[401.1] SUSTAINING COMMUNITIES

On the day the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) releases its report on climate change and global sustainability, welcomed by the world churches, a reflection about the nourishment of Christian movement based on qulaity and relationship - rather than size and conquest. The same ground-up principles that feed the planet produce the kind of moral communities that make environmental action an urgent priority. The IPCC report chapter summary is here (*.PDF), incidentally.

"A church that is concerned about its own sustainability must have strategies other than the growth paradigm, which openly assess its impact and accountability in local and global terms. Sustainability thinking points us to the future; our action or inaction now has consequences for communities and congregations yet to come. Resilient communities are developed with a belief that our future patterns of life can be different if a distinct approach to change is initiated based on a renewed theological understanding of justice, stewardship, and inclusion." ~ Andrew Davey, Urban Christianity and Global Order: Theological Resources for an Urban Future

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