Two Pillars of Green ELCSA: Ecotheology & Climate Action Working Groups
As the world continues to face intensifying climate and ecological crises, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Southern Africa (ELCSA) has stepped into a season of deeper reflection, bold action, and renewed commitment to caring for God’s creation. Within Green ELCSA, two key working groups carry this mission forward: the Ecotheology Working Group and the Climate Action & Advocacy Working Group. Together, they embody a holistic approach, uniting spiritual grounding with practical, justice-driven action.
The Ecotheology Working Group: Where Faith Meets Creation Care
The Ecotheology Working Group focuses on the heart of our Christian identity, our calling to love, protect, and honour God’s creation. This team explores how Scripture, Lutheran doctrine, and African contextual theology speak to today’s ecological challenges.
What They Do:
Develop theological reflections, Bible studies, and teaching materials
Support clergy and congregations with creation-centred worship and liturgy
Provide spiritual grounding for all Green ELCSA projects
Facilitate dialogue between faith and environmental ethics
Their work ensures that creation care is not an optional add-on, but a core expression of discipleship. In a world crying out for healing, this group helps the church proclaim that God’s love extends to all creation, and so must ours.
The Climate Action & Advocacy Working Group: Faith in Motion
While ecotheology provides the compass, the Climate Action & Advocacy Working Group provides the movement. This team drives Green ELCSA’s on-the-ground projects and public advocacy work.
What They Do:
Mobilise congregations for environmental campaigns and resilience projects
Lead awareness programmes, clean-ups, tree planting, and energy-saving initiatives
Advocate for climate justice at local, provincial, and national levels
Build partnerships with NGOs, civil society, and environmental networks
This group positions the church as an active voice for justice, speaking out for vulnerable communities, promoting sustainable living, and calling institutions to accountability. Their work reminds us that faith without action is incomplete, and climate justice is a moral imperative.
Why These Two Groups Matter
Together, the Ecotheology Working Group and the Climate Action & Advocacy Working Group form the backbone of Green ELCSA’s mission. One shapes our beliefs, the other activates our response. One roots us spiritually, the other sends us outward to serve.
This dual approach allows ELCSA to:
Teach creation care grounded in faith
Empower congregations to act
Cultivate environmental leadership
Advocate for justice-driven climate policies
Build a spiritually and ecologically resilient church
In short, they help ELCSA live out the call to proclaim good news to all creation, both in word and in action.
Through these two working groups, Green ELCSA continues to nurture a church that cares deeply, acts boldly, and stands alongside communities most affected by climate change. As environmental challenges grow, so does our responsibility, and our opportunity, to practise faith that heals, protects, and transforms.