Tend and Keep: How One Church is Connecting with Creation
Philadelphia’s Resurrection Church practices creation care through worship, art, and community, showing us how connecting with creation can deepen our faith.
Art installation at Resurrection Church. Image courtesy of Laura Sallade
When we look at our world today, the news doesn’t seem good for our planet and the creatures that share it with us.
We see stories of higher temperatures and sea levels, rapid species decline and biodiversity loss, and more intense natural disasters.
More and more, human-caused climate change threatens the beauty and functionality of the good world God has made.
These headlines spark feelings of anxiety, fear, and sadness—and understandably so. It’s natural for us to lament when we feel as if things aren’t the way they’re meant to be.
We as Christians are supposed to be vessels of hope to a broken world. But when the environmental problems we face seem so large and unrelenting, how can we spread joy and hope in the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ?
For many of us, these challenges can feel too big to meaningfully engage. But what if caring for creation doesn’t happen only at a global scale, but within the life of our church communities?
Creation Care and the Year of Shalom
Here at Resurrection Church in Philadelphia, we’re in the midst of what we’re calling the “Year of Shalom.” A Hebrew word, “Shalom” is sometimes translated as “peace,” but it can also mean “wholeness” or “completeness.”
In many ways, the Shalom we’re meant to have with God, with each other, and with creation is broken. As the global church, we’re called to participate with Christ in the work of restoring the world until his return, when he will finally make all new things.
We’re making that a point of emphasis this year in our local church community. Here’s how.
Forming a Love for Creation in Children
Our children’s ministries are using music and stories that foster a love for creation as part of the CLEAR Project (Children, Liturgy, Ecology, and Renewal).
We’re teaching children to notice God in the natural world, praise him as Creator, and begin to see creation as something precious.
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Practicing Spiritual Formation Through the Arts
Our world is increasingly fractured by antipathy and divisiveness. We’re responding through a year-long effort to explore faith, community, and creation through artmaking and conversation.
At its core, this project, which we’re calling “The Aesthetics of Shalom,” is a way for us to practice spiritual formation. For instance, professional artists in our congregation have been commissioned to create installations in our church building for each season of the liturgical calendar.
This work has brought real energy and life into our church, opening new ways for people to connect with God, one another, and the world around them.
It reminds us that we’re shaped by what we create and what we give our attention to. As we learn to slow down and notice, we’re also being formed to love God’s world with greater care.
Gathering Around Creation Care
Out of these efforts grew a desire to gather as a church around creation care. We wanted to foster a space where members could discuss how we as the Body of Christ can work to restore Shalom between humans and the rest of the created order.
This is how our cross-generational group called “Tend and Keep” came to be.
We meet once a month to talk about the connection between creation care and Shalom. We ground our talks in a reading, such as Sandra Richter’s Stewards of Eden.
Wissahickon Creek, where our Tend & Keep group has taken nature walks together. Harrison Keely, CC BY 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
But our activities aren’t limited to meeting at church. We’ve also organized local nature walks, giving us a chance to connect both with creation and community, and we’ll soon be planting pollinator gardens for members of our congregation and finding ways to make our church operations more sustainable.
It’s our hope that as these efforts grow, our congregation will come to see creation care as a spiritual practice.
Why Our Church is Emphasizing Creation Care
A Christian Calling
The name “Tend and Keep” was inspired by God’s command to humanity in Genesis 2:15. God places humans in the Garden of Eden as its caretakers, called to be stewards of the land and seek the flourishing of all creatures.
We know how the story goes from there. Humanity fails to live up to this calling countless times. Eventually, God sends his own Son, Jesus, to be the firstfruits of a new humanity, living in harmony with God and creation and leading others to do the same through the example of his life, his death, and his resurrection.
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Sadly, as Christ’s representatives to the world, we have not lived up to this expectation. Greed and carelessness have caused increasing harm to the world he created and called “good.”
Certain strains of eschatology have reinforced this. Many believe our planet is destined to burn in the coming end times, with Christ-followers whisked away to an eternal spiritual existence far from the memory of a tangible, material world.
But this is not the vision of the Gospel.
Jesus and the Apostles speak of a coming Kingdom that will unite Heaven and Earth in a beautiful new creation. This renewed and redeemed creation is one free from decay, where the flourishing of all creatures is finally realized.
We live in the time between Christ’s death and resurrection and the final renewal of all things. As his image-bearers, we are participants in God’s redemption of creation.
So how can our daily lives and the life of our church reflect that calling?
A pollinator garden, like the ones we’re planning to plant. Image used under license from Shutterstock.com.
Learning to Live This Out Together
Thankfully, Christians throughout church history have been asking these same questions.
We’ve chosen to read from some contemporary Christ-followers who are familiar with the issues facing our planet today, like Richter. There’s joy in knowing we’re not alone in this conversation.
We’re entering into this area of theology with humility. We know we can’t solve all of the world’s problems on our own. But by working together with fellow believers, we can find encouragement and hope in making our way of living more sustainable and in line with God’s vision for Shalom in creation.
Small Steps, Real Impact
God tells humanity to “be fruitful and multiply” (Genesis 1:28 ESV). He also cares and provides for the rest of his creation (see Psalm 104 and Matthew 6:26-30, for example).
We, as human beings, must weigh both of these charges. Our way of being fruitful and multiplying should not prevent the rest of creation from living out its calling to thrive on the Earth. If it does, it’s time for us to examine whether our way of life is really in line with God’s desire for his image-bearers.
As Christians, we strive to align our heart with the heart of the Father. If God cares for his creation enough to send his own Son to die in order to redeem it, then we should care for it as he does.
The problems we’re facing today are large, to be sure. But we don’t have to solve them alone.
We can make a real difference by coming together in our communities—to read a book together, plant a pollinator garden, or start a composting program at our churches.
The impact of these actions goes beyond caring for creation. They go a long way in reducing worry and anxiety around issues of climate. They bring people together, and they serve as an excellent example to others.
If you’re feeling the urge to start this conversation in your own community, there’s a very good chance you’re not alone. The best time to get started is today.
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