Climate Change and Biblical Earth Stewardship

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History and Background

Topic of the 2019 Conference

Purpose of the 2019 Conference

Session 1: Our Biblical Foundation

Session 2: Towards a Biblical Earth Concept

Session 3: ARPA's Climate Change Material

Presentation by the Bay area Restoration Council

Working Sessions: Big Ideas, Enduring understandings, essential questions

Case Studies

History and Background

The Reformed Curriculum Development Committee (RCDC) adopted the practice of hosting a national conference for Reformed educators to be held annually in spring. The RCDC's goal for these conferences is to bring together Reformed educators who teach junior and senior high school to discuss current cultural topics relevant to Reformed Christian education. Making connections and building relationships across the country while assisting educators to develop as professionals is the focus of each conference, no matter the topic.

The 2019 Conference on Climate Change and Biblical Earth Stewardship was organized by a planning committee consisting of Otto Bouwman (Principal at Credo Christian Elementary School, Langley), Daniel Van Brugge (Teacher at Timothy Christian School, Chilliwack), Dr. Christine van Halen-Faber (Principal at Covenant Canadian Reformed Teachers College, Hamilton), and John Wynia (Coordinator at the League of Canadian Reformed School Societies, Ontario), and supervised by Kent Dykstra (Chair of RCDC). This was the first conference that was hosted jointly by RCDC, Covenant Canadian Reformed Teachers College, and the League of Canadian Reformed School Societies.

The conference took place at Cornerstone Canadian Reformed Church and at Covenant Canadian Reformed Teachers College in Hamilton, and over 40 Reformed educators from across Canada and Lynden, Washington attended.

Topic of the 2019 Conference

As Reformed Christians, we believe that God spoke the world into existence, and that he created it perfect. However, man’s fall into sin resulted in problems everywhere – including environmental challenges. Although creation groans because of man’s fall into sin, the dominion mandate given to us remains in place. We have been commanded to “fill the earth and subdue it” which includes the responsibility to sustain the beauty and function of God’s work in creation. But this can be taken to extremes, especially given our tendency to worship the created rather than the Creator. This is apparent in some of the curriculum documents mandated by our educational jurisdictions. Especially the topic of climate change appears front and centre in many curricula across Canada, in both elementary and high school education.

Purpose of the 2019 Conference

From the conference agenda: "This conference hopes to bring Reformed educators from schools across Canada together to explore what Biblical earth stewardship means. Using materials developed by the Association for Reformed Political Action, we hope to focus on the topic of climate change to apply Biblical earth stewardship and contrast it with other approaches and motivations for environmental concern. Participants will also collaborate to develop big ideas, enduring understandings, and essential questions that will be useful for unit and lesson planning when we return to our classrooms."

Session 1: Our Biblical Foundation

Mr. Otto Bouwman

Otto laid the foundation for the conference, sharing 12 theses for a Biblical/confessional view of Biblical Earth Stewardship. Otto's theses were:

God spoke the world into existence
God created a perfect world
God created man out of the dust of the ground as the pinnacle of his creation
Man was commissioned to have dominion over everything else in God's creation
Man's fall into sin resulted in problems everywhere - including environmental challenges
Creation groans because of man's fall into sin
The "dominion mandate" given to man remains in place despite man's fall into sin
Man was commanded to be fruitful and multiply
It is necessary to sustain the beauty and function of God's work in creation
Man's ability to observe, understand, and make predictions about God's creation is remarkably limited
Man's tendency is to worship the created rather than the Creator
This earth will be consumed with fire at the end of time and then it will be replaced with a new/restored one

Click to access Otto's presentation slides and text.

Session 2: Towards a Biblical Earth Concept

Mr. John Wynia

Using a textbook developed for a Grade 12 World Issues course, John presented a brief history of "Sustainability." Conference attendees then worked together to deconstruct three "Earth Concept" models presented in the text. Finally, attendees were asked to imagine a "Biblical Earth Concept." This session gave participants a chance to work with Otto's theses and consolidate our understanding of Biblical Earth Stewardship.

Click to access John's presentation slides and handout.

A summary of the Biblical Earth Concepts developed by participants is available here.

Session 3: ARPA's Climate Change Material

Mr. Daniel Van Brugge

Daniel assisted the Association for Reformed Political Action (ARPA) in creating the document "Respectfully Submitted: Policy Report for Parliamentarians on Climate Change." In his presentation, Daniel presented a summary of the Policy Report.

Click to access the ARPA Policy Report.

Presentation by the Bay area Restoration Council

Mr. Chris McLaughlin

Chris led us on a (cold, wet) walk through Bayfront Park, Hamilton. He spoke about the work of the Bay Area Restoration Council (BARC) and the improvements that have been made to the Hamilton Harbour since the group began its work in 1991. The BARC believes that bringing people out to enjoy the Hamilton Harbour is key to improving its health and beauty.

From the website: The Bay Area Restoration Council is a registered charitable non-profit organization. Formed in 1991, BARC represents the public interest in the restoration of Hamilton Harbour and its watershed. BARC is responsible for community engagement and educational activities in the implementation of the Hamilton Harbour Remedial Action Plan. BARC encourages public understanding and citizen action through school programs, volunteer participation, public workshops, evaluative reporting on current issues and opportunities for digital communications.

You can check out more of their work here.

Working Sessions: Big Ideas, Enduring understandings, essential questions

Mr. Keith Sikkema

In two working sessions, Keith provided us with a brief introduction to the theory around the role of "Big Ideas", "Enduring Understandings" (first session), and "Essential Questions" (second session) in curriculum development. Following Keith's introduction, groups worked to create "Big Ideas", "Enduring Understandings" and "Essential Questions" related to our conference topic.

Click to access Keith's presentation slides and handout.

The "Big Ideas," "Enduring Understandings" and "Essential Questions" generated by the groups are available here.

Below you'll see some pictures of the groups sharing their work.

Case Studies

We asked several conference participants to look at "real-life" earth stewardship challenges. The rest of the conference attendees were invited to choose one case study where they would discuss the challenge and consider how Reformed educators should deal with the challenge in their classrooms. Clicking the links below will lead you to the materials related to each case study.

Case Study 1: Aquatic ecosystems: What is their value? How much should we do to protect them?

Mr. Martin Rekers

Resource 1

Resource 2

Summary Notes

Case Study 2: Climate change and overpopulation: Are children still a blessing from the Lord?

Mr. Blaine Vandermeulen

Case Study 3: Climate change and extreme weather: is there a connection?