Celebrating Earth Ministry
by Carla Valentine Pryne

Unbelievably, 10 years have passed [since the birth of Earth Ministry, a Seattle-based Christian environmental ministry (see www.earthministry.org)]. Creation no longer is such a stranger to the language of mainstream denominations and no longer a foreign concept on the agenda of national jurisdictions. People can consult many excellent books on theology and spirituality focused on creation. And, perhaps most important, the themes of ecojustice – the inseparability of the needs of nature and the needs of humans, especially those on the economic margins of the nation and the world – are now more a part of mainstream church work.

In congregations it is no longer considered radical or risky to hold St. Francis Day blessings of animals or Earth Day celebrations. Going further, many congregations have successfully incorporated stewardship of creation dimensions within their mission statements. Others brought "living lightly on the earth" standards to their parish’s land use, waste stream and energy flow. And over and over again, we have seen such inspiration, creativity and continuing vigilance brought to congregations by individuals and committees passionate for the Earth.

All this is good, and to be celebrated. But what also needs to be said is this: The work is often still a struggle and demands a certain vigilance. Keeping this vision before the average congregation has not become any easier over the last decade. And having returned to full-time parish work over the last two years, I have a few observations and some guesses as to why the struggle is still difficult.

A quarrelsome church. A recent news clip noted the upcoming retirement of the Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey. "The Anglican family is a broad but quarrelsome church that ranges from England to Canada, from Australia to Africa," he observed. Quarrelsomeness describes in part the life of most denominations. Church people expend much energy on internal church issues and disagreements and have inevitably less to give for looking beyond the church. This particularly impacts an area such as environment, perceived as large and complex.

Survival and growth. Within the typical congregation – and this was true before the economic downturn of recent months – survival and growth continued to dominate the agenda. For most congregations I know at all well – and none of these are in poor communities – the central efforts of the staff and leadership focus on simply keeping things going and maintaining central programs. Typically, churches are chronically understaffed at a support and administrative level. Contributing to this has also been, in recent years, a smaller number of volunteer hours coming from the congregation than was typical 10 or 20 years ago. Consequently, ministry for creation efforts often seem like an "extra," likely to happen and keep happening only by the extraordinary efforts of individuals. In the current economic climate, with many parishes struggling to meet bare-bones budgets, mere visibility for this work is likely to be a challenge.

Lifestyle change. It’s much easier to identify the need for change than to do it. Parishes find it just as hard as individuals, perhaps harder. Turn down the heat? People complain the church is too cold. Cut down on mailings in order to save paper? You worry that’s the reason for the poor turnout for an event. And it’s just easier to get volunteers to clean up after an event if paper and plastic have been used. Over the past two years, I have cringed in making every one of these decisions myself.

Culture of extravagant consumption. In the 10 years since Earth Ministry’s official birth, the country’s self-image has changed enormously. The current economic downturn comes at the end of a decade of extravagant consumption and the promotion of a self-image with lavishness as the norm. When my older son turned 11, someone asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up. "A millionaire," he replied in a nanosecond. Gee, way to go to embarass your enviro-priest mom!

It’s hard to remember that only 30 or so years ago, mansions were associated with the comedy show "The Beverly Hillbillies." Now, what with humongous SUVs, mansions on postage-stamp lots, homes jammed with electronics that not long ago could have run a small business, the culture of consumerism has become the norm. Although we are capsizing the Earth’s life systems by our very lives, it has become more countercultural than ever to try to live differently.

Nevertheless, to my way of thinking, here precisely is the opportunity and the invitation to the church as a whole, and in particular to efforts such as Earth Ministry. I was speaking the other day to the Ministry Resource Coordinator of the Diocese of Olympia. She makes available hundreds of books, videos and curricula on every aspect of church life and ministry. Without a doubt, she told me, the most popular resources in her collection in recent months pertain to simplifying lifestyle! What an encouragement for this work! It’s as if, choking on our own lifestyle, people are searching for another way. Although we might hope lifestyle and vision might spontaneously change for love of creation, none of us are in fact pure. A shift of this kind is a beginning and a good one.

– Excerpted from "Tenth Anniversary Musings," in A Globe of Witnesses at www.thewitness.org/agw.