| 03 Jun 2009 - 'Care of Creation' workshops in Paraguay will call Anabaptists to action |
|
News Service June 3, 2009 'Care of Creation' workshops in Paraguay will call Anabaptists to action Strasbourg, France – Creation's protests fill our ears. Are we listening? Do we hear God's call to his people to care for God's creation? How can Mennonite and Brethren in Christ churches become people of repentance and transformation, reaching out to halt the damage to creation and to help the people adversely affected by it? An international team has been working for more than six months to plan “Care of Creation” workshops to explore these and other questions during Mennonite World Conference Assembly 15 in Paraguay. The four 75-minutes sessions will be held in the afternoons from Wednesday, July 15 through Saturday, July 18. Workshop goals are to encourage individuals to change behaviours to better care for creation; to propose practical activities by which churches collectively can respond to climate change; and to urge increased engagement in public policy changes in one's own country. Each workshop will build on a specific scriptural passage. The first workshop will begin with biblical imperatives and an overview of scientific understanding on caring for the earth. At the second workshop, representatives of Indigenous people, who have often retained a stronger sense of their place in creation, will tell stories about creation care and environmental change from their perspectives. Norma Kassi from Yukon, Canada, who is unable to be in Paraguay, will present the story, “Creation disrupted,” via sound recording and photos. Day three, under the theme “All creation is groaning,” will include a story from Bangladesh and a period for questions and answers to consider how we can respond. On the final day, participants will look to the future, brain storm to develop strategies to address creation care challenges and celebrate the hope which infuses all of God's creation. Planting a Palosanto tree to mark hope and commitment to the healing of creation will conclude the Care of Creation workshops on Saturday afternoon. Stuart Clark, senior policy advisor at the Canadian Foodgrains Bank, heads the International Planning Committee (IPC) and is a workshop convenor. Clark worked with Mennonite Central Committee in Bangladesh, Vietnam, Nepal and Ethiopia from 1975 to 1989. Clark says the IPC hopes to videotape the workshops and to prepare a 60-minute video in English, Spanish, French and German to be posted on YouTube for use by churches around the world. The team is working on having a songwriter present to compose a song, with each workshop generating text for one verse, and that workshop participants will compose a prayer to be shared at Assembly Gathered. Wilma Bailey will speak briefly on “Caring for God's creation” at the Wednesday evening assembly worship service. The IPC also plans to prepare a “vision paper” to present to the General Council early in the council's meetings and to pose specific questions for discussion by continental caucuses. The team hopes to incorporate responses into an Assembly 15 Care of Creation statement and to work with the Faith and Life Commission on developing an ongoing mechanism to promote the healing of creation. IPC members, in addition to Clark, who will also be workshop conveners include: Melani Susanti from Indonesia who served as an MWC intern with MCC in New York and is a delegate to the Global Youth Summit in Paraguay; Norman Meade, a member of the Manigotagan Metis community in Manitoba, Canada, who works with MCC Manitoba's Aboriginal Neighbours Program and is a delegate to the Indigenous Gathering in Paraguay; Susan Wenger, assistant to the MCC executive director in Akron, Pennsylvania (USA); Luke Gascho, executive director of Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center of Goshen College (Both Wenger and Gascho are members of the Mennonite Creation Care Task Force in the US.); Wilfried Giesbrecht, a Mennonite born and raised in Paraguay who is director of the Foundation for Sustainable Development of the South American Chaco; Mokhlesur Rahman, Agriculture director of MCC’s program in Bangladesh, who daily confronts the link between climate/weather and hunger; and Wilma Bailey, associate professor at the Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. who is committed to caring for God's creation in her professional and personal life. Workshops, which can accommodate 120 participants, will be held at the Catholic High School, a five-minute walk from the main Assembly Gathered site. There will be simultaneous translation from English, the workshop language, to Spanish, with consecutive translation for Spanish to English. IPC members who speak Spanish, German and French will be available for interaction at the Care of Creation table in the Global Church Village. Clark sees this workshop as an opportunity to begin discussion on how Anabaptists can respond as individuals, as congregations and at national and international levels. He wonders: “Can Anabaptists be the 'leaven' for a Christian response to the ecological challenge just as Christian Peacemaker Teams grew out of discussions instigated by Ron Sider at the Strasbourg, France Mennonite World Conference assembly in 1984? “The members of the IPC believe that this is a kairos moment for the world conference. Humanity faces the test of finding our just place in God’s creation. Can we hear a particular call to Anabaptist churches around the world to work to heal God’s broken creation by our individual actions and our ability to work together as the body of Christ?” asks Clark. For more information contact Stuart Clark: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or call (204) 296-5079. - Ferne Burkhardt MWC News Editor _____ Photo available on request : Care of Creation International Planning Committee (clockwise from top left – Melani Susanti (Indonesia), Luke Gascho (USA), Mokhlesur Rahman (Bangladesh), Wilma Bailey (USA), Wilfried Giesbrecht (Paraguay), Stuart Clark (Canada) – not shown Susan Wenger (USA) and Norman Meade (Canada)) *** Mennonite World Conference is a communion (Koinonia) of Anabaptist-related churches linked to one another in a worldwide community of faith for fellowship, worship, service, and witness. |
