More Content is Not the Solution

How A Rocha’s Earthkeeping Church workshops inspire and equip churches to follow God’s call to care for creation

By Scott Gerbrandt, Manitoba Director

April 1, 2026

I don’t think I’ll ever forget the moment I was asked to go to a church early on when I started working with A Rocha some 7 years ago. They had asked me to come introduce the topic of creation care and help them think through what it might mean for their community.

There were about 15 or so folks gathered around tables on a Tuesday evening, and I began by introducing the theology of creation care. I talked about how creation care is deeply integrated into the whole story of God. How God longs to work with us to care for all of creation and that God’s desire is for the reconciliation of all things (see Col 1:15-20). From there we moved through a simple framework of five different categories that one could use to think through how someone might engage with creation care at a church: Buildings, Land, Worship/teaching, Community Action, and congregational life.

During this time one of the participants in a mildly exasperated joking plea spoke up to say, “Scott! Just tell us what to do already?!” 

This stopped me in my tracks, and in the moment I was caught off guard a bit. I responded with what I thought were some “low hanging fruit” options and pleaded back to the group that “I can’t tell you what to do… cause, I’m not here to see it through… I’m just a guy, in a moment helping you see what is possible.”

Upon reflection, it was this moment that was the real “aha” moment for me.   

When I think about it, more and more I find that my experience of conversations over the years are often with people who want the “right content” and somehow believe that the right solution will come via “the expert”. (Please know that I do care about good robust thinking, theology, and the critical need for deep work by experts as we navigate creation care and climate action.)

However, I have become increasingly convinced that what is more important than “content” is for a community of people to share what is important to them and discover together how they might take their next step towards God’s calling to care for creation within their particular context. This doesn’t require a lot of knowledge, just a willingness to work together. Often, you have the knowledge you need already within your community! 

This is why, when people ask us to come to their church, I mostly tell them that the first thing I want to do is host a conversation. A workshop of sorts, so that the group can be attentive to each other and their history, and connect that to God’s big story of reconciliation for all creation in a way that helps them see what next step can be taken now in this moment.

Earlier in January I had the great opportunity to be at two different churches to host such conversations. They were lively and energetic dialogues, and people came away with clear themes and actions that they will continue to flesh out towards their next steps. We’ll be following up with them in a few months and I am excited to see how their next steps have grown. 

Here is some feedback we received about our time with these congregations:

“I appreciated that the ‘Becoming an Earthkeeping Church Workshop’ was an actual workshop and we got to discuss ideas and topics with each other as a group vs. just listening to someone on a certain topic” – St. Johns Cathedral parishioner 

“We really liked the workshop and how it was engaging and allowed people to get creative, especially those who would normally not get involved.  Zoe’s sermon was excellent, and we heard great feedback from it, and it had tangible takeaways. We ABSOLUTELY would recommend a similar offering to other churches.  We liked the combo of the sermon and then the workshop afterwards.  It helped to have people thinking about creation and the natural world already when the workshop began.” – Teresa Enns Zehr, Sterling Mennonite Church Pastor

A Rocha truly believes that God’s story and the history of the church is full of extraordinary moments of change for the good. We see Christian communities as key partners and cultural leverage points in accomplishing the mission of caring for creation and we are seeking to inspire and equip you to do so now. The head, hands, heart framework that we introduce in our workshop gives churches a simple way to discern together God’s call.

In the post-information age, where the click of a button can give you information on any topic, I truly believe that what is most important is that our faith communities share their vision and ideas together. Becoming an Earthkeeping Church is about a community navigating their way together towards collective hope, resilience, and change. 

Featured Photos by Zoe Matties & Scott Gerbrandt