Our family delighted in God\u2019s creation as we served in Monteverde, Costa Rica as Global Ministries Volunteers. We met neighbors like Howler Monkeys, Three Wattle Bell Birds, Sloths and Toucans. We learned their names and recognized their voices and watched and listened to them with awe. There were human neighbors who also inspired us; like the cab drivers, hotel owners, tropical biologists, bakers, house keepers, coffee farmers, and teachers\u2013 from faith backgrounds as varied as Catholic, Quaker and Disciples of Christ.<\/p>\n
From them, sad words would eventually be spoken:<\/p>\n
\u25aaOur water wells have dried up<\/em><\/p>\n \u25aaThe frogs aren\u2019t around here anymore<\/em><\/p>\n \u25aaOur\u00a0forest orchids are dying<\/em><\/p>\n \u25aaThis is a cloud forest! where are the clouds?\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n In Monteverde we heard about the negative impacts of a changing climate. Climate change in Monteverde is not a liberal, conservative, rich or poor issue; it is everybody\u2019s issue. In Costa Rica our relationship to and dependence on nature, other people and God was deepened as we were entangled in the beauty of the cloudforest. In a new way, we had fallen in love with God with one another, and with the richness of creation in the cloud forest. Our renewed love and awareness created a sense of the urgency regarding our ecological time.<\/p>\n This urgency culminated at our denomination\u2019s General Assembly during a brief visit to the U.S..<\/p>\n At this large gathering, I shared my concerns with anyone who would listen and searched for ways to address the global ecological crisis. Some people I talked with were generally supportive of my quest for an empowered church body to engage creation care and climate change in particular.<\/p>\n There were genuine conversations and dreaming, but many reactions were variations of the Sweet Southern backhand \u201cbless your little heart.\u201d It seemed like climate change \u2013and therefore those creatures and people I loved in Costa Rica\u2013 were far down a long \u201cto do\u201d list for the church.<\/p>\n After our gathering, I returned to Central America filled with frustration and sadness. A sustainable planet needed leadership 30 years ago and I thought that the church was simply not up for the task especially while facing so many other challenges.<\/p>\n After almost 20 years, I decided that it was time to leave Christian ministry and to seek other venues to live out my faith by caring for God\u2019s planet and people.\u00a0 I still loved God and sought to follow Christ, but I was angry and heartbroken.\u00a0 The church had raised me and my children, had been a source of so much life; and yet I believed it was sitting on the sideline during one of the greatest challenges humanity has ever faced.<\/p>\n I sought new mentors and teachers. I met with scientists, naturalists, and guides; business leaders and educators. I eventually met with Frank, who is a scientist and professor and has been studying and teaching sustainability for almost 30 years in Costa Rica. He is also a staunch atheist.<\/p>\n My goal in that meeting was to find a new course of study that would equip me to accompany God\u2019s creation in a new way.\u00a0 Environmental Studies, Environmental Education, maybe Sustainability?<\/p>\n Frank and I danced with small talk for a bit, then I got down to it.\u00a0 I asked Frank which programs he recommended.\u00a0 \u201cHow do I live out these next 20 years or so, really making an impact for our world?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n He paused for a long time and looked at me.<\/p>\n \u201cI have been studying these things for more than thirty years. The science about what you are seeing in our forests, oceans and climate is not new.\u00a0 We have known the problems for decades and the scientific communities even know many of the solutions.\u00a0 We have been talking about them, teaching about them, writing about them, screaming about them and people are not listening.<\/p>\n We don\u2019t need more scientists.\u201d<\/p>\n He leaned in over his mug of locally grown coffee, \u201cDon\u2019t leave the church. We need you, we need the church.\u00a0 Please help us from within your own community.\u201d<\/p>\n Frank and God called me back to the church.<\/b><\/em><\/p>\n I began to look at the Church with fresh eyes. Slowly I began to see how faith communities were engaging in creation care and climate change action. I heard about church-installed roof top solar panels challenging climate change; church gardens challenging food deserts, creation care VBS, creation care book studies, climate action teams, vegetarian potlucks. One church did a \u201cclothesline challenge\u201d with dozens leaving their dryers lonely all summer long.<\/p>\n I found out about Blessed\u00a0Tomorrow<\/span><\/span><\/a>,\u00a0empowering congregations to act on climate change; Interfaith Power and Light as well as a local interfaith nonprofit in Western North Carolina called the Creation Care Alliance<\/a>;\u00a0and my denomination\u2019s growing Green Chalice<\/a> network of churches working on creation care.\u00a0 Like so many denominations, the Disciples have a covenant<\/a> regarding Earth care.<\/p>\n Where I had once decided that the church was irrelevant in the challenges we face,\u00a0I began to see that faith communities hold the keys to us moving through this crisis.\u00a0 It turns out Frank is not the only person that believes faith communities are key to this movement.<\/p>\n \u201cI used to think that top environmental problems were biodiversity loss, ecosystem collapse and climate change\u2026 I was wrong. The top environmental problems are selfishness, greed and apathy, and to deal with these we need a cultural and spiritual transformation. And we scientists don\u2019t know how to do that.\u201d<\/i>\u00a0\u2013 Gus Speth<\/a><\/p>\n Who is best equipped and empowered to accompany people during cultural and spiritual transformation? You guessed it. Faith Communities.\u00a0 Transformation is in our hymns, Holy Books and stories. In our bones, we are baptism-soaked in justice, liberation, good news, truth telling, hope, resurrection, and grace.<\/p>\n Any organization can do the work of conservation. Many groups of people can do mitigation (the slowing of climate change). \u00a0The same is true for adaptation. These groups include \u00a0Apple, Tesla, and even\u00a0the the U.S. Military<\/a>.<\/p>\n But compassion and transformation is our realm, and that is what is needed.\u00a0 We should collaborate with our sisters and brothers in the the worlds of government, business, technology, healthcare, nonprofits and education \u2014but we cannot rely on them to act alone<\/em>.\u00a0 Yes it is clear we need them, but they have been waiting on us.\u00a0 May we lead with the tenacity and compassion from within the church to bring about a better tomorrow.\u00a0 Blessings on your Earth Day.<\/p>\n![\"by](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/333\/2016\/04\/Monteverde_puente-2-e1461334363726.jpg\")
<\/a><\/a>Scott Hardin-Nieri is a story teller, tree climber and accompanier. Before arriving in the\u00a0Appalachian Mountains Scott and his family served in the vulnerable cloud forest of Monteverde, Costa Rica. There he learned to how to climb Fig Strangler trees, spot Two-toed Sloths, distinguish the call of a Three-wattle Bell Bird from a Black Face Solitaire and listen to people and nature in a new way. Scott is an ordained pastor with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and serves as the Director of the Creation Care Alliance of Western North Carolina<\/a> and Associate Minister of Green Chalice <\/a>of the\u00a0Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n