Chapel speaker calls for Christians to "redeem the earth"

Wednesday, April 19 at 8:37 AM

Dr. Susan Drake Emmerich speaks on issues of environmental stewardship in chapel on April 18.

"Stewardship of the Earth" Day at Trevecca, April 18, featured Susan Drake Emmerich, an environmentalist and proponent of Christian stewardship of the earth, as the chapel speaker. Using Genesis 2 as the basis for her presentation, Emmerich reminded listeners that God had charged Adam with the responsibility to "work and take care of creation" and that Christians were called to that same responsibility today. She explained how Christians' fulfilling that responsibility fits into
God's ultimate plan: "Christians are here to give witness to the primacy of life over death in all that we do--to remind the world that life does win over death. We are called to be part of the redemptive process by working for God by our efforts to bring redemption to our world and all that is in it."

Emmerich invited listeners to become participants in God's plan of redemption by their efforts to take care of creation. Using a video presentation of the story of the Tangiers watermen, who were led to change their way of life and the way that they cared for the Chesapeake Bay, she explained that a concern for the earth and all that is part of it is biblical and is part of one's Christian duty.

Guests for the chapel service included representatives from public schools in Middle Tennessee and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, faculty members from other area universities, and community religious leaders.