Module 12 - global neighborsPage 1 of 23
an environmental toolkit for churches
Module 12
Global neighbors
Helping churches to think globally and act locally
A Rocha Eco-congregation is an ecumenical program to help churches make the link between environmental issues and their Christian faith and respond in practical action in the church and wider community.
Eco-congregation (USA) is a project of A Rocha USA, a 501(c) organization
A Rocha USA, PO Box 1338, Fredericksburg TX 78624
830.522.5319 / /
Contents
An invitation to change the world…
Memo from the Children of the 22nd Century
The environment is borderless
One World Week
Testimony from Arizona
Christian development agencies
Stories from churches
Fair trade
Listening and responding to God’s word…
Stories from churches…
A Rocha – Caring for God’s creation together
The story of A Rocha
Snapshots from A Rocha groups across the world
Climate Change
Prayers
Prayer for Sustainable Development
Week of Prayer for World Peace
The International Prayer for Peace
About A Rocha Eco-congregation
© A Rocha USA 2012
Feedback on Eco-Congregation (USA) is encouraged.
We have attempted to credit photographs and quotes correctly.
We apologize if we have not given credit appropriately; please write to us to amend any errors.
“It is not too late. God’s worldhas incredible healing powers.Within a single generation, wecould steer the earth towardour children’s future. Let thatgeneration start now, with God’shelp and blessing.”
Joint Statement by Pope John Paul II and Patriarch
Bartholomew I of Constantinople, June 2002
“As we reflect on the signs of the times, we may realize that the edifice of the dominant worldview is beginning to crumble. It is a worldview in which human beings have seen themselves as separated from the rest of God’s creation and free to pursue the dream of unlimited material growth and consumption. In its place, the edifice of a new, alternative vision is beginning to emerge. This edifice of a new global civilization of love is marked by values of solidarity, sustainability, and justice, and a profound respect for life that extends to all of creation.”
A Franciscan Statement on Global Climate Change,
An invitation to change the world…
Memo from the Children of the 22nd Century
To: Churches across North America
Date: The start of the 21st century
Dear Mothers and Fathers,
We write to invite your church to play a role in helping to care for the environment and nurture the well-being of people across the earth. It is now vital to plan and act to ensure that the needs of your generation are met without compromising the ability of our generation to enjoy life in fullness too. Some of your contemporaries say that it can’t be done. We say that it must be done!
Imagine that you are in a large Ark called Planet Earth. Instead of having two of every creature on board, you have the whole created order! Your challenge is to manage the finite stocks and renewable resources so that you and we, and those that will follow us, can have a share. You must also ensure that the rest of creation is respected and not desecrated. We don’t want to be left with your waste in the form of pollution and a ravaged earth. It is a tall order, and one that requires your immediate thought and action, for the well-being of tomorrow’s world is in your hands this day.
On behalf of tomorrow’s children
The environment is borderless
We live in an increasingly global society. A stone cast in a pond in one place can cause ripples in places far and wide. A hiccup in a commodity market can spell hunger for a farmer in a developing nation. An environmental accident in one nation can quickly spread downwind and downstream to other nations. Neither economics nor environmental incidents obey international, political or geographical boundaries.
Here are three examples of that phenomenon:
Pelicans oiled by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill ( - 2010
Fukushima nuclear accident (after the Japanese tsunami; 2011
Acid rain damage: sulfur dioxide from North America affects Europe (
This global linkage applies to our lifestyles. The way that we choose to live can have an impact, for good or for ill, on people in developing nations and the environment across the world, today and for future generations.
This module is designed to help churches and individuals identify those areas where they can make a positive impact on the well-being of the environment and the poorest people in developing nations. It features information about issues and campaigns together with ideas for action.
“Justice and ecology are linked indissolubly”- Archbishop Desmond Tutu
“Environmental degradation makes the life of the poor especially unbearable” – Pope Benedict XVI
One World Week
One World Week (believes that when we understand each other's perspectives, our lives can be transformed and enriched.
“My picture of a green church is a community committed to caring for the earth,
a church co-operating to steward the earth’s resources, Christ’s body collaborating across the globe.”
Revd. Penny Jones, Minister, St John’s Rookhope Anglican/Methodist Church.
One World Week aims to:
- enable groups at local level to work across boundaries such as culture, ethnicity, gender and creed, and to recognize we are part of one world in combating inequality and discrimination.
celebrate the good things about being part of a diverse yet interconnected world
- learn about what’s going on in that world – both on our doorsteps and far away
- take action to change the things that cause injustice, poverty and degradation.
OWW springs into life when thousands of activists in the UK and around the world prepare eight days each October (though OWW encourages events at any time of year) as a focus for celebrating and sharing the richness and diversity of the world we all inhabit. Drawing on the inspiration of an annually changing theme, local committees - that include churches, interfaith and community groups - organize educational and celebratory events, to build understanding and links between people.
