you learn about the season and plan to celebrate it.

Good Faith Media (former EthicsDaily) has a vast collection of articles on creation care, offering theological reflection as well as practical ideas and advise for responsible Christian action. An excellent resource for churches and individuals alike. When using the search tool, put in the key words: creation, creation care, environemnt.

Baptists Together magazine (summer 2018) -- The Baptist Union of Great Britain summer 2018 magazine offers news, interviews, reflections, stories from different churches, ideas for change and a liturgy under the theme "Creator God - Awe and Wonder: Justice and Care".

The Baptist Union of Great Britain (BUGB) Environment Network - ‘BUEN’, meaning good in Spanish - is an initiative that aims to raise awareness and respond to the environmental crisis. BUGB is building a network of environmental partners across their Regional Association life who can journey alongside churches to enable them to declare with God in worship, life, and action that ‘creation is good’ (Gen 1:25).

Scott Higgins, A Beautiful World: Reframing Our Relationship To Creation. -- A short Bible study guide that offers a much needed corrective to layers of theological tradition that disconnect us from God's heart for all he has created. This book can be used (1) as a preaching guide, (2) as a Bible study guide, (3) for personal growth.

Helle Liht, Beyond Instrumentalism and Mere Symbolism: Nature as Sacramental. Journal of European Baptist Studies 20:2 (2020). The aim of this article is to reflect on the possible ways in which theology has contributed to the current ecological crisis and to offer a departure point for a theological shift in the Estonian free church tradition. Drawing insights from Paul S. Fiddes and Paul Tillich, it analyses three approaches towards creation: instrumental, symbolic and sacramental. It will be shown that the instrumental view, developed as a result of Enlightenment thinking, and the symbolic use of creation, asserting the arbitrary split between material and spiritual, represent a deficient theology which denies creation’s God-given inherent value and its role in the history of salvation. It proposes that the sacramental view of creation, acknowledging creation as an actual sign of God’s grace, would offer a biblical understanding of creation and help to shape people’s attitudes toward it.

Nigel G. Wright, God and Nature: A Disciple's Perspective. A lecture for the Estonian Council of Churches in Tallinn, Estonia, 11 March 2020.

Eco-Congregation -- Eco-Congregation is an ecumenical programme helping churches make the link between environmental issues and Christian faith, and respond in practical action in the church, in the lives of individuals, and in the local and global community. The programme is operated in several different countries through independent organisations whose web sites can be found on the Eco-Congregation website.

European Christian Environmental Network (ECEN) -- ECEN, working closely with the Conference of European Churches, promotes sharing, cooperation, action and theological reflection across our different countries and traditions in caring for creation. ECEN is encouraging churches to celebrate Creation Time from 1st September to 4th October as a special period in the liturgical calendars. During this time churches are especially encouraged to remember the gift of Creation and our relation to it. Various worship materials from different Christian denominations are also provided on this website.

A Rocha International -- A Rocha International is a Christian organisation engaging communities in nature conservation. Among other things, it provides a forum for understanding the relevance of the Christian faith to environmental issues. It offers a solid list of different resources - videos, books, scientific papers, church resources, etc. Click on the 'menu' and choose 'resources' to access these materials.

Baptist Creation Care Initiative -- A biblically- and science-based forum for a uniquely Baptist voice on the care of God's creation.

Doyle Sager, Church and creation care: we need a theology-before-politics approach -- A short and constructive article published by Baptist News Global to suggest some steps to move towards ecologically responsible churches.