A Life of Grace for the Whole World, Leader's Guide: A Study Course on the House of Bishops' Pastoral Teaching on the Environment

By Jerry Cappel and Stephanie McDyre Johnson

As science and politics engage in a never-ending battle over the environment, A Life of Grace for the Whole World re-claims the theology of salvation and redemption for all creation. Using the House of Bishop’s Pastoral Teaching on the Environment -- the first statement on the environment from The Episcopal Church leadership -- as a guide, A Life of Grace engages participants in understanding how the call to care for Creation informs and deepens appreciation and love for God and God’s work in Creation, and how that finds expression in the faith life of individuals and churches.

The adult sessions use Bible study, discussion questions, reflections on sections of the Book of Common Prayer, and other activities to encourage active learning. Each week participants are asked to reflect, in different ways, on their faith communities and their own spiritual journey and how they can find a more meaningful connection with God’s active work among all creation. The youth section, which parallels the adult sessions, encourages active engagement through viewing of videos, use of technology, and a range of activities. Exploratory questions for the facilitator allow for open-ended conversation and discussion of current events around environment and faith. Connecting the five-week session is the creation of a Tree of Life, which is added to during every session.

Both an Adult Booklet and a Youth Booklet enhance the experience of A Life of Grace, both within and outside of the sessions, with additional content, activities, and journaling space.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Church Publishing
• Release date: Mar 1, 2017
• ISBN: 9780819233776

Jerry Cappel

Jerry Cappel is an ordained Episcopal priest in the Diocese of Kentucky, currently serving as the Environmental Network Coordinator for Province IV of the Episcopal Church. He serves on the board of the Center for Religion and the Environment at the University of the South and as a fellow with GreenFaith. He lives in Simpsonsillve, Kentucky.

Book preview

Welcome to Leaders of Youth

Many middle and high school students learn about ecology—including topics such as the water cycle and recycling—at school. Some may even engage in projects to protect the environment. These same students may attend Christian youth formation classes to learn about God, God’s church, and our life as Christians. Yet environment and faith for most young people remain distinctly separate. A Life of Grace helps youth understand that learning about and taking care of God’s creation is essential to our life as disciples of Christ.

For teens to make the connection between their faith and caring for the environment, we must introduce them to the idea that renewal and restoration are at the heart of our relationship with both God and nature. Therefore, we are called to care for the renewal of the earth not only because it’s the right thing to do but also because our love for God invites us to be in harmony with and to care for all that God loves. This is a helpful reminder that Christ’s exhortation to love our neighbors as ourselves extends to all the created order.

A Life of Grace both challenges and affirms youth while they explore their own action for God’s creation. Questions about consumer habits and personal choices may push up against perceptions of success and the need be part of a crowd. Affirming youths’ ability to speak up and make a difference in the face of the environmental crisis empowers voices that are often unheeded and underappreciated. Finally, the program offers youth an opportunity to explore what it means to be Episcopalian, including opportunity for Bible study, discussions about church structure, and use of the Book of Common Prayer.

The House of Bishops issued a pastoral teaching (Appendix A, pp. 88–92) in 2011 urging the church to deepen its concern and response to the environmental crisis as a response to God’s love for all creation. It was the first ever teaching on the environment issued by the House of Bishops. This pastoral teaching is the central focus of A Life of Grace. Short excerpts from this teaching frame each session’s focus and act as a springboard for conversation and activities. The activities center around a motif of the Tree of Life, which is designed and created by the youth in the first session and is added to every week as a visual symbol of harmony and healing of the earth.

The five parts of A Life of Grace written for youth parallel the five parts created for adults and reflect the same five themes. The intent is for a congregation to use these two tracks (youth and adult) simultaneously. Ultimately youth are encouraged to learn from the principal message of the bishops’ pastoral teaching (paragraphs 4–5):

We are especially called to pay heed to the suffering of the earth. . . . We are engaged in the process of destroying our very being. If we cannot live in harmony with the earth, we will not live in harmony with one another.

This is the appointed time for all God’s children to work for the common goal of renewing the earth as a hospitable abode for the flourishing of all life. We are called to speak and act on behalf of God’s good creation.

