Young Evangelical Christians Desperately Want to Partner with the Church on Climate Change
By Lorna Dueck
One of my tasks in my refocussed life with my husband living with Parkinson’s Disease has been enjoying time on the porch with Vern. We live in a neighborhood of 200 lovely townhouse units, and as neighbors we gathered in spring to clean up the debris of litter that winter had blown about our boulevards and ditches. It was a gift to see care for our world renew the nature around us.
That image of nature’s beauty stayed with me when I had the chance to be surprised by new national survey results telling us young evangelical Christians are insistent that they believe creation care is an essential part of the Gospel, and are eager for their Churches to do more on this issue. However, they are the first to admit that it’s absent from the conversation in their churches.
These results drove Tearfund and A Rocha Canada to begin the mission of connecting churches with the passion of their young people. They believe that by engaging with climate concerns, the church can cultivate new ways to care for the earth as part of our creation mandate, share the gospel, and empower churches to act on this issue, all led by their young people.
Enter: The Creation Collective
So I am delighted that Crossroads is the media partner for this youth led movement that Tearfund and A Rocha have created in designing the Creation Collective to empower churches to engage their young members to care for our earth. The Creation Collective is a network of Canadian churches and Christian organizations with a passion for taking bold action toward the preservation of our planet. I encourage to read through the survey findings, and explore how to implement this in your church.
The survey showed us that 91% of Young Christians believe it is important to ACT NOW, and that is what we are doing.
Tackling the Issue Head-On
Studies show that climate change disproportionately affects the poor and most vulnerable in our world’s developing nations.
“If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honoured, every part rejoices with it.” – 1 Corinthians 12:26
By caring for creation we believe we are caring for the most vulnerable, and if you’ve followed the work of Crossroads Cares, you know there have many times it has headed out to care for people suffering from climate related disasters.
Become Part of this Movement of Churches
You too can join Crossroads in the Creation Collective by taking a pledge to commit to three action items within the first year of joining. But you won’t be doing this alone! The Creation Collective will provide you with resources, ideas, encouragement, and insight into how to get the youth in your church involved and act on your environmental convictions.
Taking Action Now
We now have the facts, a comprehensive study shows that young Christians want the church to take action on climate change now! Crossroads is part of a plan to help mobilize the young Christians in your church community and even your non-believers to show that creation care and the church’s goals do align! This is your chance to act on your convictions, and reach others while you do it!
You can begin now – by joining us on May 27 for the National Litter Pick-Up Day in your city. You will be joining with churches and individuals from across the nation who want to make a difference and declare that God’s creation is good and worthy of our care.
This is Only the Beginning
The National Litter Pick-up is only the beginning of the Creation Collective’s mission. We believe that these survey results are spark needed to create a new movement of Christians who believe that caring for creation is not only a way to care for the earth but also a way to reach others with the gospel.