Harvest and the Environment

Community Mission this month features news of material for the creation time season.  I've covered some of this before but here there is more information about Creation Time and the work of A Rocha.  This is what Community Mission says:

Those looking to celebrate harvest and the environment in a new way this autumn should visit Arocha and Churches Together. Produced by Arocha, Just Food? is a resource pack designed to reclaim a biblical understanding of food and explore ways to bring God’s kingdom values of justice and restored relationships into our lives. The pack cost £11.50 inc p&p and can be purchased online. For more ideas to promote the environment around Creation Time (1 September to mid-October) check out Arocha’s Living Lightly initiative.

There is a wealth of information in these links, here are a couple of highlights:

The Second Ecumenical European Assembly adopted the following resolution: "We recommend that the churches consider and promote the preservation of Creation as part of church life at all levels. One way would be to observe a common creation day, such as the Ecumenical Patriarchate celebrates each year. Rationale: The seriousness of the ecological dilemma for the future of the human race means that churches' consciousness of it must be raised. Commitment to preservation of the creation is not an issue among many others but an essential dimension of all church life.'"  (From the 'Creation Time' site)

The proposal on the 'Creation Time' site is for a period from 1 September through to the second Sunday in October.   This can be an opportunity for environmental concerns to be expressed during the harvest season.  

The Churches Together in Britain and Ireland site offers resources, 'Our Daily Bread - Food in God's Creation'.

'What's the food like?', 'Who is providing the food?', 'Is there enough food to go round?' Our everyday talk constantly makes reference to food, which is no surprise, as food and drink are essentials for life and survival.

When we pray "Give us our daily bread" we are both acknowledging our dependence on God's generosity and our realisation that the answer to that prayer needs to include agriculture, commerce, sharing, trade-justice, animal welfare, diet and a host of other considerations.

Our Creation Time resources, which encourage and assist churches, groups and individuals to observe a Time for Creation each year between 1 September and 4 October for the protection of creation and the promotion of sustainable lifestyles, focus this year on Food in God's creation. May God make us more aware of his generosity and our responsibilities as we pray for our daily bread.

Related articles

• Creation Time 2011 (ecumenicalissues.blogspot.com)