Meet Chantel Davies, a Ph.D. candidate, and member of the Edinburgh Adventist Church in Scotland. Chantel loves New Zealand Rugby Union, motorbikes, reading all sorts of books, enjoys gardening and botany, and is learning Japanese, and writes a blog entitled Nomad. Below, Chantel shares a bit about the efforts being made to bring environmental issues to the fore in Edinburgh.
Chantel writes:
I have to say progress is slow. The attitude of "Jesus is coming soon, so why does it matter" prevails, though some people are beginning to understand why we need to be faithful caretakers of something that was gifted to us a long time ago.
Last year I prepared a youth day dealing with environmental issues and social justice. Some folks have thought about it since then, but little has changed or been achieved. Nevertheless, I and a few others continue to do what we can, where we can. The SDA youth of Scotland have produced a magazine (The AYE), with some articles discussing Christian responsibility to the environment. The magazine was printed on recycled paper as well!
I think the biggest step forward has been to have environmental issues put onto the agenda for the church board. We're now discussing ways to make the church "greener". It'll take time, but every little bit helps. Saving money appears to be the greatest incentive, but it has to start with something.
The church has begun a program of recycling papers, plastics, and metals - (above) Receptacles for compost material minimize the church's environmental impact (below right )
I've created a compost heap at the back of the church, and 
informed those who prepare meals on Sabbath that vegetable waste is to be composted. So far, so good. I'm also developing the church garden to grow a range of fruits and vegetables using organic methods, thus cutting out chemical use (and ultimately waste). In the long run this will help reduce packaging, as we have a meal at church every Sabbath, and the level of waste hurts my eyes) none of it is recycled.... yet!
Once the garden is up-and-running, we'll have a supply of fresh, organic food to use or sell to the public. There is a small, but dedicated group of us committed to ethical, eco-friendly living, and I'm sure if we persevere it will spread amongst the church.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Adventists making a difference - Chantel Davies
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
9 comments:
Sweet! I met some people from the Edinburgh church at a youth day of fellowship in Dundee a few weeks ago and was impressed. Collegiate life at the Aberdeen church has much to aspire to when compared to Edinburgh...
Cheers!
I was wondering whether you might have met Chantel...A E A is hoping to bring her on board as our UK corresponding contributor.
Hope things are going well in Aberdeen!
Thanks for publicizing Chantel's work, Jared.
Wouldn't it be great if this sort of green evangelism -- sustainable churches as witnesses to creation -- became ubiquitous?
Alex, you're right! It would be great to see this widespread in Adventism. One step at a time...one congregation at a time it goes, I s'pose.
Most agreed.
My friend, Heath, sent me the following email in response to Chantel's post. He's expressed interest in writing in the future, so I'm sure we'll hear more from him.
Heath:
I heartily agree, as Adventists, we should be the leaders of such things. The attitude of "Jesus is coming soon, so why does it matter," doesn't make any sense at all. We don't know for sure what soon is, though we are to be ready daily.
But regardless of when He returns, we were created to care for this planet, not just the Garden of Eden which Adam was told to "dress it and to keep it." We are to do the same in the whole earth. We need to have the attitude of what's best for humanity, not the economy. Of course, the two overlap at a point, but we are far from that point I believe.
The fact of the matter is, all of these issues come down to selfishness and greed, the very essence of a sinful fallen nature that only Christ can change. So anyway, we should be giving our voice to changing our world unselfishly, and as we do that I believe it will provide the witness to help glorify God's name in the earth and reach people for the kingdom.
When it comes to issues such as hunger, the environment, health care, poverty, etc., why are Adventists not on the front lines? Granted, politics will solve little in this world, but by the power of God affecting humanity through us, a lot can change with the glory going to God.
Anyway, just a few of my disjointed thoughts in a quick email.
Have a wonderful end of the week and Sabbath!
I hope I don't upset Chantel with this... If you can get drag her away from her research I think she'll make an excellent contributor. She's passionate about all justice issue's not just the environment (where she has a professional interest too). She was the youth leader at Edinburgh when I was the minister there... maybe another reason why you were impressed Johnny!
Here, here to Heath.
I think that Adventism is especially poised to speak on these matters. I watched a clip of Rick Warren talking about AIDS and Sen. Clinton talking at Saddleback.
He noted that only recently has he "got it." And by that he explained that saving folks includes not just their soul but their body as well. Well, that's been a central tenet of Adventism (LLU's motto: to make humanity whole).
Perhaps it is time for us to pick up the ball on this -- brave the me-first deniers -- and talk about eco-justice as an outgrowth of our tradition.
Recycling is amesome. so is Chantal
Post a Comment