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LeQuire, Thirty Years Later: The Growth of the Creation Care Movement 121 

  
 

 

Thirty Years Later:  

The Growth of the Creation Care Movement  
 

Stan LeQuire 
 

 
 

In this personal retrospective, the author reflects on thirty years of growth of the evangelical creation 

care movement. The various factors contributing to the growth of the movement are highlighted: 

leadership, ownership, program development, global reach, and spiritual depth. The article concludes 

with personal spiritual reflections on leadership and hope. 

 

 
 

I have always loved Eugene Peterson’s book title, 

A Long Obedience in the Same Direction (Intervarsity 

Press 1980). That evocative phrase alone 

communicates a lifetime of my own experiences. I 

suspect that many laboring in development and 

advocacy work may well understand what Peterson is 

talking about. It is a challenge to lead a Christian 

organization that attempts to glorify Jesus in innovative 

ways. The work of advocacy for justice and social 

change is trying, exhausting, and filled with many 

challenges.    

My own calling has been in the area of 

environmental advocacy or what many of us prefer to 

call “creation care.” I was the founding director in 1993 

of the Evangelical Environmental Network (EEN) and 

steered the work for its first five years. The network was 

always a tiny group of leaders who understood the 

comprehensive nature of the gospel and that God’s 

reign and love extends to all corners of creation and 

culture. Hate mail and opposition were plentiful, but so 

were small steps forward.
1

 Nonetheless, I never could 

have imagined what happened on June 7, 2023 when 

the EEN hosted a banquet in Washington, DC for 

about one hundred well-wishers and supporters. We 

celebrated the retirement of our third director, the Rev. 

Mitch Hescox, and the commissioning of our fourth 

director, the Rev. Dr. Jessica Moerman. It appears that 

the “creation care” movement is alive and well. I could 

not be more amazed, humbled, and encouraged. From 

small beginnings, an organization now thrives and 

carries the ministry forward into the future. I have long 

 
1

 For a thorough history of evangelical involvement in the environmental movement, see Gish (2020). 
2

 For more information on this innovative organization, see www.plantwithpurpose.org. Any recent annual report will 

provide an overview of their powerful ministries. 

felt that the creation care movement was making slow 

but steady progress over the past years, but the June 7 

event offered physical and tangible proof.   

What are some of the factors that may lead an 

organization through thirty years of ministry? Here are 

a few personal reflections on factors leading to this 

milestone for the EEN and for others in the broader 

creation care movement. 

  

Gifted Leadership 
The creation care movement is blessed with 

leaders who have devoted many years to this novel and 

worthwhile cause. There are too many to name, but 

here are just a few examples. Scott Sabin, founder and 

director of Plant with Purpose (formerly known as 

Floresta)
2

 was an early supporter of the Evangelical 

Environmental Network. Plant with Purpose predates 

the EEN, has a forty-year history of its own, and has 

experienced significant growth of staff and 

programming under Scott’s leadership. Plant with 

Purpose now works in nine countries with forty-two 

employees. It mobilizes some 80,000 families in various 

countries for agroforestry projects. I must also mention 

the army of faith-filled science professors on Christian 

college campuses. These professors have labored 

semester by semester over long years so that, slowly but 

steadily, new generations of students learn that caring 

for creation is a viable part of our faith as well as a 

professional opportunity. In fact, the number of young 

PhDs and scientists joining the movement is an 

encouragement to all of us who labored to get the 

http://www.plantwithpurpose.org/


Christian Relief, Development, and Advocacy 5(2), Winter 2024  

 
 
 
LeQuire, Thirty Years Later: The Growth of the Creation Care Movement 122 

  
 

movement up and running! One of these scientists is 

the new president and CEO of the EEN, Rev. Dr. 

Jessica Moerman.
3

 At her June 7 commissioning, 

Moerman told the audience, “This is a marathon, not a 

sprint… We will take up the baton.” Such leaders build 

hope in all of us.  

 

Ownership by Increasing Numbers of 

Evangelicals 
In the early days of the creation care movement, 

we wondered how we could get on anyone’s radar! How 

do we let followers of Jesus know that caring for 

creation is not a political stance, but a life of faithful 

obedience to the Creator? It seems that the message is 

now accepted by many. David Bookless, the theology 

director of A Rocha International, travels globally with 

the message of the Bible’s mandate for creation care. 

Bookless notes a growing response and openness to his 

message. “The vast majority of the time now—and it was 

less so 30 years ago—people are lapping it up. People 

are quite excited by it… I find it right around the world; 

I find there’s a huge appetite for it” (Bookless 2023). 

