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The toolkit also aims to invite and prepare churches all over the world to participate in a prayer, “Reconnecting with Mother Nature and the planet,” that will be held 12 August, as well as a hybrid-style Ecumenical Youth Gathering in Karlsruhe, Germany on 30 August, just before the WCC 11th Assembly.
From suggestions for activities and advocacy, to information about land rights, the toolkit provides resources for ongoing events that can be adapted to local contexts as well. “Land is the foundation of Indigenous People’s existence,” notes the introduction. “Land is the unifying element that binds Indigenous Peoples all over the world.”
The publication is founded on the premise that we all can serve as guardians or caretakers of the land for future generations.
“Furthermore, the relationship between Indigenous Peoples, their territory, and ancestral, family, spiritual, and ritual practices, is one of interdependence,” notes the text. “The worldviews of Indigenous Peoples encourage us to look at life differently, at their ways of relating and sharing life.”
The toolkit notes the many ways n which lands and territories are memory, history, and inheritance.
“We join in confessing our lack of care for creation and the earth’s environment,” reads the concluding prayer. “We gather to affirm that all of God’s creation is good.”
