Should We Walk to Church?

For most of us one of the largest contributors to climate change is our automobile. I have cut back tremendously on my driving both due to my commitment to environmental stewardship and the absurd price of gas. But the day I usually do the most driving is Sunday when I make the rounds to all three churches I serve. This got me thinking about the decision to attend churches that may cause us to drive more than necessary. Put bluntly, should we just go to the closest church?

The three churches I serve are relatively close by car. Sometimes it's silly to me that all three still exist separately. After all, we believe the same things and worship in virtually the same way. Once upon a time, the separation was necessary because people did walk and ride horses to church. But those days are over, and now people might commute for a while to go to church - likely passing many other churches (perhaps even churches of one's denominational preference). So does this decision (which is admittedly one of luxury) contradict our good stewardship of creation? I would say so, at least a little. Clearly we are putting our wants ahead of what is best for the planet when we drive further than necessary.

Now, I realize it's extremely important to most people that they attend a church that fits them perfectly. People more or less church shop until they find a great fit. Well, here's a modest proposal: start with the closest churches to your home, and then spiral out. You might also consider that a church is not really a place to meet all your "needs" but rather a place to form you as a disciple, which entails sacrifice. Thus, you could begin the way of discipleship by sacrificing a few things you'd prefer in a church for the health of God's creation.

What to do with Bulletins?

Lately I've pondered the amount of paper churches use with bulletins and the cost/rewards ratio. I serve three churches, and I make roughly eighty bulletins a Sunday. I encourage everyone to leave the bulletins behind to be recycled and most everyone does. Still, the bulletins are used for roughly an hour. So is it really worth the paper used? Keep in mind, I just use single sheets of paper folded. Some churches I know of use multiple sheets and make hundreds of bulletins a Sunday.

I simply think that the use we get out of bulletins is not worth the cost of paper and ink and even power to print them. I guess the problem lies in the fact that we are fairly tied to the structure and order bulletins provide (I speak mostly from my own experience and acknowledge this may also be something to work on).

Many churches are moving to some form of projection when it comes to ordering their worship. I generally think this is a good move. But some churches can't afford the equipment needed. So what is the answer?

I think a good solution for many churches might be establishing a basic order of worship to follow while making it generic enough to use multiple times and to allow for the movement of the Spirit. Imagine a laminated card that has "Scripture Lesson" and "Hymn" but no real specifics. I find that in most churches the pastor or music leader tells the people the scriptures and hymns anyway. Perhaps we could recover the use of boards with hymn numbers that older churches used (I think in many areas of greening returning to older habits will be helpful).

This is just one idea, but I think it deals well with both the issues of wasting paper and needing some (but perhaps not too much) structure. I would love to hear other ideas that might actually be in practice to deal with these or other issues from bulletin use. I hope to try my project soon and share the results.

Statement of Purpose

What is this blog all about? I'm going to try to keep it very simple. I believe in God, and I believe God somehow created everything that exists. These beliefs have, especially in the past few years, caused me to live a certain way. I try as much as possible to care for God's creation. I try to treat the earth and its resources as gifts. Gifts are to be treasured and received with great care. Few things hurt as much as giving a gift that is unappreciated or even abused. Simply, when we do not care for creation we mistreat both the gift and the Giver. So I hope this blog will serve as a reminder, particularly to others who believe creation is a gift from God (namely the Church), of the precious and delicate environment in which we live and a call to action regarding our treatment of it. Most of the content will involve immediate reflection on how churches can lead the way in the serious theological issues of sustainability and creation care. I welcome all positive contributions to this matter which affects us all.