Written for “Live Free,” the 2015 issue of Giving: Growing Joyful Stewards in Your Congregation, by the Ecumenical Stewardship Center

Earth Trek: Celebrating and Sustaining God’s Creation, by Joanne Moyer (Herald Press, 2004), is a multifaceted gem that offers a variety of practices that care for the earth. Based on the seven days of creation in Genesis 1, the book explores different aspects of the natural world, how they are being threatened, and what people are doing to protect them. Emphasizing celebration and creative actions rather than guilt and statistics, it offers actions that individuals, families and congregations can take to live sustainably with the resources and creatures God has entrusted to us.

This book uses diverse media, from poetry to brief summaries of our biological situation and consumer habits. Each of the seven days of creation includes four sections. “Earth Connection” examines how an aspect of creation is being threatened or restored. “Faith Connection” delves into what Christian tradition teaches about our relationship to the earth and other creatures, based on Scripture. “For Meditation” provides a quotation, Bible text or litany to reflect upon individually or together, and “For Action” gives an array of specific things children and adults can do in their homes and communities.

Because of its wide range of ideas and dimensions, Earth Trek can be a text for group study, a basis for personal meditation, or a resource for worship and action.

Your partner in ministry,

Betsy Schwarzentraub