CREATION CARE

Below is a quote from Dave Kinnaman, president of the Barna Research group, and a summary of some of their group's latest data concerning evangelicals and the environment, which I found to be fascinating...in many ways, it speaks to why I am spending a week with my seniors at Wheaton Academy talking about the environment in our Faith and Culture class...and why I spoke on the topic in chapel last year...we've got to engage this issue and speak to its importance in our culture and our churches...

"Still, millions of Christians - no matter how you slice it, Catholic or Protestant, evangelical or not - want to see their faith community become more active in environmental stewardship," commented Kinnaman, president of The Barna Group. "There is a void in Christian leadership on environmental issues, as well as an inability to articulate clearly and confidently a biblical understanding of creation care. Since climate change is controversial, many churches have simply avoided dealing with the subject, ceding the conversation to other voices. It may not be an easy arena to venture into, but the Christian community is ready for balanced, thoughtful, non-partisan and engaged leadership on this crucial issue."

Despite the appetite for doing more, relatively few Christians have been exposed to the term "creation care." This phrase has garnered recent attention among Christian leaders as a useful way to frame environmentalism as a biblical concept of being good stewards of the world God created. However, the term has not reached church pews: the vast majority of Christians (89%) and active churchgoers (85%) have never heard the phrase "creation care."

One of the reasons few Christians have heard about "creation care" may be because few congregations teach the topic. The survey explored whether churchgoers have ever been exposed to any teaching about how Christians should respond to environmental issues. Overall, most active churchgoers (64%) have never heard any such sermons.