The OWW website offers inspiration, ideas, downloadable resources and links to other organizations’ resources on each year's specific theme, to help you plan OWW events, or to incorporate OWW into existing programs and events.
How could your church celebrate and mark OWW?
Testimony from Arizona
The Flagstaff Federated Community Churchtakes part in a lot of globally oriented activities:
- Earth Friendly Coffee Shop. The first Sunday of each month we hold the Coffee Shop in ourfellowship hall, selling shade-grown coffee and other earth-friendly products such as tea, cocoa,nuts, greeting cards, ceramic mugs and canvas tote bags.
- Earth Day Celebration. Christians for the Earth works with the minister and the Worship Team to plan our church’s Earth Day celebration. We have also sponsored the Blessing of the Animals for many years.
- Sustainable Gift Baskets. We make gift baskets for new members joining our congregation, forguest speakers and to acknowledge other special occasions. The gift baskets include EqualExchange coffee, tea or cocoa (along with information explaining these environmentally friendly products), a church coffee mug, a book on the history of Federated, a Christians for the Earth
bookmark and cookies. We believe that the gift baskets are a way of connecting with newmembers and introducing them to sustainable products.
Sherry Golden, Christians for the Earth, Flagstaff Federated Community Church, Flagstaff, Arizona,
Christian development agencies
“Plant With Purpose is a Christian, environmental non-profit organization that transforms lives in rural areas worldwide where poverty is caused by deforestation. Focusing on holistic solutions to poverty, Plant With Purpose has been restoring the lives of the rural poor for over 25 years by planting trees, creating economic opportunity through micro-credit and micro-enterprise, implementing sustainable agriculture programs, and encouraging spiritual renewal…”
“Water Missions International is a non-profit Christian engineering ministry providing sustainable safe water solutions, through a Christian world view perspective, to people in developing countries and disasters. We approach all our work with a sense of urgency and a commitment to excellence. Our faith and our belief in the sanctity of life compel us to develop and implement the best technologies and community development programs so that, through our work, God will be honored and glorified and lives will be transformed for eternity…”
“Oxfam America is an international relief and development organization that creates lasting solutions to poverty, hunger, and injustice. Together with individuals and local groups in more than 90 countries, Oxfam saves lives, helps people overcome poverty, and fights for social justice. We areone of the 17 affiliates in the international confederation Oxfam.
“Opportunity International was one of the first nonprofit organizations to recognize the benefits of providing small business loans as capital to those working their way out of poverty. Today, we offer loans, savings, insurance and training to clients around the globe, and we’re expanding our reach through technological innovations and strategicinitiatives.
“Our vision is a world in which all people have the opportunity to provide for their families and build a fulfilling life.Our missionis to empower people to work their way out of poverty, transforming their lives, their children’s futures and their communities.
“Opportunity International responds to Jesus Christ’s call to love and serve the poor by providing microfinance services, including lending, savings, insurance and transformational training, to people in need. To do this, we build and work through sustainable, local microfinance institutions.
“We believe that as a Christian organization, we are called by Jesus Christ to serve the poor. Just as some Christian organizations are called to provide disaster relief, build houses, or plant churches, Opportunity International has been called to bring hope and justice to the poorest of the poor through microfinance…”
Stories from churches
St John’s Church of Scotland in Hamilton got their Eco-Congregation activities off to a flying start by holding a “Going for Green” week culminating in two special services. The evening service included a musical about rainforest conservation, “The Emerald Crown", presented by St John’s Primary school, which put across a very serious message about the threats to the rainforest in a light-hearted way. The church went on to raise £2234 through their Harvest Appeal and Craft Fair for Plant with Purpose (profiled above), which aims, through loan schemes and education programs, to help tropical subsistence farmers to move away from ‘slash and burn’ agriculture, which destroys the rainforests, towards more sustainable farming practices
Hilary Ash from St David’s United Reformed Church in Eastham, Wirral writes:
In 2003, rather than having a traditional Harvest Supper, we held a Bangladeshi evening. As a church we support Christian Aid’s Commitment for Life Program and Bangladesh is our link country. The organizer approached our local Bangladeshi restaurant, the Spice Garden, for advice on cooking a not-too-spicy but reasonably authentic meal. The owners are not church-linked and did not know about Commitment for Life. However, they rapidly became enthusiastic and provided free of charge a special Bangladeshi chicken curry. A church member who is a caterer made rice, Bengal dahl, riata and poppadums (and a savory mince for those who couldn’t tackle the curry). One of our younger members visited Bangladesh last year with FURY (Fellowship of United Reformed Youth). She presented a Christian Aid video and amplified it with information. We also had a fun quiz, a Traidcraft stall and a display of Bangladeshi wares. We raised £189 for Commitment for Life and had a good social evening.
