Raising our voices for creation care: Global Creation Care Forum in South Korea

A Rocha was at the heart of the recent Global Creation Care Forum (GCCF) held in South Korea 28 September – 2 October, immediately after the 4th Lausanne Congress. The GCCF was the first in-person global gathering of the Lausanne / World Evangelical Alliance Creation Care Network (LWCCN) since its launch in Jamaica in 2012. And what a gathering: 100+ people from 40+ countries across six continents, with more online.

Over the week, we reviewed the global creation care movement, listened to global voices and discerned next steps. There were striking differences to the 2012 Jamaica gathering: the GCCF was more diverse in terms of gender, age and nationality. It seems the global creation care movement has found its voice, and that voice is largely younger, from the global south, with insights drawn from many sources including indigenous wisdom and academic science but united around a passion for God’s word and God’s world. 

This global movement is wider than A Rocha, but we’re right at its heart. GCCF leaders included Dave Bookless from ARI and Jasmine Kwong, on the board of A Rocha’s Associated Project in the Philippines. A Rocha folk from Australia, Canada, Costa Rica, Croatia, Ghana, India, Netherlands, Philippines, Portugal, Singapore, South Africa, Uganda, UK and others hoping to join the Friends of A Rocha attended. Together we all drafted and will be launching a practical and biblical ‘Invitation’ to the global church to commit to caring for God’s good earth – watch this space! 

LWCCN, co-led by Dave Bookless with Lausanne and WEA colleagues, has held 12 regional conferences on ‘Creation Care and the Gospel’ covering every region, and now has a network of 1,700 leaders from 100 countries with a monthly enews, The Pollinator, sharing news and resources from around the world.