Alicia has come forward as a kindred spirit with the same political disorder I suffer from. Just so she doesn’t feel so all alone, I’m going to post my short list of wild ideas about what the Church might do with its strength in numbers in the area of creation care and sustainable living–for the long-term benefit of human communities and its witness until the Lord returns:
Organize church meetings and events strategically to reduce needless driving
Form small groups based on geography rather than affinity–this would also create a sense of community and make the church more visible within neighborhoods
Facilitate ways members can car pool to church
Construct and maintain church buildings and members’ homes using green practices, supplies and materials
Educate and encourage members to make lifestyles changes at home
Consider building or remodeling homes for intentional community or multifamily, mulitgenerational living
Grow a community garden on the church property to share with each other as well as relief agencies
Organize members to participate in a whole foods/bulk foods grocery coop and in buying shares of locally produced meat and vegetables
Encourage young people to be great thinkers and dreamers and scholars to become leaders in research and applications for sustainable living so God gets the glory
Encourage members to support local and sustainable businesses and business practices
I hope others share ideas along these lines–it takes people working together to make an impact. And that’s one of the reasons Jesus created the Church. The body working together…
I’m already doing some of these things with people in the community at large. But my heart longs to do them with my community of faith.
UPDATE: Read Eclexia’s Post, “Exercising for Food.”
Posted on July 25th, 2007 by Kathy
Filed under: Spiritual Disciplines, Out On a Limb, BiPolar Political Affective Disorder
Good ideas- some of those are so obvious that I can’t believe we don’t do them already. Like lifegroups based on geography- wow of course that makes sense! I can definitely see the power there for truly impacting the surrounding community with that.
And growing a community garden on church property is a wonderful idea!! I’m also interested in intentional living communities/multifamily housing, which is something that a lot of people at Mars Hill have done for financial reasons as well. I will have to think about this some more to come up with some other ideas.
By the way- have you read Crunchy Cons? I got it for Christmas and I absolutely LOVED it. I found myself nodding in agreement through the whole thing. Glad to “meet” someone who has the same “political disorder”!
I’ve read news stories about Crunchy Cons, but not the book. I’m afraid I might get more wild ideas. But since you recommended it, Alicia, I just might have to cave in and get it! Or we could just start a chapter for GCCC (Great Commission Crunchy Cons).
I really enjoyed the book Crunchy Cons. I’m embarrassed to admit that I’m a lot more philosophical than practical still in this whole area. I want to make changes, but it really is hard to break an addiction to convenience. Thanks so much for the challenging words and the practical ideas. I was already convicted this morning as I read (and then blogged) about a manual water/irrigation pump used in Africa that uses similar technology to gym equipment which we use as a luxury. Talk doesn’t change a whole lot, but I will say that the more we talk about this topic, the harder it is to ignore and keeping going with the status quo.
Thanks, Eclexia. Now I must get the book. What you’re talking about, I call ‘the tyranny of convenience.” The more I think and pray about it, I think God made it hard for us to make these changes individually so we would band together as community.
I’m going to check your “about” page to see if there’s a story about when you lived in Africa. We are hosting two high school aged Muslim students in a couple of weeks. We don’t know if they will be boys or girls, or if they will be from Tanzania or Nigeria. My two teen-aged girls are so excited! Any advice you can offer would be appreciated.
Thanks for the thought that part of the problem with trying to let go of “convenience” is that we think we can do it on our own, apart from community.
As far as general advice, I find that very difficult to give. Cross cultural relational living is such a big topic, I don’t know where to start. Now, if you ask me a specific question from a specific scenario, I can go on and on and on with thoughts and opinions! How long will the students be with you? What an amazing opportunity for your family and for the students.
I will e-mail you with details, Eclexia. Thanks for the offer to help!
This post made me think: How much do we need to do through the church, and how much is already set up for us to do. I think of this particularly in light of Kathy’s last few suggestions regarding organizing a co-op, when the second item below that addresses supporting local and sustainable businesses. Here in Ames, Wheatsfield Grocery is just such a co-op that tries hard to get as many local items as possible, why duplicate their effort and create competition when we could become members and support them?
I right this because I am also wondering (positively) about the usefulness of a local Christian Business Directory. I believe we ought to be shaped by our Christian community (the body of Christ?), but I wonder whether such a directory leads us towards unwanted ghettoization? Any thoughts?
Now that these posts are two years old, are they still applicable? I heard of someone who planted a garden in his front yard and then was able to share his produce with neighbors and those walking by. What do you think? db