KOTTAYAM: Rev Thomas K Oommen, Bishop of CSI Madhya Kerala Diocese, in a pastoral letter issued on the occasion of Easter, has urged all the members to join the forces of life and collaborate with God in redeeming his creation through meaningful initiatives.
The letter has listed out a 12-point action plan to be pursued with all vigour by all those associated with the Church.
Recognising that the Church should take the lead in making manifest the ethos of the Church, the bishop, who was recently appointed as the Chairman of Ecological Concerns Committee of the CSI Synod, has requested all the pastors, Church workers and heads of all institutions to initiate programmes of Christian environmental education at all levels to strengthen the forces of life.
The 12-point agenda calls to address the scarcity of potable water through rain water harvesting projects and preventing soil erosion through vetiver cultivation on a wide scale, among other things. All the Church, school and college campuses should go in for such a drive, the letter says. Apart from preventing soil erosion, vetiver will purify water and stabilise the river banks and sloppy areas. All the heads of educational institutions have also been asked to start eco-clubs. The CSI Church will not use throwaway plastic cups and bags for its functions and requested churches to buy steel tumblers for regular use.
All the parishes are requested to initiate organic vegetable gardens on their campuses and educate farmers on the persistent pollutants causing various diseases including cancer.
In order to reduce carbon emissions, the Bishop has requested poor families to avail of the subsidy of the government to install smokeless stoves. Affluent churches were asked to use solar lamps. All the members should adopt alternative model of food habits to counter the use of stuffs containing chemicals and preservatives. Calling upon all the members to repent and participate in the process of salvation, the bishop reminded the presbyters that they should not be the presbyter of the Church members alone, but of the land, water, and all living creatures in their area.
Easter offers possibilities that would lead all into a new life, he said.