On 26 November 2023, Sengkang Methodist Church (SKMC) celebrated its inaugural Creation Care Sunday and announced the formal inception of its Creation Care Committee. Currently housed under the Discipleship & Nurture Committee for a transitionary phase, the ministry’s role is to bring attention to the responsible dominion, care and stewardship of creation by increasing members’ appreciation, theological understanding, and action for God’s world.
This comes as its Local Church Executive Committee (LCEC) resolved to strengthen churchwide action for creation care. Passing the resolution in October, church leaders rallied behind a call to do so in all areas of ministry and mission, including preaching, liturgy, communications, education, discipleship, outreach, and advocacy – providing members of all ages with inspiration, knowledge, encouragement, and practical means to care for creation at home, in church, and in society.
As the first local church in the CAC to have a formal committee for creation care, this milestone has its origins in six years of informal advocacy and action. In October 2018, I and other young adults placed the first paper recycling bins outside the church’s sanctuary, driven by a desire for their church to better care for creation in its practices. The boxes were simple and makeshift – just A4 paper boxes taped together – and so were the plastic and can recycling bins that followed. Yet, the desire and burden placed in our hearts by God gave us the dedication to sort, wash and transfer the recyclables collected to larger commingled bins every week. A data-driven approach was also taken, and the number of recyclables collected was recorded to improve future planning.
Education was also an important pillar of our work. We put up educational posters around the church, and a message on creation care was shared by myself during the season of Lent in 2019 to call for reflection and repentance over our failed stewardship of creation. The youth ministry also held a series of short talks on creation care.
As the first local church in the CAC to have a formal committee for creation care, this milestone has its origins in six years of informal advocacy and action. In October 2018, I and other young adults placed the first paper recycling bins outside the church’s sanctuary, driven by a desire for their church to better care for creation in its practices. The boxes were simple and makeshift – just A4 paper boxes taped together – and so were the plastic and can recycling bins that followed. Yet, the desire and burden placed in our hearts by God gave us the dedication to sort, wash and transfer the recyclables collected to larger commingled bins every week. A data-driven approach was also taken, and the number of recyclables collected was recorded to improve future planning.
Education was also an important pillar of our work. We put up educational posters around the church, and a message on creation care was shared by myself during the season of Lent in 2019 to call for reflection and repentance over our failed stewardship of creation. The youth ministry also held a series of short talks on creation care.
Our efforts were not for nought. Proceeding our efforts, steps were taken by the office to encourage e-bulletin use and reduce printed bulletins (the church was throwing 50-100 unused bulletins a week!). To ease the transition for the technologically-challenged, we set up a helpdesk outside the sanctuary for weeks and held an engagement session with the ushers to share the reasons behind the e-bulletin. The rest of the church played their part: the Property Committee installed water coolers to replace bottled water in June of the following year, and the youth ministry got rid of their disposable crockery and adopted reusables instead.
Just as the movement was gathering steam, the pandemic hit our shores. While we didn’t have to worry about paper bulletins anymore, all our plans were now set aside as SKMC went into crisis mode with the rest of the world. The added emphasis on hygiene also added another layer of complexity to our transition to reusables. Nevertheless, we continued to work around these hurdles after a hiatus in 2020. We sent out messages educating members on personal sustainability, and after Covid-19 restrictions relaxed, we also organised donation drives each year to encourage a culture of sharing in SKMC – just like the church in Acts 2! In 2022, we achieved a milestone: returning to the use of reusable communion cups, and partnering with our Witness & Evangelism Committee to entirely transition our newcomers’ care to reusable crockery to be a positive witness of responsible stewardship.
This is a season of renewal for the creation care ministry in SKMC. I am encouraged that others in SKMC are starting to take the initiative in improving their care for creation. The Witness & Evangelism Committee has actively reached out to work with us in ensuring that the washing of the reusables continues to be sustainable. Both the young adults’ ministry and seniors’ ministry held talks on creation care, and the seniors’ ministry even visited the Tuas Waste-to-Energy Plant to learn more about how our waste is treated! We have also made many plans during our MAP (Ministry Action Plan) this year to work with various ministries and committees for 2024, including setting up a hydroponic farm for our members with special needs.
The road ahead is not without its challenges. Changing infrastructure and holding events are easy, but shaping culture is an uphill task. But that’s what godly stewardship demands of the church – more than just events-based thinking, but a culture of creation care. Beyond the leadership, we hope to guide every member to embrace our stewardship mandate through increased education and exposure to the wider creation. Beyond SKMC, my hope is that the CAC churches will also do the same – starting with creation care education and working to achieve emissions and waste reduction goals in line with scientific and national targets.
It takes boldness to rise to the occasion, but I trust that God will guide our way.
Dennis TanDennis Tan heads the Creation Care Sub-Committee in Sengkang Methodist Church, where he started his journey as a creation care advocate in 2017 and also serves as Secretary on the Local Church Executive Committee. He currently works in the environmental tech scene, and graduated from the environmental studies programme at National University of Singapore in 2023. He is also Co-Founder and Director of Outreach and Engagement at Creation Care SG, and is a co-author of Creation Care and the Gospel. In his free time, he enjoys spending time with nature and watching stand-up comedy.