The River Church Community

In the past few months, I have become convinced of an often-unheralded church mission.  I would call it an ecological mission, but Dave Kwok says that is too esoteric.  So maybe an explanation is in order.  Basically, I have become convinced that God has commissioned his people to be his environmental stewards—his earth stewards.  From Genesis through Revelation, we see God’s care for creation.  In Genesis he creates the earth and the heavens and in Revelation he renews all things—the earth and all that is in it. 

Reading the story of Adam and Eve (actually the story of Adam at that point) from this perspective, I began to notice new things.  Primarily, I heard a commission from God to serve and protect the earth as I read God’s instruction to Adam: “serve and protect” the garden.  And this is just one small example of the many ecological insights from the scriptures.  But what am I to do with this commission?  As a pastor of mission mobilization, how does this fit within my role on staff?  And so the questions went. 

First, I tried to fit little eco-friendly engagements within the first Kindness San Jose—a little trash pick up in Bakesto Park.  But that seemed rather trite.  So, I began to ask myself what would be a do-able but challenging next step?  And I decided that I should try and start a River community garden.  I knew that the Oak St property (a piece of land the River owns in the Washington Neighborhood) had more than enough room to support a community garden and Shelby (both a River member and current tenant) agreed it would be a good idea, but I was unsure how to connect with the community and invite them to grow their veggies on our land. 

And so my community investigation journey began.  I spoke with most of the non-profit community organizations in the neighborhood and finally found one that seemed interested in a partnership: Santa Maria Urban Ministries.  Lawrence their director put a sign up sheet out for less than one week and five families signed up!  I was overwhelmed by the interest and quickly asked Lawrence to remove the sign so that we could more easily create a community garden for them to use.  I realized that if we had twenty families, it would take too much work to make 20 raised beds.  (Since the soil is so bad, we needed to make raised beds.)

With families gathered, I asked Jill Bekaert to help me actually “make” a community garden.  Thanks be to God that Jill knew what she was doing.  All I did was tell her my idea and buy the wood she told me to get and she did the rest: invited River people to the Kindness San Jose community garden installation and got wheelbarrows and all the tools necessary.  All I had to do was come up with some rules, get them translated into Spanish and invite the Washington Neighborhood families.   And on November 15th, a community garden as born.  

Looking back, I see this as a step in the right direction.  It is a way for us (and me) to more fully embrace what it means to be God’s ecological steward.  But I know it is only step.  The more I consider the ramification of my actions on the earth and its creatures (including humans) I am amazed how long I have lived without considering the implication of my actions—the effects of driving to work, eating beef, and using a clothes dryer and so much more…

Maybe these questions interest you.  Maybe they don’t.  But if they do, please come talk to me about your journey of being an ecological steward of God’s good creation.  I am looking for company as I journey.  Maybe you are too.

Tony Traback, Pastor of Mission Mobilization