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Missional Discipleship and Sustainability
Date:
Saturday, 11 May 2024
Time:
9am-4pm
Venue:
Katong Presbyterian Church (42 Joo Chiat Lane, S428102)
Conference Fee:
$30 (incl. morning tea and lunch)
Student rate:
$10
Closing date:
3 May 2024
Dear friends,
Welcome to a conversation on “Missional Discipleship and Sustainability!”
How is sustainability connected to God’s mission in this world? What good news does the Gospel speak into the world of finance? How is the road to discipleship connected to biodiversity and the created order?
Join us as we explore these questions and much more alongside A Rocha International leaders and local experts, speaking from the fields of theology, finance, science and conservation.
The A Rocha community in Singapore is thrilled to be hosting this conference which is supported by
the Biblical Graduate School of Theology (BGST), Creation Care Singapore (CCSG), and the Fellowship of Evangelical Students (FES). We welcome your questions, insight, experience, and participation in this conversation!
As part of our efforts to care for God’s good earth, we are encouraging all participants to bring their own plates/food containers, cutlery and cups to the conference. Vegetarian meals will be served by Elsie’s Kitchen.
If you need assistance with the fee, kindly get in touch with [email protected].
Schedule:
9.00-9.45am
Registration
Fellowship & Morning Tea
10.00am
Welcome and Opening (Chapel)
10.15 – 10.50am
Keynote:
Good News for all Creation: Examining the Great Commission
Dr. Hilary Marlow
Vice-Mistress, Graduate Tutor and Director of Studies, Girton College, Cambridge, and lecturer at the Faculty of Divinity, University of Cambridge.
A Rocha International Trustee
The environmental crisis is never far from the news: the destruction and damage caused by global warming, extreme weather events and habitat destruction grab the headlines. The state of the planet is regarded as one of the most pressing global problems, especially among young people. But what part should the Church play in responding to environmental concerns and how should Christians react, both individually and as members of faith communities? This lecture will explore what the Bible has to say about the relationship between God, human beings and other-than-human creation. Beginning with the great commission in Mark’s Gospel, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to all creation” (Mk 16:15), we will consider a number of biblical and theological reasons why Christians should be active and engaged in caring for God’s world. This includes asking how creation care fits into the mission of God and the task of proclaiming the gospel, and how God’s love for his world extends beyond human society to all creation. Finally, we will consider some pragmatic (but important) ethical issues such as what it means to be a good neighbour to the poorest in the world, and what changes we should make in our own lives and lifestyles.
10.50-11.00am
Reflection
11.00-11.15am
The Challenges Today
Dr. Rodel Lasco, ED, The Oscar M. Lopez Center
A Rocha International Trustee
The global community is faced with daunting challenges as our planetary life support systems start to fray under the weight of human activities. The aim of this presentation is to provide an overview of the state of biodiversity resources globally and in Southeast Asia. In addition, the presentation will cover how climate is changing, its impacts, and how we can respond to it. The first part of the presentation will provide an overview of how human activities have drastically re-shaped land and oceans ecosystems. As result, we are losing plants and animals at unprecedented rates in recorded history. The second part of the presentation will show the latest scientific findings on rising greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere and how this is heating up the planet. The impacts of a warming land and oceans will be presented. Potential adaptation strategies will also be discussed.
11:15-11.20am
Prayer
11.20-11.35am
First Response: A SEA Case Study
Benjamin Tan, CEO World Vision Singapore
Benjamin will speak on how creation care is intimately entwined with issues on social justice and development, as well as how World Vision is executing this at scale.
11.35-11.45am
Second Response: A Singapore Church Case Study
Rev Lam Kuo Yung, Senior Pastor, Katong Presbyterian Church
Moderator, English Presbytery, Presbyterian Church of Singapore
Kuo Yung will share KPC’s creation care journey and how creation care can be incorporated into church life through education and action. From their church renovation “Community Building” project to practicing sustainable habits such as upcycling pallets as furniture, using second-hand furniture, avoiding single-use items, creating washing-up stations, and beach clean ups, KPC lives out creation care as one of their five missional core values.
11.45-12.10am
Breakout Discussion with Creation Care SG
Introduction to a creation care guidelines for SG churches
12.10-12.15pm
Introduction to A Rocha Singapore working group
12.15-1.30pm
Vegetarian Lunch
1.30-1.40pm
Afternoon Session (Chapel)
1.40-2.30pm
What on Earth does Missional Discipleship have to do with Sustainability?
A Panel Conversation.
Panelists:
Thu Ha Chow
Head of Fixed Income, Asia, and Portfolio Manager of Robeco Global
A Rocha Singapore Working Group
Isabel Loh
Senior Sustainability Consultant, Unravel Carbon;
Founder, CEFC Creation Care
Alex Tee
Managing Director, Beneficial Returns
Moderator: Lai Pak-Wah
Principal, BGST, and Lecturer, Church History and Marketplace Theology
2.30-2.35pm
Instructions for Track 1 and Track 2
2.35-3.15pm
Track 1 (Chapel)
Kin(g)dom Reclaimed: What does Missional Discipleship have to do with Biodiversity?
Rev Dr. Dave Bookless, Head of Theology, A Rocha International, and Lausanne Global Catalyst for Creation Care
Christian discipleship is often framed in terms of a purely personal spiritual relationship with God through Jesus. This is largely due to the influence of Greek philosophy and Western Enlightenment thinking on western expressions of Christianity, which have then been exported around the world.
However, a careful examination of both the Biblical texts and of Christian history shows that to be a disciple of Jesus Christ has implications for every area of life. There is no divide between spiritual and material or between religious and secular. To say ‘Jesus is Lord’ is to proclaim His Lordship over all of life. As the Lausanne Movement’s ‘Cape Town Commitment’ (2010) states: “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.”
In this lecture, we will apply this general biblical principle to one specific area: how we, as Christians, are to relate to nonhuman creatures – the myriads of other species that God has created – and thus we will explore the relationship between missional discipleship and biodiversity conservation.
Track 2 (Mangis Hall)
Stories of Conservation as Christian Mission
Dr. Jeremy Lindsell, Head of Science and Conservation, A Rocha International
Creation care encompasses a broad range of concerns but for this presentation Jeremy will focus on the conservation of biodiversity. For Christians this means ensuring that what God has made, in all its rich variety, has a home in this world that we are so comprehensively transforming.
Conservation is a values-driven enterprise. As conservationists, our intention is to change something, and for the better. We are both constrained and emboldened by our values in defining the problems we perceive, as well as in the solutions we propose and the manner in which we implement them. In recent years the values that underpin conservation have been under much scrutiny. This session explores what it means to be a Christian conservation organization. A Rocha has five core values that characterise our work: Christian, Conservation, Community, Cultural diversity, and Collaboration. With reference to the work of the worldwide A Rocha family, Jeremy will share how these commitments play out in practice in this particular expression of mission.
3.15-3.45pm
Closing and Call to Action (Chapel