Why Should We Care for Creation?

Portland, so that was 2024, right? That conference.

That was our first, that was our first convening as a network, and we were literally just like, "Is anybody else asking these questions?" And, and what we found, and, you know, maybe you can speak to this for a minute, Amy, in terms of where you're coming from, is if you look, you will find a lot of people engaged in creation care, environmental justice-

Mm-hmm

...

Earth keeping.

But where's the, where's the landing spot? And at CCDA, we'd often found that that was a gap.

We're kind of like, "Where are they?" So we were thinking, let's try to, I guess, let's try to create it, but there are many.

And I think also the piece that has been kinda interesting is w- where, where's the place where we're really integrating CCD and earth care?And it not being siloed.

I think, you know, sometimes we can find ourselves siloed in very important issues, but actual full integration of, of, you know, care for the natural world of, of relationship with the natural world, along with our, with our, our community development work.

So yeah, I'd be curious, Amy, the words ecological discipleship are kinda wordy, but, you know-

[laughs]

... what does that mean to you in terms of, and maybe even as we've talked about it, but yeah, what do, what do you think of when you think of those words and of that, like, what we're trying to do together?

That's a great question.

I resonate with what you said, Stephanie, about integrating the fullness of life.

And so at its simplest form, I think ecological discipleship really is this caring for all of creation, this recognition that we are a piece of this large ecosystem, like a special piece.

But still, what does it look like to engage with nature, with the world around us, to learn and grow in a specific place? Like, when God created us, when God created people, he put us in a very specific place that was equipped for our thriving, and I think that's something that we can lose in our very mobile, uh, way of life.

Something that's interesting in my work, working for refugees and immigrants, World Relief ascribes to the CCD principles.

We listened to the community, and a few years back, we gathered refugees and immigrants in our community and posed this question, which you've referenced too, Stephanie, of like, "What does it look like to thrive, will help you thrive in this space?" And there were varying answers, but one that came up very strong was a desire to connect to the land for their own healing.

So people from all over the world who'd found their- themselves relocated in Western Washington saying, "A piece of our thriving is being connected to the environment around us, being connected to the soil." And I think that's something that's really beautiful, and I've been learning more, like, what does that look like as a piece of human thriving? And I'd be curious to hear from you, Stephanie, like, what are some ways, maybe the same question of what is ecological discipleship to you, and then what are some ways that you see that engaging in this space is leading to thriving for you or your community?