Goals for These Sessions

Each session explores a different section of the teaching and its call to the church to respond in word and deed for the life of the whole creation. Building upon the bishops’ exhortation that this is the time, each session’s title includes a reference to A Time as a call for reflection and response:

Session 1—A Time for Harmony with God’s Creation (Paragraphs 1–5)

Objective: To respond to the bishops’ call for compassion and attention to the present crisis of the earth

Session 2—A Time for Care for the Whole Creation (Paragraphs 6–7)

Objective: To explore concepts of harmony, relationship and care for all creation

Session 3—A Time for Thirsting for Justice (Paragraphs 8–12)

Objective: To explore the impacts of environmental degradation, with a particular focus on water

Session 4—A Time to Renew Ancient Practices (Paragraphs 13–16)

Objective: To explore how spiritual practices of fasting and Sabbath-keeping may help teens to draw closer to God while helping to heal creation

Session 5—A Time to Commit and Act (Paragraphs 17–18)

Objective: To identify particular actions on which youth may want to focus

How to Use This Material

A Life of Grace for the Whole World can be used for both middle school (7–8th grade) and high school youth. However, some of the concepts and discussion topics may prove to be challenging for middle school students, so the leader may choose, for this age group, to spend more time on the activities and videos if the concepts prove to be too challenging.

A Life of Grace requires, for the most part, little or no advanced preparation except for gathering materials and previewing recommended videos. Alternatively, this program can be used at a five-day camp program, since most activities and reflections (except the videos) work well outdoors. If used in a camp setting, having some of the sessions alongside a lake or body of water would be ideal.

With a wide availability of resources on the internet about faith and the environment, further reading and preparation can be helpful. Appendix B (p. 97) offers a list of resources to assist leaders, which may also be of interest to members of the congregation.

Each session is designed for 45–50 minutes with time for conversation and activities. However, more activities are provided than a group can accomplish in a single session.

Within each section is background information for the leader. This information is not necessarily meant to be read to the group but to be starting point (for leaders) when approaching an activity or discussion.

The leader should not feel required to limit or control conversation to each suggested time frame. If a topic proves to be engaging, it is better to dig deeper for thoughtful and meaningful conversation. Alternatively, if a topic or area of discussion seems to fall flat, move ahead to the next section. There is plenty of material in each session to allow for different levels and types of engagement. Discussion questions are offered to help frame conversations, but not every question is needed to promote discussion. Possible responses and prompts are included in some sections as suggestions to help the leader guide the youth toward the faith-based focus of the conversation.

Each session will contain these five elements:

•Engage: Present a section of the pastoral teaching in light of church and individual experience.

•Encounter: Explore the session topic through an activity, which may include Bible study.

•Respond: Identify commitments and future engagement.

•Connect: Create an opportunity to make a deeper connection to the main point of the session, generally through a video.

•Wrap-Up: Include a closing prayer and a weekly challenge for the youth to do sometime in between the sessions.

Suggestions for Presenting the Materials and Fostering Conversation

Discussing environmental issues has the potential to become politicized or not viewed as a concern for the church. You are encouraged to keep sessions from being sidetracked into political debates by establishing group guidelines at the start of the program. These guidelines create space for holy conversation and true dialogue that focuses on God’s good creation and our moral response to the environmental crisis. At the same time, climate change can create a sense of fear and hopelessness, so you are also encouraged to foster an environment of hopefulness. This can be done by reminding the youth that we are not asked to individually solve all the world’s environmental problems, but to work together in joy and hope as the living body of Christ to care for the entire world that God loves.

YOUTH SESSION 1

A Time for Harmony with God’s Creation (Paragraphs 1–5)

Objective

•To respond to the bishops’ call for compassion and attention to the present crisis of the earth

Materials

•Youth Booklet for each participant

•assortment of magazines with pictures for the Tree of Life activity (All sorts of magazines will work, but be sure to include some with photos of nature and of people.)

•Bible for each participant

•Book of Common Prayer for each participant

•newsprint

•markers and pens/pencils

•bulletin board

•tape and/or stapler

•computer and projector (if available), with Wi-Fi access or download of session’s video (see p. 12)

Session Structure

•Opening Prayer

•Introductions

•Covenantal Guidelines

•Engage: Creation and God’s People

•Encounter: The Tree of Life as a Symbol of Healing

•Respond: Creating an Image of Harmony with a "Tree of