The YWAM Creation Care Hub
Exploring with God ways to look after all His Creation.
Location:
Stanely House | YWAM Paisley
14 Stanely Crescent
Paisley
PA2 9LF | Scotland | UK
Cost:
£160 all inclusive
£95 self-arranged local accommodation
… But what is our God-given responsibility to the rest of Creation?
… and what does this mean for our calling to the nations?
About Us
The Creation Care Hub…
… Aims to serve YWAM with teaching and examples of how caring with God for His Creation integrates with His wider mission,
… Is a team within YWAM Paisley with backgrounds including science, fine art and practical action,
… explores the underlying reasons of how human stewardship* of creation has been falling short (and why),
… rejoices in awe at the beauty and cleverness of His creation, which we all rely on.
We are available to serve YWAM locations as you explore Creation Care, for example:
- Teaching on Discipleship Training Schools,
- Teaching on School of Biblical World View and other schools,
- Teaching in Seminars and YWAM location team days,
- Aspects of intercession that relate to the environment**
- Recommendations/explorations of ways to care for creation in our YWAM locations and activities
- Help networking within YWAM to connect those who share an interest in caring for God’s creation.
Resources
Foundations:
What can I/We do:
History
The Creation Care Hub journey so far:
We come from our various YWAM backgrounds, training and theological starting points but God called our attention to something he wanted to happen more: caring for His creation.
We heard many of our YWAM trainees’ concerns about the state of ‘the environment**’ and noticed that while the Biblical reasons for Hope and action are profound, they are not always highlighted or communicated within our training.
Together, we have journeyed deeper into God’s Word, finding revelation: recognising God’s redemption and ultimate restoration of all things, His gift of life, and the ultimate hope of a renewed Creation. Sometimes, this was a new discovery of His heart and intention.
YWAM Paisley, Scotland, had noticed this emphasis growing within the YWAM community, and began producing steps to reduce their impacts on God’s creation, while celebrating the beauty and goodness in what He made and entrusted to us.
As we noticed that God is emphasising the Care for His Creation to us, we discovered that many others in His wider Body have also developed this focus recently. We suggest that this is a movement of His Spirit. However, considering the various voices in the environmental** movement, it is important to explore what constitutes a Biblical position and motivation.
We sense a call to help more people grow in this area – as an expression of love for God – in response to His love for us.
There are many within YWAM who are interested in creation care and some were already practising it within their call to the Nations and to bless those around them. But there have been struggles with Biblical and scientific understanding, with prioritising good practice in the midst of many priorities and with developing the connections needed to make this something that YWAM locations can easily integrate into our mission.
With the whole world coming to Glasgow for COP26 in November 2021, YWAM Scotland enthusiastically hosted multiple intercession and outreach teams on the streets of Glasgow – while we continued to explore what God wanted of us in intercession and learning of God’s heart for nations during this time.
We have been able to respond to invitations to teach in churches, YWAM training schools (DTS and 2nd level schools) and community days. We bring a combination of biblical basis, experience in intercession, specific areas of expertise and practical experience to our teaching.
Out of a response to God’s revelation, we felt called to start a Creation Care Hub in YWAM Scotland. This has been established in 2022 in order to serve YWAM in this space through teaching, sharing experience and practical outworking. As a group within YWAM Paisley, we deeply emphasise seeking God, Intercession, the Prophetic and responding in obedience.
Get in touch
Maybe we can help you?
Maybe you can partner with us?
Or join us?
Submit the form or click on the email address to get in touch with us.
Email: cchub@ywamscotland.org
When you send a query, a team member will get back to you as soon as we can. The information will solely be used to answer your questions.
Words are sometimes very limited and we urge discussion and exploration of what they actually mean:
*Stewardship
‘Stewardship’ is a familiar concept but ultimately is only a partial description of the Biblical relationship between humans and the rest of creation.
**Environment
‘The environment’ is commonly used to describe this whole field – but it puts humans at the centre and/or removes humans entirely from the equation in a way which is not particularly Biblical.
Phil Summerton
Phil’s love for creation was evident from a very young age when he would happily follow his grandparents around working in their gardens. His fascination lead him to gain a Marine Biology degree from the University of Liverpool. After an amazing opportunity to work in marine and terrestrial conservation and restoration in the Seychelle Islands for 3 years, God moved him back to the UK to join YWAM. He has been involved in leading DTS’s, outreaches and teaching on both DTS’s and second level schools around this subject since 2011.
He is married to Christy, and they have 2 children together.
Christy Summerton
After completing a Fine Art degree in Wisconsin, Christy travelled to Norway to do a creative DTS. She has a deep desire for honest and integral communication having staffed and participated in various communication’s schools and teams within YWAM. Brought up to care for what God has made, her passion comes from a desire to see others understand God’s love for all Creation, the brilliance of it and our role within it. Using her gift of creativity, she helps to communicate and interpret the sometimes difficult science to a wide audience, while raising 2 lovely children with Phil.
Ben Richards
Ben completed a PhD in Paleoclimate of the South Asia region- particularly the Himalayas – followed by 20 years of cross-cultural work in YWAM and 2 years pioneering in the creation care space within YWAM, including participation as an official observer in COP26. Ben gives training in churches, YWAM schools and seminars, such as this one: https://youtu.be/OFn3OdZRHnk
He is married with three children at school.
Cape Town commitment statement by the Lausanne congress:
Below are three very well worded paragraphs in the 2010 Lausanne Cape Town Commitment. The Lausanne movement is all about world evangelisation, and thus it included some very good material on creation care as a part of this (just ahead of the section on nations and cultures etc)
We love the world of God’s creation. This love is not mere sentimental affection for nature (which the Bible nowhere commands), still less is it pantheistic worship of nature (which the Bible expressly forbids). Rather it is the logical outworking of our love for God by caring for what belongs to him. ‘The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it.’ The earth is the property of the God we claim to love and obey. We care for the earth, most simply, because it belongs to the one whom we call Lord.[23]
The earth is created, sustained and redeemed by Christ.[24] We cannot claim to love God while abusing what belongs to Christ by right of creation, redemption and inheritance. We care for the earth and responsibly use its abundant resources, not according to the rationale of the secular world, but for the Lord’s sake. If Jesus is Lord of all the earth, we cannot separate our relationship to Christ from how we act in relation to the earth. For to proclaim the gospel that says ‘Jesus is Lord’ is to proclaim the gospel that includes the earth, since Christ’s Lordship is over all creation. Creation care is thus a gospel issue within the Lordship of Christ.
Such love for God’s creation demands that we repent of our part in the destruction, waste and pollution of the earth’s resources and our collusion in the toxic idolatry of consumerism. Instead, we commit ourselves to urgent and prophetic ecological responsibility. We support Christians whose particular missional calling is to environmental advocacy and action, as well as those committed to godly fulfilment of the mandate to provide for human welfare and needs by exercising responsible dominion and stewardship. The Bible declares God’s redemptive purpose for creation itself. Integral mission means discerning, proclaiming, and living out the biblical truth that the gospel is God’s good news, through the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ, for individual persons, and for society, and for creation. All three are broken and suffering because of sin; all three are included in the redeeming love and mission of God; all three must be part of the comprehensive mission of God’s people.
For an excellent video series; the WEA Lausanne creation care series of short talks about Creation Care can be found here:
More coming soon as we develop our website