20.03.2024

"Respecting Nature Like the Lord's Supper"

In 2021, large parts of UEM member church EKiR were flooded, leaving buildings heavily damaged. One of the causes was climate change. Foto: Anika Distelrath-Lübeck, Church District Leverkusen, Germany

What does the climate catastrophe do to church partnerships?

And what opportunities do partnerships have to act in the face of this catastrophe?

In February, 40 participants from Tanzania and Germany met to discuss these questions in a joint online seminar. For two days, they focussed on the local effects of the catastrophe in Africa and Europe as well as religious and spiritual foundations of climate protection. They discussed starting points for church engagement in international breakout groups.

Washima Elton Mapesa is taking part in a youth project organised by the Magharibi church district of the ELCT/ECD*. He reported on heavy rain, flooding and extreme heat as a result of the catastrophe. To combat this, the ECD is implementing a project headed by young people: a tree nursery providing greenery, improving soil quality and practising regenerative agriculture. Through the UEM, the project is connected with young people in the Siegen-Wittgenstein church district of the EKvW* in Germany. The young people learn together and exchange ideas in order to strengthen their international partnership, even in times of disaster.

In the evening devotion, Matthias Schmid, pastor in the Regional Service of the UEM, emphasised: "We need an inner connection that inspires us. These inner motivations drive us to personal and communal action. They motivate us, encourage us and give it meaning." It is central to this that the human creature experiences itself as part of creation and is deeply connected to it.

In his Bible study, Bishop Dr Abednego Keshomshahara of the ELCT/NWD* recalled traditional African religion, which also includes an appreciation of nature. The UEM moderator referred to the effects of human greed, which leads to the destruction of the planet: "The desire to accumulate wealth through industrialisation has led to the emission of gases that cause global warming or climate change." To illustrate the importance of creation in the Christian faith, Keshomshahara referred to Romans 1:18-20. Here, Paul describes God revealing Godself to the Gentiles through nature. He concluded: "Just as the highly valued and honoured sacrament of the Lord's Supper helps us to experience God, nature should also be respected. It too can help us to reveal God."

*ELCT/ECD = Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania, Eastern Coastal Diocese

*EKvW = Evangelische Kirche von Westfalen (Evangelical Church in Westphalia)

*ELCT/NWD = Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania, North Western Diocese