Jessica Grommes/Cedar House Group

Caring for God's creation takes on more urgency with each passing day. The climate continues to warm, half of all the earth's wetlands are already gone, we're losing an average of one species of plant or animal to extinction every hour, and all the while Americans are consuming their weight in stuff every day.

The Brethren Witness/Washington Office encourages a multifaceted response to this many-dimensioned crisis. A wide variety of materials call us to account for our own actions—and challenge us to live more responsibly and sustainably. A new study resource, "To Till and Keep: Living as stewards of God's creation in a consumer society," by Carol Lena Miller, invites serious study and concerted action. The Our Fair Share Series reminds us of our penchant for overconsuming, and suggests ways to cut back. Titles like the Be(e/a)tles Guide to Saving God's Earth and The Average American challenge each of us to think about our consumption patterns. A series of bulletin blurbs on living responsibly with God's earth is available for congregational use. Congregations and youth groups are encouraged to take part in programs like Turn Down The Heat.

Other programs invite us to join with partners in other parts of the world to support them in their efforts to be sustained by the earth without destroying it in the process. The If a Tree Falls... project assists Central American communities in reforesting their severely deforested ecosystems (a great Bible School project). The Equal Exchange Coffee Project encourages sustainable growing practices for coffee, the world's second most-traded commodity (after petroleum), while paying a fair price to growers. Even the Global Food Crisis Fund gets in the act, helping the people of Guatemala build wood-conserving stoves—a boon for families' health and for the fragile Guatemala ecosystem. Other General Board programs work to ensure a sustainable environment for people and other living things (see Feeding the Multitudes).

Faith Expeditions to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and Central America offer participants a face-to-face encounter with pressing environmental issues of our day and with the people directly affected by them.

See the Resource Page for a full listing of biblically centered, earth-friendly study/reflection/action materials and programs.

A recent report by the World Wildlife Fund gave us 50 years to start living more sustainably. While this kind of news can jolt us into action, as Christians we may want to act for different reasons. Like God's charge that we both draw from and protect this earth. Like our concern to pass on a healthy planet to our progeny. Like our commitment to not take more than our fair share of the earth's goodness—when so many have much less than they need to thrive.

Now is the time to join with people around the nation and around the world in taking seriously our role as caretakers of this gentle green and blue planet, spinning silently in the dark vastness of space—yet all the while bearing life at God's command.