Christianity's Covenant with Creation

By Claire Foster and David Shreeve

The Church of England and the Conservation Foundation are engaged in a series of workshops, part funded by the U.K. government, linking sustainability with faith and with local activity and engagement. The workshops follow up on the August 2002 UN Summit on Sustainable Development, and the Anglican Communion Congress on the Stewardship of Creation which preceded it in South Africa. The workshops offer a mixture of theological reflection and opportunities and ideas for local engagement.

Our workshops, which are daylong events, are hosted by local bishops to enable the church to act as a host for those of faith and no faith to come together to meet and make contact with representatives of local authorities and environmental organisations. To give up a day to attend such an event involves a high degree of existing personal commitment and interest and so there is an obviously a degree of preaching to the converted involved. However, enthusiasm does not necessarily mean action and we hope that through our workshops participants will discover ways in which thoughts can be turned into deeds.

Some of the participants are members of the Foundation's network of “Parish Pumps,” many of whom planted Millennium yew trees and organised planting ceremonies to celebrate the year 2000. Parish Pumps are individuals involved in their own communities and local churches, and therefore well placed to develop practical action. The Foundation has raised some funding to help “prime the pump” for ideas for potential projects in the hope that development funding will see lead to action. A church may have land which could be managed to enhance local biodiversity, or it may have facilities which could be developed to enable greater use by members of its community. Others could develop projects using crafts and local traditions to involve young and old and develop local community relations. The church could become a centre for recycling and encourage car sharing and energy saving. Some churches are already carrying out eco-audits of their premises and purchasing and others are looking at how existing worship can reflect up-to-date issues and concerns and creating new services which can be used throughout the church year.

The theological reflection is based upon the four principles elucidated at the 1998 Lambeth Conference with respect of the right understanding of humanity and the environment. They are a countercultural call to stand still in the face of the modern project of growth without limit, with no end in view except that of growth itself. They also indicate how deep within the Christian tradition ecological principles lie.

The root of the Hebrew word for covenant, berith , carries the sense of binding. Creation is bound to the invisible God and to itself in a web of interrelationship. Sever one part and every other part is affected. Sever enough parts and the whole web falls apart.

The first principle is the covenant that God made with Noah and the whole creation. This was not just with human beings but with all creatures – the web of relationships that makes our living planet. The root of the Hebrew word for covenant, berith , carries the sense of binding. Creation is bound to the invisible God and to itself in a web of interrelationship. Sever one part and every other part is affected. Sever enough parts and the whole web falls apart.

Biologists say that it is not possible to separate human beings – or any other beings – from the environment in which they developed. The environment and organisms evolved together, so that it is not really possible to separate them and think of one existing despite the other, or as a tenant of the other, or on the face of the other.   Hildegard of Bingen wrote: “God has arranged all things in the world in consideration of everything else.”

In her description of the first stage of contemplation, Evelyn Underhill perceives that all creation is an expression of one existence and concludes:

A subtle interpenetration of your spirit with the spirit of those “unseen existences” . . . will take place. Old barriers will vanish: and you will become aware that St Francis was accurate as well as charming when he spoke of Brother Wind and Sister Water.

Jacques Lusseyran, blinded as a young boy, describes his experience of the universe thus:

If I put my hand on the table without pressing it, I knew the table was there, but knew nothing about it. To find out, my fingers had to bear down, and the amazing thing is that the pressure was answered by the table at once. Being blind I thought I should have to go out to meet things, but I found that they came to meet me instead. I have never had to go more than halfway, and the universe became the accomplishment of all my wishes. . .

The second Lambeth principle is that of the sacredness of Creation. Creation is sustained and given life continually by the Holy Spirit. It is the expression of God. It is not to be mistaken for God but because God is its true inwardness and being no part of it is without God's sacred presence. There is no “away” where we can throw things.

Julian of Norwich writes:

See, I am God: see, I am in all things: see, I do all things: see, I never lift my hands off my works, nor ever shall, without end: see, I lead all things to the end that I ordain it to, from without-beginning, by the same might, wisdom and love that I made it with. How should anything be amiss?

The human species is often characterised as a rogue species, which having gained the upper hand is now hell-bent on destroying the universe. In contrast, the third Lambeth principle calls humans to be the priests of Creation. . . Adam, humanity, may enter the holy of holies and learn the secret truth of the origin of Creation.

The third principle is that of the priesthood of humanity. The human species is often characterised as a rogue species, which having gained the upper hand is now hell-bent on destroying the universe. In contrast, the third Lambeth principle calls humans to be the priests of Creation. In our Judeo-Christian tradition, the Creation story is symbolically echoed in the building of the temple, with its holy of holies, beyond space and time, its outer part, symbolising the phenomenal Creation, and its high priest, who is exemplified in Adam. Adam, humanity, may enter the holy of holies and learn the secret truth of the origin of Creation. He then re-enters Creation, and teaches the invisible unity that lies within and supports everything. The high priest also performs the ritual of atonement, which in temple theology is to do with mending the broken bonds of the covenant and restoring the fertility of the earth.

The last principle is that of the Sabbath feast of “enoughness.” In the roaring voracity of desire that can so consume our waking hours and even our sleep in dreams, our religion calls us to stop. Stop completely, properly, for a period of time, not just to pause for breath before carrying on consuming, but to take a deep dive into God's peace. In the Genesis description of the Creation, the crown of all Creation is not man, created on the sixth day, but the Sabbath, in which God himself took a rest – and one does not imagine he did so because he was tired. Such a rest is to be offered not only to humans but to all Creation. Leaving land fallow, forgiving debts and returning goods are all part of the Jubilee call to stop awhile and be still.  

The majority of those who enthusiastically attend the workshops, and who take the lead in local and other activities, are congregations rather than the clergy. The next step of our programme will be to encourage the clergy to understand why such activities are relevant and why they should be aware of the role the church can play. Just as Parish Pumps and community enthusiasts need help, advice and information, so do their clergy. We will shortly be undertaking a pilot course for those working in the church, which we hope will be the first of many not just here in the U.K., but around the world. We are involved with several colleagues across the globe who have all identified a need for this training. We hope, therefore, to offer courses for ministers of all the main world's religions, and we would welcome any further interest or support from readers of The Witness in developing this work.

Claire Foster is the policy adviser to the Archbishop's Council of the Church of England on science, medicine, technology and environmental issues. She is also deputy director of the St. Paul's Institute, an educational centre created by St. Paul's Cathedral, where she is a lay canon and member of Chapter. Claire may be reached by email at claire.foster@bsr.c-of-e.org.uk . David Shreeve is director of the Conservation Foundation , which has encouraged and supported local environmental engagement throughout the world for the past 21 years. David has worked extensively with the Church of England to improve its environmental awareness and was recently awarded a Lambeth M.A., in recognition of his achievements. He may be reached by email at davidshreeve@conservationfoundation.co.uk .