Dave is Director of Theology for A Rocha International, where he works to embed creation care into international Christian organizations, theological institutions, and mission movements. His past roles with A Rocha include being an International Trustee and the co-founder of A Rocha UK (with his wife Anne). He has a PhD from Cambridge University on biblical theology and biodiversity conservation, and has contributed to many books and articles, including Planetwise, available in six languages. Born and raised in India, Dave has a love for Indian food, Indian culture and Indian Christianity. Dave is also a qualified bird-ringer and loves birding, islands, running and mountains.
Climate change seems to polarize Christians. Why? Why do some believe it is a satanic plot whilst others see it as a crucial moral issue? Why do so many more simply ignore it as irrelevant to their faith and daily lives? In the end it’s about theology.
‘So, how’s the commune?’, the man asks. I answer, ‘It’s great, but it’s not a commune. It’s a community.’ He laughs. ‘Can’t fool me. Lots of people. Organic gardens. Shared living spaces. Sauna. You’re a commune.’ We’re not! I want to protest. And then I wonder, Why am I feeling so defensive?
Last summer, events conspired to give me three totally different experiences: Week 1 at a Christian festival, part of Week 2 with my family at Disneyland Paris, and Week 3 at the Taizé Community in France. The question I found myself asking was, ‘What is the spirituality of this gathering? What are its “gods” – its underlying, unwritten values and assumptions about what really matters?’
Everything you see (and don’t see) is in relationship with something else. There is not a single thing in this world that is not linked to something else. Our whole world is permeated with ecosystems: thousands and thousands of them, interlinking and weaving in and out of each other. And I suddenly thought, ‘A-ha, of course!’
On 25 September 2015, 193 nations gathered at the UN in New York to launch 17 new Sustainable Development Goals. I want to suggest some pointers as Christian organizations and individuals engage with this important process.
Imagine your perfect beach day. Do you picture having to swim around floating plastic bags? I doubt it. Would this just spoil a nice day at the beach or out snorkeling, or is there a deeper faith issue here? What is the ultimate purpose of beauty?
When Pope Francis’ encyclical on the environment was released, there was enormous media attention. Now the dust has settled, however, what can we make of the Papacy’s foray into environmental matters? And how does it fit with A Rocha’s focus on biblically-inspired, community-based, wildlife conservation projects?
A cross-cultural team is hard work. Each of us brings a set of norms, ways we see the world and ways we expect others to see it. It all led to a lot of discussion. Time, punctuality, and lateness were certainly one of the default conflict zones; another was status.
If anyone has earned the right to comment about monetizing nature it is Christiaan Bakkes: he spent twenty years in Namibian conservation organizations helping it to happen. But at the heart of the enterprise was a contradiction which is undoing all the gains of the previous fifteen years. Now the wildlife is being decimated.
We were often asked to study the wildlife of areas in need of conservation, but even more often groups came to Aammiq to see how a community dialogues and decides to restrain itself from more and more consumption of land, resources, and wildlife to the benefit of all and for a heritage to be passed on to future generations.
