Discipleship in a Climate Emergency

Introducing a New Essay Series

As my readers know by now (and if you don’t, read my About page!), my work and ministry focus on the call to discipleship for people of faith in response to the ecological crisis and climate emergency. However, while I have written on Substack about the call to discipleship, I haven’t written about exactly what discipleship is, how I have come to understand its meaning, or how I have developed the idea of discipleship in light of the ecological crisis.

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Discipleship is a critical part of taking faith-based climate action. With this essay, I am beginning a series of essays in which I explore what exactly discipleship means and how we are all called, as people of faith, to a discipleship of climate action.

This series will examine popular ideas around discipleship and then move to a deeper, more radical understanding that I believe is in line with the Jesus we meet in the Gospels and is needed in our world today. I will present some of my ideas and draw from the rich ideas of theologians in our past and present. Sallie McFague, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Martin Luther King, Jr., and other voices will grace my Substack over the next weeks and months.

If you want to learn more about discipleship in a climate emergency, this is your chance! This series is available to paid subscribers. To upgrade your subscription, click here:

What is Discipleship? Popular (and Predominant) Answers

What is discipleship? Google the term, and there appear to be many definitions. The top definition when I did this recently was this:

“What is Discipleship? A disciple is someone who believes in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, intentionally learns from Him, and strives to live more like Him. Discipleship is a widely-used word to describe a journey of spiritual growth.”¹

Other definitions on the first page of Google include:

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