Uniting Earthweb

Presbytery Minister of Parramatta-Nepean Presbytery, Rev Dr David Reichardt, is to bring the ~WaterLines~ message of caring for God’s creation to communities in Greater Western Sydney throughout 2010.

~WaterLines~ is a project brings together worship, prayer, theology, practice, geography and a sense of connectedness with nature, by focusing on the local catchment.  Water is the line that gives life to the landscape and connects our lives as inhabitants of the land.  This connection reminds us that we are sustained by the natural environment and are in turn required to care for the Earth.  This line also washes away distinctions and notions of separateness, reminding us that we are all citizens of the Earth and need to find common ways of exercising our environmental responsibility.

During 2009, Rev Reichardt presented the ~WaterLines~ seminar to Baulkham Hills, Galston, and Ebenezer Uniting Churches, the latter in conjunction with the church’s bicentenary celebrations.  As part of the Ebenezer event, Rev Reichardt was also joined by members of the Great River Walk organization in a kayaking expedition from Windsor to Ebenezer.

Rev Reichardt’s efforts mark an expansion of ~Waterlines~ from its original focus on the Lane Cove River catchment to the Parramatta and Hawkesbury-Nepean Catchments.  In 2010, he will be continuing this work.  “I am aiming to visit as many Uniting Church congregations and communities in Greater Western Sydney as I can.  To reach them I propose to kayak along the Parramatta and Hawkesbury-Nepean Rivers, and to cycle elsewhere, including to congregations in the Blue Mountains,” he said.

Rev Reichardt was recently awarded a doctorate for his work on “Release the river! An ecotheological reading of how the Murray-Darling Basin's human inhabitants have affected its waterways”.  This thesis ties in closely with the practical emphasis of ~WaterLines~.  Rev Reichardt is also a Climate Project presenter, having been trained by Nobel Prize winner Al Gore to give climate change slide shows to community groups, and is committed to helping inform and encourage Christians to respond to the challenge of climate change.

“I hope and pray that I will be able to visit many congregations and ministers pastorally over the coming year, and in a new kind of way help people integrate their Christian faith with a love and care for God's creation”, he said.

Please get in touch with Rev Reichardt if you would like to have him visit your church (see contact details on the Parramatta-Nepean Presbytery website).

For more information about ~WaterLines~, see http://www.unitingearthweb.org.au/explore/Waterlines/.