Like many in my generation, I grew up with messages that recycling was good, littering was bad, and we should turn off the lights when leaving a room. My faith formation included some environmental stewardship—our youth group washed dishes for after-church fellowship rather than using disposables. But I hadn’t spent much time thinking about the theology of Creation Care until my family became part of a Mennonite Church (USA) congregation.
The Mennonite Church (USA) is the progressive arm of the Anabaptists in the US. Though its congregations vary in theological and cultural expression, they share a commitment to being transformed by the Spirit of Jesus into people whose lived-out witness to the Kin-dom of God transforms the world around them. Creation Care is deeply tied to the Anabaptist peace witness; right relationship with God includes right relationships with all of creation. This commitment was lived out by our church and heritage-Mennonite friends, who had learned from the generations before them to embody their faith in even the smallest of daily actions.
Our congregation encouraged us to do the same including environmental stewardship both communally and individually. In evaluating our family’s recycling habits, we were especially inspired by friends who, as a family of five, produced less than two bags of trash each week through careful recycling, composting, and mindful consumption. Their way of life emphasized simplicity, sustainability, and stewardship as acts of faith preparing for a present and coming kin-dom of justice.
Thus, it was somewhat embarrassing for our family to discover that inconvenience was a major factor in our wastefulness. Our town lacks a curbside recycling program, making it easier to discard than to sort and transport items. As we worked to prioritize Creation Care as a family we found that others were also struggling against the resistance of inconvenience.
Eventually, our family started EarthKids Recycling Solutions, a small kid-operated business that provides households with a recycling bin and weekly pickup service. The business has been both a practical response to a local need and an expression of our belief that caring for creation is an integral part of loving God and our neighbors. Scripture reminds us the earth is not ours to exploit but God’s gift to tend and steward (Genesis 2:15). The psalmist declares, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it” (Psalm 24:1). Jesus himself spoke in agrarian metaphors, revealing a deep awareness of creation’s rhythms.
As our Mennonite church family demonstrated – to follow Jesus is to recognize that faith must be married to how we live moment-by-moment within the created world. Stewardship of creation is an act of faithfulness and a tangible expression of our commitment to justice. As a Disciples pastor, I often speak of the Table as central to our identity—a table where all are welcome. But what does it mean to welcome all if the systems in which we participate disproportionately harm the most vulnerable? Environmental degradation is not neutral; it disproportionately affects minoritized and marginalized persons made in the image of God. To care for creation is to care for those who suffer most from its destruction. And as Disciples, I believe we, too, are called to this work of repentance, mending, and healing the brokenness of a hurting creation, in part as a response to the mending and healing that the Table represents.
Our family’s journey away from waste into and into Creation Care began with the witness of Mennonite friends, but it continues as a shared act of faith. When families and faith communities commit to Creation Care, we not only honor God’s gift of the earth but also build a more just and sustainable future for all. We invite others to take intentional steps—small or large—to consume less, waste less, and advocate for systemic change, witnessing together that our faithful actions can indeed transform the world.
Our hope as a family is that in doing so, we embody, as our Mennonite friends have taught us, a faith that not only speaks of God’s love but demonstrates it—in the ways we tend the earth, nurture our communities, and live with joyful response as stewards of God’s good creation.
