Sustainable Living : Workshop on Churches
On Saturday 22nd November 2014, CEL (or, as it will be renamed in January 2015, Green Christian ) held our Annual Members Meeting, and after official business was over, we were treated to an address by Ian Christie of the Sustainable Living Research Group at the University of Surrey.
Following his thought-provoking words, the meeting broke up into three groups considering recommendations for actions in the three domains of : Church, Community and Campaigning.
Here follows the write-up of the Churches breakout group, helpfully contributed by Simon Court :-
“Sustainable Living : Why we struggle and how we can change”
Notes from the Breakout Group Workshop – Churches responding to the challenge
What are the stories the churches tell? These are stories which help us explore the question of how we draw closer to Christ.
Churches need to move from telling personal stories of redemption to telling the story of our redemption through our belonging to creation. Churches need to provide narratives which resonate with congregations but we recognise that some churches are unlikely to move beyond stories of personal redemption.
It will be powerful if we can gain some agreement about the behaviours which flow from the Church’s relationship with creation. We need to walk the walk as well as talking the talk.
If we can get the narrative right then our discipleship will develop in the context of that story. It is best to demonstrate the Gospel in how we live our lives, and to guard against “nagging” on environmental issues.
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