Hm... it would depend on what you mean by "helped." If the goal of the United Church of Canada is to support the beliefs and values emerging from and reflected in those experiences, then, yes, such a focus would help.

If what you mean by "helped" is to put more people into pews, I've never been a fan of growth for growth's sake.

The important thing for any Christian denomination is to focus on being used by God in doing his great mission of redemption. God intends to redeem all of creation, including the environment, and invites us to participate in his redemptive work.

Rich blessings. 

Link to article: http://www.unitedfuture.ca/brockshaver/the_united_church_trinity_urban_rural_first_nations

I wonder why Brock Shaver thinks that UC members have any interest in the land, or conservation?  My observations seem to indicate that UC members, along with the members of various other Christian denominations, are interested in cruises, holidays in distant locations,  having a private 'club house' for their meetings, maintaining a lawn that almost looks like a carpet and discouraging new members who may bring new, innovative ideas into the group.

that would, indeed, be lovely & selfless :3

The things he mentions are rapidly becoming old hat.   Back some years ago there were magazines and books extolling a more simple life, closer to the reality of the land.  They appear to have had very little (if any) influence in the churches. How many congregatins have installedsolar panels, for exampleÉ - sorry my keyboard seems to be stuck on French! 

Over the years I have read such gems as Small Is Beautiful and The Spirit of the Land   Once the magazines Harrowsmith and Mother Earth contained a wealth of useful ideas and information.  The First Nations people have some excellent books and articles circulating too - one I recall was Returning to the Teachings.

For me the thoughts he has are just fine - but they are HIS, not those of the average person in a UCCan pew.  As such they have no more real value than my own thoughts. Change does not seem to happen magically just because one or two peple have some thoughts!

I like the main thoughts, but I don
T think he got the numbers right. When the Moderator says 68 % of UCC people live rural, it doesn t mean those people are all farmers who have a special relationship to the land. With under 5000 residents in my surrounding towns we would count as rural- but there would be very few farmers in our congregation. There also has not been any interest in environmental issues in my congregation. We do have a bit of a health food movement in the area, because we have a University in town which also means people who are able to afford higher prices for better food.
Unfortunately, the church has been untouched by this.

Of course, there are people who say that they experience God best in nature. However, this still does not lead to action.
As far as I know, we do not have any person of native origin in our congregation. We have one non native who very interested in native issues, but she has stayed alone in her action.
I really can t say that rural congregations can give us much change, as the tendency is often to not change, even more so as in city congregations who are influenced by changing environment

True enough Mrs Anteater.  My community of approximately 5,000 consists mostly of retired folks (some of them WERE farmers). professionals (medical, educational, management types) and business people and their employees. 

I am out of touch with the local UCCan congregation but I can't think of any practising farmers.  Neither can I think of any I would describe a environmentalists.  I'm not aware of any First Nations people who attend there either - or recent immigrants - or people that have skin that isn't white. 

Hello...

It seems to me that our trajectory of progress rooted in empirical positivism might be well served by a serious engagment of indigenous sensibility specific to the place and purpose of human being in creation. As we profess with our words, and not much by our effective actions,: "To live with respect in creation".

George

The point for me is that, in my perceptions, the United Church as a whole does not have a real spiritual focus.  As a person who grew up in Calgary but for whom "home" is a quarter section of poor farmland where I lived from age 1 to age 5 and visited several summers, as a person who has lived in worked in a variety of rural communities and First Nations communities as first a teacher, and later a minister, the image of land for being spiritually connected resonates.  There is no city in Canada where it is not possible to also find natural and close to  natural areas where it is easier to feel physically connected to the whole of creation.  First Nations spirituality and the spirituality of many of the farmers I knew who started farming with open air tractors places us as part of,not above, creation.  We give lip service to this spirituality in the UCC, but it is not a gut-level spirituality for most people.

I believe we have a reduced sense of beng vital parts of something greater than us, and this leads to shallow practice of ministry that lack convicton ane enthusiasm.