Margaret Keir from Fairlie Parish Church of Scotland writes:
For Harvest 2002, we arranged with the Minister that the Christian Aid workshop materials “Planting trees, planting life” should be used for the service. It was a fun service in which the children participated fully. The offering was sent to Christian Aid for the Tree of Life Appeal, to help with the planting of saplings “to protect the soil and supply food such as almonds and apricots” in Afghanistan“struggling with the aftermath of war and four years of severe drought.” We have since received an update from Afghanistan expressing their gratitude and indicating how the people “have benefited from seed, water and fertilizers. This is the first year since the drought began that (they) have wheat from the land, as well as water melon, cumin and barley.”
Fair trade
As the 21st century begins, several major Christian development agencies are focusing some of their campaigning work on the issue of trade. The following are some thoughts on trade, drawn from the OWW 2000 Ecumenical Worship Anthology.
People and the Earth are God’s creation and the goods of the Earth are intended for all to share. These are fundamental principles of Christian belief. For a Christian, people are always more important than profit. Rich countries and businesses do not just have rights, but also responsibilities towards people and the environment. Human lives should not be sacrificed on the altar of the new god of free trade. Justice demands that if trade is carried out between two partners who are not equal in power or wealth, every effort must be made to ensure that the trade is fair. “
“Not to enable the poor to share our goods is to steal from them and deprive them of life. The goods we possess are not ours, but theirs.”
St John Chrysostom
Listening and responding to God’s word…
Listen to this, you that trample on the needy and try to destroy the poor of the country. You say to yourselves, “We can hardly wait for the holy days to be over so that we can sell our corn. When will the Sabbath end, so that we can start selling again? Then we can overcharge, use false measures, and tamper with the scales to cheat our customers. We can sell worthless wheat at a high price. We’ll find a poor man who can’t pay his debts, not even the price of a pair of sandals, and we’ll buy him as a slave.” The Lord, the God of Israel, has sworn, “I will never forget their evil deeds.Amos 8:4-7
While it is good to minimize food miles, it is not possible to grow products like tea and coffee in temperate climates. However, workers in the developing nations may not receive a fair wage or have reasonable working conditions. To deal with this justice issue, churches have taken a lead in communities by promoting fairly-traded products and encouraging members of their congregation to buy them.
For more in this area, visit where fair trade suppliers of everything under the sun are listed!
- Ensure that your church purchases fairly-traded tea, coffee and sugar, which are readily available from suppliers like Ten Thousand Villages and many stores.
Shade-grown coffee is grown under the rainforest canopy and so preserves, rather than destroys, this irreplaceable habitat. Research buying this exclusively for your church. Examples are Audubon Coffee ( Sacred Grounds ( and Tonyan Coffee
- Consider running a ‘fair trade’ stall to enable your congregation to readily purchase fairly-traded goods. This could be run after worship services and at other regular events such as a Moms and Babies Group. Ten Thousand Villages is a national leader in this area ( providing delicious food, beautiful clothes and unique crafts that pay a just wage to those who made them.
- Run education programs on things like eating sustainable fish. The plundering of the oceans by factory ships is leading to the starvation and despair of Third World fishermen and their families – and is an irreversible ruining of the sea’s ecology…and our Lord’s creation.
- Educate yourself first - visit and also
- Look out for fish certified by the Marine Stewardship Council,
- A Biblical perspective can be found here on the web site for the Fellowship of Christian Councils and Churches in West Africa: fecciwa.org/uploader/uploads/fecciwaoverfishing.docx.
Stories from churches…
- Our Redeemer Lutheran Church in Scotia, NY, reports: ‘‘During most of Lent, the coffee that was brewed in our coffee pots was distributed by theRogers Family Company, ( a company which pays its coffee farmers a price based on the cost of production plus a reasonable return. In addition, they encourage their farmers to farm sustainably and in concert with the environment.‘ (
- Stockton United Reformed Church, UK has run a Traidcraft stall for over 10 years. Staffed by a willing rota of volunteers, it stocks a supply of ‘core’ goods and also has catalogues available for perusal from which it takes orders. Whilst the stall aimed to break even from the outset, it has generated a profit each year which goes towards social responsibility activities and outreach. It has been remarked that the Traidcraft stall acts as an additional incentive for people to come to worship week-by-week!
- St Mary the Virgin, Easington, Co. Durham, UKhosts a display of fairly-traded (and environmentally-friendly goods) for sale in their local supermarket to raise members’ awareness of their availability.
- Dundee Church of Scotland Presbytery has become a Fairtrade Presbytery. Almost 70% (and rising!) of charges in the presbytery use Fairtrade tea and coffee and a range of Fairtrade produce is available and served at Presbytery meetings and other events. They have also raised awareness of their efforts through the media.
A Rocha – Caring for God’s creation together
The story of A Rocha
A Rocha is an international conservation organization working to show God’s love for all creation. It began life in 1983 when the A Rocha Trust was formed. A Rocha’s first practical project was to establish a Christian field study center in Portugal, which opened in 1986 on the Alvor estuary. In 1994, with the Portuguese project under national management, the UK Trustees decided to respond to requests for help from elsewhere. Now, A Rocha projects have been established in nineteen countries spanning five continents: Europe, North America, South America, Africa and Asia.