“This is exactly what I needed to hear,” remarked one participant during the Creation Spirituality session at Faith. On Earth, held in Bellingen in September. Faith. On Earth was a weekend gathering organised as part of the Uniting Church's Mid North Coast Presbytery Ecoministry. Participants were challenged not to leave creativity to the professionals but to realise that creativity is intrinsic to all living things.
A food
workshop followed with local food from the area, including produce from
the Northbank Community Garden, which participants picked and ate
around a campfire.
The Rev. Dr Jason John, part-time minister of the Bellingen Uniting Church and part-time ecominister in the Mid North Coast Presbytery, said, "Every single thing we eat, we realised, links us to dozens or hundreds of other people: growers, harvesters, transporters, distributors and so on. How does the food we choose to eat, and the way we eat it, reflect our faith?"
After joining the regular Bellingen Ecofaith Community on Sunday, participants explored the new creation story emerging from the study of cosmology and evolution, and what that meant for some of the traditional propositions of their faith.
Dr John said, "The image of God cannot be limited to our species alone: our vocation is neither dominator nor servant, but reverer -- or lover -- of life. We are not the centre of God’s story and all creatures are -- literally -- our neighbour."
With Miriam Pepper from Uniting Earthweb, participants rejoiced in the number of community gardens and other sustainable food projects springing up in churches around the state.
"Everyone came away encouraged in our conviction that our faith should reflect that we live on this earth and that our relationship with creation is interwoven with our relationship with Earth’s Creator."
For more information about the Faith. On Earth weekend, see http://ecofaith.org/mnc/2010weekend/
For more information about Ecofaith, see http://ecofaith.org/mnc/index.html
The Rev. Dr Jason John, part-time minister of the Bellingen Uniting Church and part-time ecominister in the Mid North Coast Presbytery, said, "Every single thing we eat, we realised, links us to dozens or hundreds of other people: growers, harvesters, transporters, distributors and so on. How does the food we choose to eat, and the way we eat it, reflect our faith?"
After joining the regular Bellingen Ecofaith Community on Sunday, participants explored the new creation story emerging from the study of cosmology and evolution, and what that meant for some of the traditional propositions of their faith.
Dr John said, "The image of God cannot be limited to our species alone: our vocation is neither dominator nor servant, but reverer -- or lover -- of life. We are not the centre of God’s story and all creatures are -- literally -- our neighbour."
With Miriam Pepper from Uniting Earthweb, participants rejoiced in the number of community gardens and other sustainable food projects springing up in churches around the state.
"Everyone came away encouraged in our conviction that our faith should reflect that we live on this earth and that our relationship with creation is interwoven with our relationship with Earth’s Creator."
For more information about the Faith. On Earth weekend, see http://ecofaith.org/mnc/2010weekend/
For more information about Ecofaith, see http://ecofaith.org/mnc/index.html
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