Theological Foundations

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Theological Foundations

• St Marks Lutheran Church

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Matthew 626-30

• Look at the birds of the air they neither sow
  nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your
  heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more
  value than they? And can any of you by worrying
  add a single hour to your span of life? And why
  do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies
  of the field, how they grow they neither toil
  nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his
  glory was not clothed like one of these. But if
  God so clothes the grass of the field, which is
  alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven,
  will he not much more clothe youyou of little
  faith?

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Matthew 1233-37

• Either make the tree good, and its fruit good or
  make the tree bad, and its fruit bad for the
  tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers!
  How can you speak good things, when you are evil?
  For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth
  speaks. The good person brings good things out of
  a good treasure, and the evil person brings evil
  things out of an evil treasure. I tell you, on
  the day of judgement you will have to give an
  account for every careless word you utter for by
  your words you will be justified, and by your
  words you will be condemned.

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Matthew 1324-30, 31-32

• He put before them another parable The kingdom
  of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed
  good seed in his field but while everybody was
  asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the
  wheat, and then went away. So when the plants
  came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared
  as well. And the slaves of the householder came
  and said to him, Master, did you not sow good
  seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds
  come from? He answered, An enemy has done
  this. The slaves said to him, Then do you want
  us to go and gather them? But he replied, No
  for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the
  wheat along with them. Let both of them grow
  together until the harvest and at harvest time I
  will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first
  and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather
  the wheat into my barn.
• He put before them another parable The kingdom
  of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone
  took and sowed in his field it is the smallest
  of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the
  greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that
  the birds of the air come and make nests in its
  branches.

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Mark 426-29, 30-32

• He also said, The kingdom of God is as if
  someone would scatter seed on the ground, and
  would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed
  would sprout and grow, he does not know how. The
  earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then
  the head, then the full grain in the head. But
  when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with
  his sickle, because the harvest has come.
• He also said, With what can we compare the
  kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for
  it? It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown
  upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds
  on earth yet when it is sown it grows up and
  becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts
  forth large branches, so that the birds of the
  air can make nests in its shade.

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John 151-8

• I am the true vine, and my Father is the
  vine-grower. He removes every branch in me that
  bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he
  prunes to make it bear more fruit. You have
  already been cleansed by the word that I have
  spoken to you. Abide in me as I abide in you.
  Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself
  unless it abides in the vine, neither can you
  unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are
  the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them
  bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do
  nothing. Whoever does not abide in me is thrown
  away like a branch and withers such branches are
  gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If
  you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask
  for whatever you wish, and it will be done for
  you. My Father is glorified by this, that you
  bear much fruit and become my disciples.

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What is the ELCIC doing?

• Stewardship of Creation initiative
• Greening Congregation Accreditation Program
• Season of Creation (United Church of Australia
  program endorsed by the ELCIC)

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What are our Partners Doing?

• LWF
• God, Creation and Climate Change study
• Official statement on climate change
• FastForTheClimate
• WCC/ACT Alliance
• Climate Justice campaign
• Dedicated staff to climate policy analysis

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What nOW???
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Little actions by a lot of people...
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St. Marks Approach

• Intentionality
• Involvement of each unique group
• Practical solutions

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Intentionality

• in our words
• in our worship
• in our community

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Intentionality

• bringing the idea to light
• setting goals
• making the goals a priority

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Involving Other Groups

• how to motivate others?
• involve them in the process
• meetings with each committee/group to brainstorm

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Practical Solutions
care for creation mission statement naturalization of church grounds bike/walk to church day/week/month
annual pledge cards community garden solar panels
composting toilets create resources for wider church political awareness
Celebrating our accomplishments carpool program decrease number of bulletins
composting rain barrels Green/Powersmart retrofit of building
having idle free zones hosting panel on the environment community workshops
season of creation/liturgy encourage season of poverty during Lent hosting presentations from other groups
pursue accreditation pledge to Earth Charter ELCIC and ELCA bible study
sunday school/confirmation class teachings provide place to recycle plastic bags serve fair trade coffee
hand towels instead of paper towels green funerals look into grants for green projects
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What do you think?