Caring for Creation

The mission of the Caring for Creation Ministry Team of the Greater Atlanta Presbytery is to help God’s people cultivate and care for the garden of God ’s world.  This involves 

• Developing biblical and theological resources that equip the church to nurture environmental stewardship and caring for creation in all of its parts and as a whole;
• Educating and advocating for institutional and governmental change;
• Educating and advocating for personal and spiritual transformation that responds faithfully to the call to care for creation;
• Developing models for ecumenical, interfaith, governmental, and international cooperation in caring for creation, and nurturing a vision of hope and abundance rather than scarcity and despair; and
• Working collegially with the churches and members of the Presbytery of Greater Atlanta to educate, nurture, equip and empower Presbyterians in their individual and collective caring for creation.  

We invite you to join us as we meet at 12:00 noon on the third Monday of each month in the Presbytery office located at 1024 Ponce de Leon Avenue .  Please feel free to call for further information: 

Bill Drummond (committee co-chair)     404-894-9840

John Washburn (committee co-chair)     678-886-9625

Alan Jenkins (Restoring Creation Enabler)     404-270-9784 

Earth Day Sunday Resources  

Earth Day 2006 will be Saturday April 22^nd.  Earth Day Sunday, April 23^rd, provides us with an opportunity to consider our call to care for creation, and to fulfill that call through action.  The Caring for Creation Ministry Team has compiled a collection of Earth Day resources for ministers, educators, and anyone interested exploring God’s mandate and our responsibility for creation. 

Restoring Creation for Ecology and Justice.  In 1990 General Assembly of the PCUSA approved a comprehensive statement on environmental issues.  We have created PDF and MS-Word doc versions of that statement (minus the appendices), which are available for download at 

            Restoring Creation for Ecology and Justice MS-Word document

            Restoring Creation for Ecology and Justice PDF document  

John Calvin’s Commentary on Genesis

1. Genesis 2:15: And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.

Let him who possesses a field, so partake of its yearly fruits, that he may not suffer the ground to be injured by his negligence; but let him endeavor to hand it down to posterity as he received it, or even better cultivated. Let him so feed on its fruits that he neither dissipates it by luxury, nor permits to be marred or ruined by neglect. Moreover, that this economy, and this diligence, with respect to those good things which God has given us to enjoy, may flourish among us; let every one regard himself as the steward of God in all things which he possesses. Then he will neither conduct himself dissolutely, nor corrupt by abuse those things which God requires to be preserved.

2. Genesis 3:17-18: And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;

It here been falsely maintained by some that the earth is exhausted by the long succession of time, as if constant bringing forth had wearied it. They think more correctly who acknowledge that, by the increasing wickedness of men, the remaining blessing of God is gradually diminished and impaired; and certainly there is danger, unless the world repent, that a great part of men should shortly perish through hunger, and other dreadful miseries.  

Worship Resources For Earth Sunday, April 21^st, 2006

Compiled by Alan Jenkins, Restoring Creation Enabler for Presbytery of Greater Atlanta .  

• http://www.pcusa.org/environment/earthday.htm  Here are the PCUSA-endorsed Earth Sunday resources from the National Council of Churches Eco-Justice Working Group.  This year’s focus is Hurricanes and Sustainable Development.  The pdf document includes liturgy, bulletin insert, Sunday School ideas for Adults and Youth, and sermon notes.

• http://webofcreation.org/Worship/index.htm 
  The Web of Creation website is a diverse collection of resources for liturgy, sermons, education, greening buildings and grounds.  

• http://earthministry.org/Congregations/worship_aids.htm  
  Earthministry is another rich source for more of the above. 

Norman C. Habel, Seven Songs Of Creation: Liturgies for Celebrating and Healing Earth, 2004, Pilgrim Press.  A rich source of liturgy for Earth Sunday and throughout the liturgical year.  Available at Presbytery’s Library. 

Activities  

• http://earthministry.org/carfree.htm  Consider promoting Earth Sunday as a car-free Sunday! 
  Learn from a Seattle-based congregation’s experience, and the tips they provide for preparation.

• http://www.earthday.net/ 

• http://www.earthday.net/resources/2006materials/EarthDay-in-a-Box.pdf 

Many resources and activities, including “Religious Earth Day in a Box,” a PDF file with a diverse set of faith-based materials.  

Hymnal and Scripture Suggestions for Earth Sunday. 

Compiled by Presbyterians for Restoring Creation – http://www.prcweb.org/

Presbyterians for Restoring Creation -  Recommended Reading List

Scriptures and Hymns for Caring for Creation