Ben Lowe, newly appointed director of A Rocha USA, 

reports that A Rocha cannot keep up with the number 

of inquiries coming from churches. Lowe also notes a 

“significant switch” over the past few years from having 

to persuade audiences of the basics of creation care to 

the need to equip their audience for specific action. As 

Lowe says, “there is enough of a critical mass now,” 

which “is a fundamental shift in posture and mission” 

(Lowe 2023). Even the National Association of 

Evangelicals (NAE), which took many years to embrace 

the care of creation, is now actively supporting creation 

care as a gospel-centered issue. NAE leadership has 

issued bold and robust statements on such topics as 

creation care and climate change, stating among other 

things that…  

 

As evangelicals, we believe that caring for 

creation is part of our calling as stewards of 

God’s creation. We also believe that caring 

for the most vulnerable is central to the way 

of Jesus (NAE 2022). 

 

I believe that under the capable and visionary 

leadership of Walter Kim, the NAE will provide even 

more direction in addressing the degradation of God’s 

creation. It is reasonable to say, in summary, that the 

creation care movement is growing, even though, 

undoubtedly, additional progress and growth are 

needed. It can also be said that there have been setbacks 

 
3

 Moerman holds a PhD in Earth and Atmospheric Sciences from Georgia Tech and has held a variety of research 

positions. Before joining the EEN, Moerman was an AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellow at the US 

Department of Energy. 

over the past seven or eight years, particularly from the 

association of broader evangelicalism with extreme 

right-wing ideology and a hostile stance toward secular 

culture. Nonetheless, progress has being made over the 

past thirty years and hope abounds.  

  

Breadth of Programming 
An additional and observable sign of strength for 

the creation care movement is that evangelicals are able 

to relate the care of creation to diverse issues and 

situations. Over the past 30 years, other organizations 

have been born such as YECA, Young Evangelicals for 

Climate Action, which takes bold action in the area of 

addressing climate change from practical and biblical 

perspectives. Another organization addresses 

mountaintop removal and other issues in Appalachia. 

Christians for the Mountains, directed by Allen 

Johnson, was founded in 2005. One additional area of 

such growth is the connection between creation care 

and (traditional) missionary endeavors. Such a 

connection was only dreamed of and prayed for in the 

mid-1990s, when EEN was first getting started. While 

such creation care missionaries are certainly not 

numerous, they now exist and have begun to do good 

work. For example, TEAM, The Evangelical Alliance 

Mission, mentions creation care as valid missional 

activity. Such statements would have been 

unimaginable a few years ago. In a 2017 blog post 

highlighting several missionaries engaged in creation 

care, the author states that “missionaries around the 

world are shining light on God’s handiwork through 

creation care ministries.”  The reader is encouraged to 

“pray with us for creation care ministries.” Finally, I 

might point to your own work as I suspect that many of 

the readers of this article may be engaged in the care of 

creation without even knowing it or calling it such. 

There is a high likelihood that if you are engaged in 

agricultural ministries, clean water supply, or just about 

any kind of community development, you may be doing 

creation care work! There is, however, one area of 

programming that I long to see added to the creation 

care movement. The EEN, and other organizations, 

need to take bolder stands in the area of environmental 

justice. Many disadvantaged communities have been on 

the receiving end of pollution and degradation from 

wealthier Americans. There is much work to be done 

in this area. Care must also be taken not to appropriate 

the work of environmental justice from those who have 

labored for decades in this arena. Therefore, this work 

must begin with humble listening to the voices coming 

from these stressed communities.  



Christian Relief, Development, and Advocacy 5(2), Winter 2024  

 
 
 
LeQuire, Thirty Years Later: The Growth of the Creation Care Movement 123 

  
 

Global Reach 
While much of this commentary is focused on the 

work of evangelicals in the United States, it would be 

helpful to mention that the creation care movement is 

thriving around the world. A Rocha International is one 

example already mentioned. In many instances, the 

global movement surpasses our own engagement as 

these sisters and brothers do not face the same political 

and social issues that we do in the United States. 

Researcher and author Melanie Gish observes,  

 

Beyond the nation’s borders, however, a 

transnational creation care ‘reformation’ 

seems to be making progress indeed, 

enabling leaders… to speak out on pressing 

global environmental threats while 

remaining deeply anchored within the core 

tenets of the evangelical faith (Gish 2020, 

110).  

 

One of the high points of this global movement came 

when the Lausanne Congress, founded by Billy 

Graham, adopted creation care as a core issue.  

 

The 3rd Lausanne Congress, Cape Town 

2010, was significant in seeing ‘creation care 

as a gospel issue within the Lordship of 

Jesus Christ.’ This helped spark the global 

creation care movement now known as 

LWCCN (the Lausanne / World 

Evangelical Alliance Creation Care 

Network) (Lausanne-4 2023).  

  

Spiritual depth 
All of us engaged in Christian ministry and 

advocacy take steps to remain faithful to our biblical 

calling, and this is just as true for those working in the 

area of creation care. It is fascinating and encouraging 

that all four of the past and present directors of the 

Evangelical Environmental Network are ordained 

clergy. 
4

 We are not development professionals nor 

experts in non-profit leadership. Nonetheless, we want 

to see the lordship of Jesus proclaimed and the church 

moving forward in including creation care and justice 

advocacy in the discipleship of God’s people. I 

continue to be convinced that care of creation and 

creation itself are vital, yet often overlooked, parts of 

our faith which—if embraced—could lead to great revival 

and even another spiritual awakening among our 

churches.   

