Silvia Purdie has a passionate faith and a gift for bringing to light inspiring people of faith. Eco Church is her focus, in particular, how churches can turn mission statements about caring for creation into regular and effective practice. She has found that people’s stories are the best way to communicate this kaupapa, this mission, to put the eco-theology of our faith into action. Yes, Christian faith is ecological at heart. The Bible is steeped in eco-theology: once we strip away the layers of narrowed interpretation inherited from Europe and Christendom, what we see is God’s story with land together with people. Atua, whenua, tangata.
Silvia envisaged creating a resource for faith communities by compiling a collection of stories of people working on eco-projects. Her decision to focus on women’s stories was to narrow the field but even so she found herself connecting with more and more material than a slim volume could contain. What we have is a substantial, and still affordable, volume (thanks to Philip Garside Publications) containing material to inspire and encourage all kinds of people who have a heart for God’s future for all creation.
My connection with the book is as contributor and proof-reader. The latter meant I got an early taste of the delights of the lives and activities of truly amazing people. I read and re-read the stories and found myself thinking how insignificant my contribution through rural ministry has been. But I also felt great encouragement, pride even, in being counted among them. Which points to the fact that it is not about comparing ourselves with others but doing our bit in our own place with our own life experience.
The title of my chapter was “I relate therefore I am”. Silvia used a set of questions for her interviews, and for those of us who wrote our own chapters, to draw out the personal as well as the practical, faith and values feeding action. We started with personal history and ended with thankfulness, and in between told of passion and pursuits in creation care. Awhi means to care or embrace: “Awhi Mai Awhi Atu” is being embraced and embracing, receiving and giving – what I grew up with as the Jesus ethic. This thread wove its way through my ministry with rural communities and it keeps hope alive for the future, even when things feel overwhelmingly negative.
This is a resource for local faith communities anywhere. With stories to encourage and – a distinctive feature of this publication – action points with every chapter, I’m imagining groups of us, men and women together, meeting and chapter by chapter chewing the Eco Church fat. Chewing the fat and finding practical ways to live the care and concern for our world that is basic to our faith.
The book is available as an ebook ($20) as well as printed ($35 plus p&p).
