Prairie Ridge Reformed Church observed Earth Day this week by convening an unscheduled but well-attended discussion on whether doing so was appropriate, a process that consumed two hours and twenty minutes and produced no formal resolution but generated what Elder Thomas Langley described as "significant documentation."

 

The conversation was initiated when the church's youth group, under the leadership of volunteer coordinator Jess Kimball, proposed a Saturday tree-planting initiative on the church grounds as an act of what Ms. Kimball's proposal called "stewarding what God has entrusted to us." The proposal was forwarded to the elder board as a matter of routine. It did not remain routine for long.

 

Elder Gerald Hoffstead raised the first concern during Monday's elder meeting, questioning whether a church-sponsored environmental activity risked, in his phrasing, "the appearance of ideological alignment with movements whose theological foundations are not our own." He further noted that recycling the bulletin inserts — a practice quietly introduced by the facilities team three months ago — had not been formally approved and requested a retroactive vote.

 

The vote on bulletin recycling was three to one. The Dispatch will not report which direction.

 

Pastor Mike Williams addressed the congregation on the matter during Wednesday's Bible study, offering a thirty-one minute overview of Genesis 1-2 in which he noted that the dominion mandate was one of stewardship rather than exploitation and that caring for creation was not inherently in conflict with Reformed theology. He reported that the response was "engaged but not settled." Several attendees requested his notes. Two submitted written disagreements before he had finished speaking.

 

Nathan Briggs, reached by the Dispatch following the service, stated that his concern was not with tree-planting specifically but with what he called "the eschatological implications of over-investing in a passing age." He has circulated a two-page paper on the subject to four families. He is working on a longer version.

 

Susan Briggs confirmed the paper exists and declined further comment.

 

Brandon Keyes informed the Dispatch that he supports creation care in principle but wanted it noted that his support should not be interpreted as works-based and that he had prepared a clarifying statement available upon request.

 

The youth group's tree-planting initiative has been tabled pending elder review. The trees are already purchased. They are currently in Jess Kimball's garage. She has not been told how long the review will take.

 

The church ultimately arrived at what Pastor Williams called a "working consensus" and Elder Hoffstead called "an incomplete conclusion" — that Prairie Ridge Reformed would appreciate God's creation without, as the unofficial summary circulated after the meeting read, "being weird about it." The phrase "being weird about it" is attributed to Elder Langley, who confirmed authorship and expressed no regrets.