 
4

 In chronological order, these are Rev. Stan LeQuire, Rev. Dr. Jim Ball, Rev. Mitch Hescox, and the next director, 

Rev. Dr. Jessica Moerman. 
5

 See also Isaiah 42:9, in which God promises to declare “new things.” Could creation care be a new ministry for you 

and your organization? Isaiah 61 is another encouraging passage. 

To that end, I close with a devotional thought from 

God’s word that I hope will encourage your ministry 

(and invite your further involvement in creation care).  

  

“Here is my servant, whom I uphold,  

    my chosen one in whom I delight;  

I will put my Spirit on him,  

    and he will bring justice to the nations.  

He will not falter or be discouraged  

till he establishes justice on earth.  

In his teaching the islands will put their hope.” 

Isaiah 42:1, 4
5

  
  

This passage reveals the heart and mind of Jesus Christ, 

God’s servant. He desires justice in all corners of his 

creation, and he is utterly dedicated to bringing justice 

to fruition. Please do not give up hope. Jesus will not 

falter, and he will send his Spirit that we too might do 

our work for him, be that creation care or the many 

other works of justice and advocacy.  

Finally, some words by Plant with Purpose’s 

director, Scott Sabin, one who has labored faithfully to 

care for creation: 

  

There is hope in Jesus, and hope is 

desperately needed at this moment— not so we 

can sit back and wait for the end, but so we have 

the courage to keep contending for what is good. 

Jesus is redeeming all things, and there is hope 

in that, even though we don’t know exactly what 

that will ultimately look like.  

Armed with that hope, we can begin by 

contributing what we can, all any of us can, and 

that is the little that we have. As I have written 

elsewhere, much like the little boy in the story of 

the feeding of the five thousand, anything we 

have to offer is hopelessly inadequate. However, 

it is what we have, and that is the point. If you 

remember the story, the five loaves and two fish 

contributed by the boy are ridiculous in the face 

of the need. Given in faith, they become the raw 

material for a miracle.  

When I see what is being done by our 

partnering farmers in Tanzania, with tens of 

thousands of people gathering annually to 

celebrate voluntarily planting millions of trees as 

an expression of their faith and purpose, or 

when I talk with a former guerilla fighter 

excitedly talking about regreening his watershed 

and discovering purpose as an emissary of peace, 



Christian Relief, Development, and Advocacy 5(2), Winter 2024  

 
 
 
LeQuire, Thirty Years Later: The Growth of the Creation Care Movement 124 

  
 

I realize that God has been able to use my five 

loaves and two fish in ways I never anticipated all 

those years ago, when “planting trees for Jesus” 

seemed like such a foolish way to spend a life. 

(Sabin 2021). 

 

 

References 

 

Bookless, David. N.d. 

https://www.howgodworks.org/podcast/season-

4/god-is-green. Podcast interview accessed June 

13, 2023.  

Gish, Melanie. 2020. God’s Wounded Earth: 

American Evangelicals and the Challenge of 

Environmentalism. Waco, TX: Baylor University 

Press.  

"Lausanne-4-is-coming.” 2023 (March 13).The 

Pollinator: Creation Care Network News. 

http://news.lwccn.com/index.php/2023/03/13.  

Lowe, Ben. March 10, 2023. Interview with the 

author.  

National Association of Evangelicals (NAE). 2015. 

“NAE Issues Call to Action on Creation Care.” 

NAE Issues Call to Action on Creation Care - 

National Association of Evangelicals | National 

Association of Evangelicals.  

National Association of Evangelicals (NAE). 2022. 

“Loving the Least of These.” 

https://www.nae.org/loving-the-least-of-these.  

Peterson, Eugene H. 1980. A Long Obedience in the 

Same Direction: Discipleship in an Instant 

Society. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press. 

Sabin, Scott. 2021 (June 3). “The Journey of an 

Accidental Environmentalist.” Blog post.  

TEAM blog posting. N.d. See 

https://team.org/blog/pray-for-creation-care.  

Accessed February 25, 2024. 
 

 

Rev. Stan LeQuire is the founding director of the 

Evangelical Environmental Network. Rev. LeQuire 

has also served as a pastor, missionary, and educator 

in sustainable development and spiritual formation. In 

addition, he has researched best practices of 

community-based ecotourism as a model for 

development. 

 

Author email: stan.lequire@gmail.com.  
 

https://www.howgodworks.org/podcast/season-4/god-is-green
https://www.howgodworks.org/podcast/season-4/god-is-green
http://news.lwccn.com/index.php/2023/03/13
https://www.nae.org/nae-issues-call-to-action-on-creation-care/
https://www.nae.org/nae-issues-call-to-action-on-creation-care/
https://www.nae.org/nae-issues-call-to-action-on-creation-care/
https://www.nae.org/loving-the-least-of-these
mailto:stan.lequire@gmail.com

