Willard Metzger is the General Secretary of Mennonite Church Canada.  He currently writes a blog in which he shares experiences and reflections focused about his time of leadership, and has an inspiring message about creation care.

Recently, Metzger was in Durban, South Africa, where approximately 20,000 people gathered from around the world for the UN Forum on Climate Change 2011.  Said Metzger in his Nov. 28 blog, “I came in response to a request to strengthen the presence of the Canadian Church leaders.

During his presence at the 10 day climate change forum, Metzger kept a daily blog of his observations.  “If the earth cannot sustain my neighbour consuming what I consume—then obedience to Christ must compel me to strive for a consumption practice that can also be shared with my neighbour,” wrote Metzger in his first blog entry from Durban.

On day four at the UNCCF, Metzger wrote of the frustrations and fragility of the conference.  With the larger economies hesitating and the smaller economies growing impatient, as Metzger wrote, he was feeling disheartened—until he attended a global youth forum.

A teenage South African girl spoke, encouraging the leaders present to focus on the future.  After first acknowledging the economic dynamics and financial costs involved in climate change she said with emphatic stance, “We need you to make the biggest decision of our lives.  Forget about the money you have to save, you are in a big debt already…You owe this to us!!”

The 10 day blog is a wonderful resource for us involved with MCCN.  As Metzger wrote on Day 9, “Creation care requires all the gifts and strategies we possess as a global family. We need new technologies. We need gifted entrepreneurs. We need committed governments. We need active sacrifice. With this portfolio of gifts, we have all we need to maintain a healthy global community.”

See the entirety of Metzger’s blog here.

A message from MCCO:

Help Win Solar Panels for MCC!!!
MCC Ontario has entered the Watt’s Next video contest to win a 10kW solar panel (valued at $70,000!) and all we have to do to win… is WATCH IT.  Easy.

Most views = WIN.

We have until September 24 to rack up as many views as we can so please:
1) Watch this video a couple times a day every day until Sept 24th.

2) Share this video on your facebook pages, blogs, and email lists to any and all … and encourage them to do step 1)

MCCO is committed to caring for our creation and winning this solar panel would really help put a boost to our eco-initiatives …

It has never been easier to REALLY help out MCC… no work, no donations, no volunteer hours… all it takes is a bunch of clicking and sharing. THANK YOU!

By Linda Espenshade

BOGRA, Bangladesh — The cornstalks growing in Anzu Rani and Biren
Mahato’s rented field are vibrant green. The leaves intermingle and
the strong stalks fill the field.

“The corn looks great,” said Mokhlesur Rahman, administrator of
Mennonite Central Committee’s (MCC) Research and Extension Activity
Partners in Bogra. “I’ve hardly seen corn that good in Bangladesh.”

Rahman is especially pleased with the results because the Mahato
family is benefiting from an MCC project that shows farmers how to
produce their own compost, which increases soil health and crop yield.
Farmers don’t need to buy as much chemical fertilizer when they use
compost, so they save on production costs even as they earn more on
their crops. (more…)

Creation care loans are a new feature now available to the 17,600 members of the Waterloo County community that Mennonite Savings and Credit Union (MSCU) serves. Loans with favorable terms are available to members who want to install solar panels, geothermal heating systems or energy efficiency upgrades.  The credit union offers the loans in partnership with Mennonite Central Committee’s Initiative for Solar Energy (MISE).
Meanwhile, Mennonite Savings and Credit Union is also working with Vigor Clean Tech, a Waterloo based company and MSCU member, to install a 7.1 kW (kilowatt) solar rooftop system in their Waterloo branch. The amount of energy being produced will be on display in the branch and online for members and visitors to view. The branch will also start an energy monitoring program to see what consumption reductions are possible. Darren Kropf, Creation Care Coordinator at Mennonite Central Committee Ontario, says, “MSCU’s adoption of solar energy will visually remind its members to make decisions to care for creation everyday. Congratulations for demonstrating strong leadership in environmental stewardship!” (more…)

July 4 – 9, 2011

When Mennonite Church USA members gather in Pittsburgh, PA, for their 2011 biennial convention, they will meet in the world’s first convention center to achieve a LEED® gold rating from the U.S. Green Building Council.

The David L. Lawrence Convention Center was built on an urban brownfield. Ninety-five percent of demolition wastes were recycled; water conservation, natural lighting and use of local materials all help reduce the building’s environmental impact. Daily operations also emphasize green practices. The Center uses vegetables and herbs from a rooftop garden and purchases food from local suppliers. Office staff use wooden pens with refillable soy ink.

Read more about convention greening.

See the Mennonite Church USA web site for convention details.

Calgary 2010 Green Report

Submitted by Joanne Moyer, Mennonite Creation Care Network

In 2007, Mennonite Church Canada delegates passed a resolution to work for more sustainable gatherings. Mennonite Creation Care Network has worked with conference planners in subsequent years to provide guidelines for greening and to assess events (http://www.mennocreationcare.org/assets/confgreenguidelines.pdf). We present here some results and reflections from the 2010 MC-Canada Assembly at Ambrose College in Calgary.

Successes:

• Facilities: Ambrose College has dual flush toilets and uses 100% recycled toilet paper.
• Local transportation: lodging was available on campus and shuttles were provided for people staying in hotels. Bicycle racks were also available (though use was negligible).
• Bulk water was provided (rather than bottled water) and participants were encouraged to bring refillable mugs; many people did.
• Paper: electronic registration and conference reporting was available. Printed paper was kept to a minimum and printed double-sided on recycled paper.
• A well-attended creation care themed seminar was presented, focussing on Alberta’s tar sands. (more…)

Goshen, Ind. – With millions of barrels of oil pouring into the Gulf of Mexico from BP’s Deep Horizon well 5,000 feet below the surface, concern about the impact of the disaster spread across the country.

Three weeks after the explosion that sank BP’s contracted drilling rig, MMA Praxis Mutual Fund’s full investment team met by phone with the Head of Social Policy and Sustainability in BP’s London office to receive an update on the company’s efforts in the Gulf and to express MMA Praxis’ concerns about what led to and will follow this disaster.

“Connecting directly to senior management in times like this is a critical part of our stewardship investing commitment,” said Chad Horning, MMA chief investment officer. “It’s important to engage management when we see things that trouble us, using our role as investors to encourage changes that are good for people, the planet, and the company’s long-term viability.”

MMA Praxis has been a long-time investor in BP, staying with the company through a number of troubling incidents, including an oil-pipeline spill on Alaska’s North Slope and an explosion at the company’s Texas City refinery that claimed 15 lives. (more…)

“The ecological footprint of relief sales is not insignificant,” concedes the cover article of the March 2010 Sounding Board, a newsletter of the North American Mennonite Relief Sale Board. The amount of landfill waste generated is an obvious issue; transportation to the sale also contributes CO2 to the atmosphere. The article provides a list of tips planning committees can work on to make their sales greener. read more