Environmental stewardship examined

Christian conservationalist and international speaker Peter Illyn is touring Alaska in April, and he has a Valley stop on his calendar.

Illyn will speaking at Trinity Lutheran Church at 7 p.m. on April 3.

The Valley engagement is the first of 13 Alaska dates for Illyn, ranging from Sitka to Fairbanks.

Illyn is promoting his "Theology of Wild" sermons in communities. He is the executive director of Restoring Eden, a nonprofit ministry dedicated to helping Christians rediscover the biblical call to love, serve and protect God's creation. The sermon tour looks at Biblical Christianity and the stewardship of nature.

"The message is simple. God is a good God. God made a good earth. And God expects us to be good stewards. Environmental stewardship may not be the most central issue in the church, but it is the most neglected and the least discussed," Illyn said in a press release.

One of the goals of Restoring Eden is to promote nature appreciation as a traditional Christian spiritual discipline.

At the lectures, Illyn said he discusses the "intrinsic value of nature, how time in nature can build up our faith and our Christian witness, and champion the forgotten spiritual discipline of environmental stewardship."

Illyn said his call to environmental stewardship occurred on a record-setting 1,000-mile llama trek through the Cascade Mountains.

"I went into the mountains a minister, but I came out a Christian conservationalist. One night, I was reading my Bible while watching a herd of elk graze, I realized that wild nature is part of the household of God," Illyn said. "And according to Matthew 25:45, we have a stewardship duty to make sure that the biological needs of God's household are met. But more importantly, I came to realize that God entrusted us with the care of that which God called good. Creation care become a sacred duty."

Illyn said he recognizes that conservation issues are hot political and economic topics in Alaska, but said that it is very important to also look at the moral and ethical implications of stewardship, from a biblical perspective.

Illyn has been featured in Outside Magazine, Utne Reader, Charisma, Christianity Today and Lehrer Newshour.

For more information about Restoring Eden, interested people may check the organization's Web site at www.restoringeden.org.

The lecture at Trinity Lutheran Church is free, and open to everyone. For more information about the evening lecture, interested people may contact Trinity Lutheran Church at 745-3338.

He will host "Theology of Wild" sermons in Nenana, Fairbanks, Homer, Soldotna, Anchorage, Juneau, Sitka, Wrangell and Petersburg through April 21.