A Good Seed Sunday Story
by April Yamasaki (Lead Pastor, Emmanuel Mennonite Church)
Emmanuel Mennonite Church in Abbotsford, BC is serious about creation care.ย Emmanuelโs Green Team focuses on raising awareness related to creation care and greening our church and homes in a variety of ways. So we have buckets in our church foyer for recycling batteries and compact fluorescent light bulbs; after church meals, we collect organic waste for composting; weโve begun a community garden; we hold an e-waste recycling Sunday once a year, and plan to add recycling Styrofoam as well.
Beyond the Green Team core group and email network, our church office uses recycled paper for church bulletins and offers a paperless option. Our Property Committee has begun installing more efficient lighting. Our church newsletter features a regular Creation Care Chat that alternates between practical tips and more critical analysis of issues.
This attention to creation care is rooted in our understanding of God as the great Creator, who calls us to care for creation as part of Godโs reconciling work in the world. So celebrating Good Seed Sunday in our worship fits well with our theology, and I find that it helps to focus and pull together our many different green initiatives.
For our congregation, this year weโll celebrate Good Seed Sunday on May 28 (as this date worked better for us than the April 23rd ย date), with guest speaker David Anderson, Centre Director of the Brooksdale Centre. We’re already looking forward to it!
