The Context

Faith communities of many denominations will marked the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation in 2017.  But to commemorate the Reformation merely through historical reminiscence and worship events falls far short of honoring the Reformation’s life-giving dynamism that shook the foundations of Christendom and planted the seeds of the modern world.  Only a dynamic upsurge of thinking and doing to change the Church for the sake of the world will now honor the Reformers’ passion.

The Call

A number of prominent theologians are now calling for an Eco-Reformation. We in the Pacific Northwest seek to join this work of Eco-Reformation by empowering one another to take action that will remake every aspect of society so that all people of good will can nurture wholesome diversity, resilience, integrity, and beauty within God’s commonwealth of creation.

The Importance

We call upon the church and its many denominations throughout the Pacific Northwest to join the Eco-Reformation convinced that the next five hundred years are crucial for determining the fate of the Church and the world. It is not enough to recall what our spiritual ancestors did long ago. We must ask what our descendants five hundred years hence will say of us, of our faithfulness, our courage, our vision, our commitment to Jesus Christ and to the world Christ loves. Indeed, we must wonder if we will have descendants who live to hold the conversation. As God once spoke to Job out of the whirlwind, so God questions us now about our wisdom and righteousness in reckoning God’s purposes on this living Earth. This Call to Eco-Reformation is God calling us to bear fruit worthy of repentance. How will we declare our answer?

The Weekend Institute (2017)

To support this call and launch the next major reformation, EcoFaith hosted a Seeds for an Eco-Reformation  Weekend Institutes in June and November, 2017. Seeds for an Eco-Reformation  has been launched to inspire, equip and facilitate congregational and community leadership growth and development for this year of Eco-Reformation and beyond. Through this initiative, congregational teams experienced a deep-dive into the counter-culture of EcoFaith’s Practices for Awakening Leadership. We need such spiritually grounded, relationally connected Practices now more than ever! Participating congregational teams were immersed in a powerful spiritual approach to engaging in Eco-Reformation.

10 Coaching Sessions to help them bring their Eco-Reformation project to life, access to additional online resources, project management and collaboration resources, and connection with other teams who are likewise seeking to engage their communities in Eco-Reformation. For one example of resources, click here.

To learn about some EcoReformation projects that are complete or still in progress, click here. If you want more ideas, we’ve got a list of other sample ideas here!