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Caring for creation means more than talking about climate change and recognizing global warming, issues people may sometimes feel powerless over. It means taking little steps, says Ivy Huston, pastor of Living Waters Lutheran Church in Lino Lakes, Minnesota. Small steps can include: cleaning out the storm drain in front of your house, not pouring pollutants down your sink and being aware of the amount of salt and chemicals that are thrown on walkways to melt snow and ice.
The ELCA social statement, Caring for Creation: Vision, Hope and Justice, calls the church to pursue justice and wholeness for creation through individual and community action, worship, learning, moral deliberation and advocacy. One of the ways Living Waters and other ELCA congregations across the country are putting this social statement into action is through ministries that clean up and conserve their local waterways.
“The first job that God gives us is caring for creation,” Huston said. “There are many social issues that are politically charged and difficult to navigate, but care for creation is not conflict-oriented.”
This message is excerpted from “Waterways” by Wendy Healy in the March/April 2024 Gather magazine. Today is Earth Day.