Supporting children and youth in ecological discipleship
Contributed by Raewyn Moodie – Children and Family Coach, Northern Baptist Association NZ
I recently attended a webinar by A Rocha Aotearoa New Zealand who initiated Eco Church NZ as one of their projects. The Eco Church NZ project’s goal is to see “Churches across Aotearoa NZ actively caring for God’s earth as an integral part of their mission.”
What struck me, as someone who loves ministering with children, is that children today are experiencing a huge amount of eco anxiety. Tearfund Australia surveyed Christian young people to understand what they feel about climate change and 86% of them want action to address this issue. Our news is full of weather events and the talk of environmental disasters. The impact of climate change does make our young people feel overwhelmed. As Christians we need to bring hope to this area of life and by providing our young people a way to work proactively in this sphere, we are also able to provide pastoral care and discipleship too.
The webinar hosted three guest panelists:
Elke Keeling - author of the Creation Connection curriculum for children, an experiential and contemplative approach where children connect to God, each other and the natural world.
Natalie Duchesne - Scripture Union NZ's North Island Camps Facilitator, who, as well as having lots of experience working with young people has coordinated the SUSTAIN camp with A Rocha in Raglan.
James Beck - leader in an Eco Church, parent, advisor to the Wilberforce Foundation and with many years of experience working as a presenter to youth.
Elke Keeling shared with us how she has written, in partnership with A Rocha Aotearoa New Zealand, the Creation Connection series, a free curriculum for children from 5-11 years old. It is an experiential and contemplative approach where children connect to God, each other and the natural world around them by connecting to and becoming aware of God’s Creation and discovering together how to act with love, care and responsible, compassionate action within it.
It aims to give children experiences in nature where they notice the world around them, connect to it and learn to care for it. Through connection to nature, children notice the Creator at work in every detail and connect to God and each other through their experiences. It follows a cycle of Ecology, Theology and Contemplative Action to help children experience, learn and make meaning that leads to thoughtful action. It is beautifully written to connect children and their families together to care for creation. Elke wanted to stress that this curriculum is not about activities but more about guiding children to experience nature. So in some ways, the curriculum is harder to do, but it is very open and flexible - and should be contextualised based on your own unique situations. Elke also requested that facilitators should read the introduction first to get an understanding of the philosophy behind it.
Natalie Duchesne spoke to us about the SUSTAIN camp for children from Years 9-13, which is run by Scripture Union in Raglan in partnership with A Rocha. It helps young people learn by experience about how to contribute sustainably to the world around them, as well as how to sustain their relationship with God.
SUSTAIN camp participants
Natalie also talked about the E3 Wilderness Journeys – an 11-day wilderness experience for youth (17-18 years old) focusing on developing character and strengthening their connection with God, others and creation. This camp is offered by Scripture Union in partnership with A Rocha and Adventure Specialties Trust. It’s currently offered in 3 locations in New Zealand.
Through these camps, children and youth explore how to honour and engage with creation holisticly. The camps focus on our relationship with creation and how to nurture our relationship with the environment. It’s about creating space for conversations, rather than a clinical list of dos and don’ts. It’s about bringing the whole person in to become kaitiaki of creation.
E3 Otago Wilderness Journey participants
James Beck shared with us how his church, Cashmere New Life in Christchurch, runs an outdoor all age service once a month where they are restoring a riparian area along the Ōpāwaho Heathcote River with help from the community and how much this is impacting discipleship and relationships with all ages. To have children working alongside adults, talking about God as they make a difference in their local community, is a way to bring real hope to our tamariki. Why has this activity been so profound for children? Because children are able to experience genuine participation and are able to make a difference. In a normal church, children are often sent off for Sunday School. But here, children genuinely participate, working alongside youth and adults - leading to a sense of belonging and connection which is profound for children. Check out their work here. James also has a podcast called Ngā Here - The Many Connections - that exist between creation, the Bible and living in Aotearoa.
Before, during and after the Te Ringatini planting day.
We also had an opportunity to share in breakout rooms what we were doing in our regions across Aotearoa. It was inspiring to meet others who love young people, God and our beautiful world, to share ideas and connect.
This Eco Church kōrero was supported by Wellington City Council's Climate and Sustainability Fund 2022.