Fulfilling our First Commission: The Anglican Creation Care Network
This blog post was originally published on Anglican Compass on August 2, 2024, and is reposted with permission. The blog image is courtesy of Mary McDonald.
A Biblical Mandate for Creation Care
“And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” – Genesis 1:28
In his first commission to us in Genesis 1, God gave us two interconnected orders. The first was to be fruitful and multiply. We have done quite well with that part, with our world population now over eight billion. The second was to rule over and tend to his creation. We don’t often do as well with that one. However, the Church has an opportunity to lead the way in stewarding creation and, in doing so, point others to their Creator.
What Kind of Dominion?
What does it mean to rule over, have dominion over, or subdue? God created us in his own image to take care of the rest of his creation as he would himself. How we treat creation reflects our view of Genesis 1 and our view of God. Do we see him as a bully and exploiter, or do we see him as a provider and protector?
Those who see God as a bully and exploiter may also feel free to exploit or ignore the needs of God’s creation, including women, children, plants, and animals. Those who see the Lord as their provider and protector see how they, too, should imitate him in his love for and care for the work of his hands.
When congregations hear about this oft-neglected commission from the pulpit, many are excited to learn that taking care of creation is actually scriptural. There is, after all, a common perception that Christians are disinterested in conserving our natural world. Parishioners are now beginning to get their church leadership involved in stewarding the environment, seeing it as rectifying the all-too-often omitted Genesis theology.
Anglican Creation Care Network
Recognition of the Church’s opportunity for mission and worship through creation care motivated me, a veterinarian and deacon at The River Anglican Church in Blacksburg, Virginia, and Dr. Gretchen Stokes, a wildlife biologist who leads her church’s creation care team, to start the Anglican Creation Care Network (ACCN) in conjunction with New Wineskins.
The Anglican Creation Care Network seeks to give individuals and churches resources, fellowship, encouragement, and prayer as they seek to obey the Genesis commission. In a world bruised by misuse and disregard, the ACCN exists to reclaim Christ as creator by igniting, captivating, and equipping faithful stewards of creation.
Evangelism
“For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.” – Romans 1:20
Nature is a neglected evangelistic tool. God gives us general revelation through his creation by showing his divine nature with its creative power. A supernatural component in nature, fashioned by God’s mighty hands, somehow influences the human heart, causing wonder, peace, and refreshment. God uses his creation to draw hearts closer to himself. As we engage people in his creation and share the specific revelation of Jesus Christ, we can lead them into a relationship with him.
Showing non-Christians the splendor of creation softens their hearts to the Creator himself. It is also a great way to spend time with unbelievers and build strong, trusting relationships. It can provide ample time to turn conversations toward spiritual topics with the visuals that the Lord has made, like mountains and rivers.
Many people today are plagued by eco-anxiety. News of extinctions, habitat loss, plastic pollution, natural disasters, and the loss of insect, bird, mammal, and plant populations worldwide has caused fear and hopelessness. Still others put all their hope in nature and worship it instead of the Creator. By stewarding the planet, we can work with both groups and show them the true hope that only comes through Jesus Christ. They can learn that the earth’s current plight is not the end but that the Lord ultimately has good plans for humans and the earth that will last for eternity.
Worship
Many people say that they feel closest to the Lord when they are out in nature. We can capture this feeling and help our parishioners dust off an apathetic faith by being still before him and being renewed by the beauty of his creation. We can practice creation care as an act of worship, being mindful of the work of our hands as an act of obedience to the Genesis commission.
Can you help people praise God by getting them off their devices and into nature? Perhaps you can plant trees together as a family, church, or youth group, beginning with a devotional from God’s word concerning his world. Psalm 104 is a great place to start:
You send the springs into the rivers, *
which run among the hills.
All beasts of the field drink thereof, *
and the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
Beside them shall the birds of the air have their habitation *
and sing among the branches.
You water the hills from above; *
the earth is filled with the fruit of your works. – Psalm 104:10-13 (BCP 2019)
When we learn about the complexities of God’s creative powers, like how plants clean the air, slow erosion, and provide fruit or nuts for other animals, we see the awesomeness of God and the importance of good stewardship. As our eyes open to the intricacies of nature, we learn to praise God’s majesty and wisdom and to not take these gifts for granted. Standing by the ocean or hiking the mountains reveals God’s vastness; his power humbles us. Encountering nature also helps us understand scripture’s references to the natural world, such as our calling to be “oaks of righteousness” in Isaiah 61:3.
Join Us in Creation Care
There are so many ways churches can engage with the natural world. Corporately, as an act of worship, can your church plant a pollinator garden, put up a bat house, compost, and reduce Styrofoam, plastic, and paper waste to show your love for God and his handiwork? How about gathering to watch a meteor shower or eclipse? Could staring at the stars and praising their maker draw everyone closer to a humbler dependence on him?
The above are just a few suggestions. If you need more ideas, the ACCN has free devotionals and ideas you can download from their website. ACCN also has a Zoom call on the second Monday of every month from 8-9 pm EST. The call helps us meet other Anglicans who are obeying the first commission by taking care of God’s creation. We listen to an inspiring talk, and we pray for each other, our churches, and for more Anglicans to get involved in creation care. We’d love for you to join us.
Find out more about the network by visiting the Creation Care website, a network of New Wineskins.
Email us at accmn2022@gmail.com for more information or to get on our Zoom calls.
ACCN is planning a Creation Care Conference on September 16, 2025, at Ridgecrest Conference Center in Black Mountain, North Carolina, before the New Wineskins for Global Missions Conference. Please join us for a time of biblical creation care teaching, cross-pollination, encouragement, and prayer.
The Rev. Dr. Mary McDonald is a veterinarian missionary with the Society of Anglican Missionaries and Senders (SAMS). She is a deacon, spiritual director, speaker, author, wife, mother, and the co-founder of the Anglican Creation Care Network. Mary has a DVM from the VA/MD College of Veterinary Medicine and a MAR from Trinity Anglican Seminary. She trains veterinarians to go on the mission field on her historic farm with her husband, Jack McDonald, where they raise Scottish Highland cattle and minister with international students.