Thought for The Week 21 August 2022
Thought for the week:
This week we reflect on an excerpt from the Moderator’s message on the season of Creation. You can read the whole thing here: https://www.presbyterian.org.nz/moderators-message-season-of-creation-2022
In this Season of Creation, individuals and communities are invited to spring into action through prayer, sustainability projects and advocacy:
Prayer: Host an ecumenical prayer gathering that unites all Christians for the care of our common home.
Sustainability: Lead a clean-up project that helps all of creation thrive.
Advocacy: Raise your voice for climate justice by participating in or leading an ongoing campaign, such as the fossil fuel divestment movement.
As a Church we can engage with the caring for creation actions that our Church at successive assemblies has committed to support including, most recently, Eco Church.
The Season of Creation website is well worth a look.
I was especially touched by a quote on this website from Rev Rachel Mash, Provincial Canon for the Environment in the Anglican Church of Southern Africa:
We are recovering the sense of wonder at how the world was made, and we need to reclaim the theology of why it was made.
We need to listen to creation so that we can move from a theology of plunder back to a theology of wonder.
When the Rev Sikawu Makubalo of Methodist Church from Southern Africa revealed the burning bush logo of the 2022 Season of Creation he said that the bush contrasts the fire of so many unnatural fires that aggravate the climate crisis, with the sign of fire as the light of the Holy Spirit that unites Christians. Rev Sikawu Makubalo asked those in attendance:
“Are we listening? What are we seeing? Are we moved?”
Right Rev Hamish Galloway
Moderator Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand
Categories: Thought for the week