Page 13 - Presbyterian Connection

Connection
JUSTICE
What Kind of World Do We Live In?
presbyterian.ca
WINTER 2021
PRESBYTERIAN
13
By the Rev. Meg Patterson,
St. Stephen’s Presbyterian Church in Ottawa, Ont.
Before I was a minister in The Pres- byterian Church in Canada, I worked as a mechanical engineer, special- izing in energy efficient building de- sign. I entered that field in my 20s because I wanted to help others treat our planet a little more kindly through my work as an engineer.
My 13-year history of working in sustainable design came with me as I transitioned to professional ministry and took my first call at St. Stephen’s Presbyterian Church in Ottawa, Ont. One of the first things I encountered was the complexities of making en- vironmental changes at a church. Significant change often involves significant capital investment and/or volunteer investment. Often we have to critically look at the way things have “always been done” and ask if there is a more sustainable way to approach the task. Many times, the changes we could implement feel small. There are times when I have wondered if these little changes we are making have any meaningful im- pact. Is this what God had in mind when he made us stewards over the ear th?
So, I was delighted when, in Spring 2020, it was announced that our next synod conference would be entitled “Climate Change: What Can I Do? Christian Caring for Creation.” When the conference got delayed for a year, it gave me the chance to get involved in organizing the climate panel and
in hosting the event. Our keynote speaker was Dr. Norman Wirzba, Professor of Theology at Duke Divin- ity School. Dr. Wirzba has a passion for connecting our faith in God with our view of the created world and how we care for it. He has a gentle and grace-filled way of challenging people’s assumptions about what the world was created to be and how we interact with it. This was evident in all of the sessions I attended.
The online conference consisted of four sessions between 90 minutes and two hours in length. Three of the sessions were led by Dr. Wirzba. The fourth session was a panel discus- sion on climate change moderated by The Honourable Thomas Mulcair and included Dr. Wirzba, Mr. David Heurtel (former Minister for Sustain- able Development, the Environment and the Fight against Climate Change in the provincial government for Que- bec), Dr. Jessica Moerman (Senior Director for Science and Policy at the Evangelical Environmental Net- work), and Dr. Caroline Begg (Faculty Lecturer in the Department of Plant Science at McGill University in Mon- treal). The first two sessions focused on the theology of creation care, transitioning into more practical ap- plications through the panel and the final session on food. Throughout the conference, there were opportunities for delegates to ask questions and share ideas, resulting in a number of practical suggestions for where we could go from here.
As we kicked things off Thursday night, I really appreciated how Dr.
Wirzba started with the question, “What kind of world are we in?” He argued that how we understand the world affects how we view solutions to climate change. For most people in North America, the world is a place of resources, almost like a giant gro- cery store, and we are consumers in it. When we are consumers, success means accumulating as much stuff as possible, and our solutions start with an ethos of possession. Instead, Dr. Wirzba argued that all of creation is an expression of God’s love. How we treat the land, sea, air, animals, plants and fellow humans then be- comes our response to God’s love, manifest in our physical surround- ings. With this perspective, our solu- tions become radically different. Dr. Wirzba pointed to our Indigenous siblings as examples of how this type of thinking can be lived out.
Dr. Wirzba built on this initial the- ology of creation with questions like “What is the point of the world?”, “How is Sabbath-keeping connected to climate change?” and “How can
faith communities lead the way in advocating for a better food sys- tem?” I think my favourite line of the conference came in the final session on food when Dr. Wirzba said, “Food is God’s love made delicious.” Both on Friday night during the panel and on Saturday morning, we spoke a lot about how agriculture impacts climate change, both positively and negatively. Many of the practical sug- gestions that came out of the confer- ence were rooted in food choices and advocacy.
Sometimes the climate crisis can feel too big for any one individual or church to do anything meaningful about it. And to some extent that is true: the climate crisis has a global impact, and any solutions to limit the devastating effects of pollution and global warming need to be imple- mented at a country or global level. It is also true that we live in a democra- cy, and our past shows that when the will of the people is strong enough, it is possible to demand meaningful change through our elected officials. As such, one of the most impactful things we can do as Christians is provide opportunities for education about the realities of the climate cri-
(Clockwise from top left) Dr. Norman Wirzba, the Honourable Thomas Mulcair, Mr. David Hurtel, Dr. Caroline Begg, Dr. Jessica Moerman.
Dr. Norman Wirzba, Professor of Theology at Duke Divinity School.
sis and advocate for real, meaningful change at all levels of government. In the past, churches have been on the front lines for health care, school- ing, and providing food and care for vulnerable people. If we put our col- lective energy behind fighting for en- vironmental protection, just imagine what we could do!
A playback of the full conference is available on YouTube.
Please visit presbyterian.ca/ qeosynod/synod2021.html for the link or email qeosynod.pcc@gmail. com for more information.