Nothing old fashioned about Earth Day “revival meeting”
WINNIPEG, MB—There is a huge range of perspectives in the church when it comes to issues of climate change and creation care.
Between her personal life and her work as an editor at the faith-based magazine Geez, Melanie Dennis Unrau says she's exposed to that entire range of thinking.
"I think some people would either disregard the need to care for the Earth or make claims that the science behind climate change is junk science—or even [make] arguments that the end is nigh and we don't need to worry about it," she says.
Then there are the groups of Christians she herself tries to emulate that believe caring for the Earth is something God calls everyone to do.
Dennis Unrau was part of a small group earlier this year that met in part to plan a non-violent direct action to raise awareness about a particular issue. The group, which included members from a few Mennonite, Anglican and non-denominational churches in the city, discerned together that they wanted to plan an event to raise awareness about the over-consumptive lifestyle of the average North American.
Energy, oil in particular, represents one of the most important elements of this consumption, according to Kenton Lobe, a member at Charleswood Mennonite Church and International Development Studies instructor at Canadian Mennonite University, who was part of the small group.
Climate change, the consumption of oil, Enbridge's proposed Northern Gateway pipeline and what it might mean for First Nations groups are things that concern Lobe.
"It's wrapped up in all kinds of conflict," he says.
So, Dennis Unrau and Lobe's group decided to plan an event called "Consumption Sabbath" for Sunday, April 22 to coincide with Earth Day 2012. Part street march, part worship service and part old-fashioned revival meeting, the purpose of the group's event was to remind Christians of the need for Sabbath not only for people, but for the Earth as well.
Dennis Unrau says that among the ancient Israelites, the practice of Sabbath was a time for rest and relaxation—a radical acknowledgment of God's blessing on God's people that also gave the land time to recuperate.
Today, many people feel pressured by the pace of life and have forgotten what Sabbath means.
"The way that we continue in consumer culture is to get as much as we possibly can out of nature and the land for ourselves," Dennis Unrau says. "But God requires us to do what's necessary for the land and creation to also have rest and recuperate from the damage that we've done."
Lobe thinks that there is still a lot of consciousness-raising to be done among Christians when it comes to issues of consumption, care for the environment, and climate change.
Danny Blair, associate professor of geography at the University of Winnipeg and climate change expert, agrees with Lobe.
"The number of people aware of climate change and concerned about it is increasing … [but] we're a long ways away from society as a whole taking it seriously," Blair says. "There's so much evidence out there, so much discourse out there for people to see that climate change is real, climate change is serious and climate change is not [simply] going away. It's undeniable."
Lobe says that at the very centre of his concern for climate justice is a concern for his fellow human beings.
"Climate justice as it's articulated by the Mennonite Central Committee and other church arms and agencies talks about those who have had the least impact in creating the problem being on the cutting edge of having to cope with it," he says. "That has to give us pause. … This is about our love for one another."
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