“I am grateful for the hospitality of Goshen College, which has set such an important example for us in being good stewards of our resources, and for the significant input that our distinguished guests offered during the roundtable,” says CCCU President Paul Corts. “I hope that this event will be the first of many intentional efforts to focus on Creation Care.”

Objectives of the roundtable were as follows:

1. To determine the key topics in Creation Care and ecological responsibility that should be researched, as well as significant sub points.
2. To develop a title and a rationale for research in each of the identified topics.
3. To identify a list of potential researcher/authors for each of the topics.
4. To identify a list of people who could serve on an editorial board, as well as those who could serve as general editor.
5. To identify a list of people who could write the introduction to the book.
6. To design a preliminary timeline for the project.

“The roundtable gathering of leaders from diverse backgrounds and roles—all with a common commitment to being stewards of creation—provided an excellent venue to explore how ecological responsibility can be better understood in the broader evangelical community,” says Luke Gascho of Goshen College. “The personal stories of the participants’ call to creation care formed a fabric for thinking about and responding to the gaps between the biblical teachings on ‘keeping’ the earth and the current lack of commitment to care for creation by many Christians.”

One of the outcomes of the roundtable was the identification of six major categories to focus the advancement of creation care. The categories are 1) metanarrative and theology, 2) ethics and practice, 3) ecological knowledge and literacy, 4) justice, 5) vocation and calling, and 6) worship and delight. The group also developed a brief description, a statement of rationale, and subtopics for each category. This framework will help in determining future scholarship projects and in guiding the formation of materials to be used in the evangelical community.

“Additional processing will occur to determine how best to approach these key categories, gaps and audiences,” says Gascho. “While the time allotted for the roundtable was too short to complete this task, the framework off categories and subtopics is quite significant.”

The Council for Christian Colleges & Universities is a higher education association of 180 intentionally Christ-centered institutions around the world. There are now 105 member campuses in North America and all are fully-accredited, comprehensive colleges and universities with curricula rooted in the arts and sciences. In addition, 75 affiliate campuses from 24 countries are part of the CCCU. The Council’s mission is to advance the cause of Christ-centered higher education and to help its institutions transform lives by faithfully relating scholarship and service to biblical truth.

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